Re: Assistance in recovering our investment in the Dubai Lagoon project at Dubai Investment Park

Dear Mr. Marwan,

Reference is made to our initial petition going back dated 15th of December 2009. This Petition is in reference to the purchase that we have made in the Dubai Lagoon project which is being developed by Schon Properties in the Dubai Investment Park. To date, most of us have paid about 50% of the purchase price to Town Center Management LLC a brokerage agent for the developer, Schon Properties. The project had initial delivery dates between 2007 and 2009 but, as of today, the project is truly seen as an abandoned and neglected sttate. Schon Properties have defaulted on most of their terms, such as delivery dates, registration of the units, failure to deliver possible compensation for late delivery to us.

Schon Properties continued to give us misleading statements and false promises whenever we contacted them and they kept changing information about the project status and delivery dates. We , the investors are totally fed up with their lame excuses, lies, lack of customer service and aggressive and unfriendly tactics. For these reasons,  we have decided to request your immediate intervention to recover our money as we have completely lost trust in Schon Properties and, at the current rate of progress, very much doubt that this project will ever be completed, if at all  in next five years!. Consequently we would very much appreciate your assistance in recovering our money from Schon Properties as they are not listening to us and have no interest in our concerns.  This final conclusion we have reached due to the following reasons:

1. Schon Properties had an issue with RTA back in 2006 and 2007 which they failed to disclose to the investors at the time of purchase of units, but now brings it up as an excuse at every opportunity.

2. The whole project was supposed to be completed in August 2009 (give or take six months) but as of now,  construction has not even been completed on zones that had already started. There are 7 zones in the said project and the progress of construction can be summarized
    in a nutshell as:
. Zone 1, more than 50% being the first zone, still not completed
. Zone 2, less than 25%   still not completed
. Zone 3, less than 50%   still not completed
. Zone 4, less than 25%   still not completed
. Zone 5, Neither progress nor updates at all 
. Zone 6, Neither progress nor updates at all
. Zone 7, Neither progress nor updates at all
. Please be informed that investors in Zones 5-7 have been told that these zones are on hold for indefinte reasons.

3. Schon Properties-no doubut- is in default with regards to registration of the units and issuance of legal contracts after 60 days of purchase of a unit(s). A great number of investors are yet to receive a valid contract from them
    which is illegal. In addition,  there are different clauses for the same legal contract which is sold for the same project to the buyers of units.

4. Schon Properties has threatened many investors (who have already paid more than 50% of the purchase price) with cancellation letters and yet they have not even commenced work on most of the zone. Further, many investors have already signed agreements with Schon on either 50 /50 or 60 /40 percent payment plan and that was the only attraction or incentive to invest for a low salaried earning investor for which he would pay balance of installments either 50 % or 40 % within 5 years after taking over the possession of apartment. Now Schon is forcing us to sign a construction based plan instead of already signed old payment plan (with handover date of December 2008). If Dubai Land or RERA newly implemented rules supersede the already signed previous contract,  then the investors will not be able to pay the full amount of money according to the construction based plan, therefore , many investor will loose 30 % or more which is already paid to the Schon properties.

5. Many investors have given their life’s savings to Schon Properties and trusted them to fulfill their part of the deal and all they got in return are unrealistic completion dates, lies, false promises which all in all led to more debt and sleepless nights.

6. The behavior of Schon Properties is almost tarnished the image of Dubai as a safe place to invest.

We would like to say that we do understand the delays in such projects are natural,  but there are limits to what an investor is compelled to accept. In the case of Dubai Lagoon,  no units have been delivered even seven years after launch and still the delays and excuses continues. The regulatory authorities in Dubai need to hold Schon Properties fully responsible for such unreasonable delays and irresponsible behaviour by setting up an inquiry with an independent third party. Delays may be inevitable but for a developer to lie to investors, ignore their concerns and then threaten them is totally unacceptable. Schon Properties need to be held responsible and punished for creating such an environment which is not only affecting the investor’s daily life but also creating bad publicity for Dubai which was previously regarded as safe haven for investments. We therefore,  request you to assist us in recovering our investments. For many of us losing this money have already put us in deep financial difficulties. Please remember that we have not only invested in this project and Schon Properties but also in the future of Dubai with faith.

In conclusion, we as Duabi Lagoon investors look forward hearing from you what actions and measures are going to be taken against Schon Properties so that the massive delays and as a result, the unbearable financial losses faced by investors could be taken care of and compensated.

Yours sincerely,

Investors of Dubai Lagoon Project