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Dubai real estate agents can be fined Dh50,000 over telesales

Dubai - "Direct telemarketing through SMS, calls and WhatsApp is not allowed and is a violation of the law."

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Real estate brokers in Dubai have been urged to stop making unsolicited telemarketing calls or face up to Dh50,000 fine in penalty.

The Dubai Police announced this during a seminar titled 'Spreading the Security Culture among Real Estate Companies' organised under the patronage of Major-General Mohammed Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, and in cooperation with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera), the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department.

Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalaita, executive director of Rera, said any annoyance complaints from the public against a real estate firm or a real estate broker, will be dealt with firmly and they will be fined up to Dh50,000.

"Direct telemarketing through SMS, calls and WhatsApp is not allowed and is a violation of the law. People have been called by agencies even before they advertise their properties for sale. Some agents have also asked property owners if they wanted to sell the properties and they were surprised these agents had their details. All these are violations," he said.

"The Rera and the Dubai Police aim to ensure that brokers adopt and follow the regulations and not merely use sales strategy by unnecessarily calling and annoying random people. Violating companies will be warned and fined for repeating their unlawful actions," he said.

No office sell properties outside UAE "There are no licensed offices in Dubai that sell properties outside the country. All the existing offices are subjected to the laws of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera)," Marwan Ahmed bin Ghalaita, executive director of Rera, clarified. He added that people who buy real estate outside the country should ensure that the real estate company is registered in Dubai. He added there are 2,113 real estate offices and 5,200 registered real estate agents in Dubai. No offices to sell properties outside UAE.

According to regulations, if any brokerage wants to do telemarketing and texting services, they have to seek permission from the Rera and also provide the list of customers. "Those who have complaints against real estate companies can go to the Rera."

Some of the participants at the symposium talked about people who sell contact details for as little as Dh500.

Ghalaita added that the contribution of the real estate sector to the GDP of Dubai amounted to 15 per cent. "Over the last decade, investments exceeding Dh1.1 trillion were recorded with contribution from over 400,000 investors, 824 real estate developers and 5,956 registered real estate agents."

Recommendations

The participants of the seminar proposed a number of recommendations to reduce the annoyance problem of the public - new marketing ideas, putting a clear database of market real estate agents and potential customers, organising training courses for marketing officials on how to deal with the public, choose appropriate timings, establishing platforms for buyers and register brokers and coordinating to block unwanted calls.

The seminar discussed ways of unifying and organising procedures related to marketing activities of real estate companies including use of messaging services and communications in an undistributed manner.

amira@khaleejtimes.com