Property firms fined total of Dh900000

Twenty-two property companies and brokerages in the emirate have been fined a total of Dh900,000 for repeated offences, an official said yesterday. Circulars were issued as warnings to the offenders before the fines were levied, said Yousef Al Hashmi, director of the licensing department of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera). Rera staff reported 10 types of breaches over six months. The most common was the failure to register the company, with at least a dozen firms failing to comply. Seven conducted activities unrelated to property, flouting guidelines that specify the licence is for property business only. Details of the amounts of fines for each company were unavailable. Other breaches included failure to include licences in the brokerage registry, renew the broker identity card, or detail the company's registration number. The fines were the "last step after exhausting all means to ensure compliance", Mr Al Hashmi said. Rera officials periodically conducted inspections on property brokerages to check if they were registered, as part of an effort to bring transparency to property deals and ensure compliance. Regulating and monitoring brokerage companies helped to protect the rights of residents and deterred violations of the law, Mr Al Hashmi said.