Dubai’s Property Court has upheld the validity and enforceability of a contract for the sale of a residential villa worth Dh23 million. The ruling came after the seller failed to complete the title transfer despite receiving the full purchase price.

The buyer, a Gulf national, filed a lawsuit asking the court to validate and enforce the villa purchase agreement.

He said he had transferred the full Dh23 million to the seller’s account in three bank payments, but the seller refused to complete the ownership transfer.

Dispute Over Real Estate Commission

During the proceedings, the seller claimed that the buyer still owed Dh210,000 as his share of the broker’s commission and requested that the title transfer be suspended until the amount was settled.

The buyer agreed to pay Dh100,000 towards the commission. He also withdrew his Dh5 million compensation claim, limiting his request to the validation and enforcement of the contract.

The seller’s legal representative agreed to accept the Dh100,000 into the client’s account. The representative also confirmed the validity of the contract and receipt of the full purchase price, stating that there was no objection to transferring the title.

Court Upholds Contract

After reviewing the documents, the court found that the sale agreement had been legally signed by both parties and that no legal obstacle prevented the transfer of ownership.

Bank transfer records and the seller’s explicit acknowledgement of receiving the full purchase price also showed that the buyer had fulfilled all financial obligations related to the villa purchase.

The court said that, following the agreement to pay a Dh100,000 commission and confirmation that the property price had been received in full, there was no longer any basis for delaying the ownership transfer.

The Dubai Property Court therefore upheld the validity and enforceability of the villa sale agreement and ordered each party to pay their respective share of the court fees, expenses and legal costs.