Experts: Illegal to name & shame non-paying owners

Name and shame lists have been posted in various towers to encourage owners to pay outstanding service fees. Photo: Shutterstock.

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Naming and shaming of landlords that do not pay their service charges is illegal, warn experts.

Lists have been posted in lobbies in developments in Dubai's The Greens, JLT and Marina to pressure owners to pay up.

In a report carried by The National, Ali Al Jarman the managing partner at Prestige Advocates said the practice is illegal under libel law.

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"Legally, they don't have a right to put it up. They should not put it beside the lift or on the main gate for the public to see."

Annual service charges cover essential maintenance costs for common areas. However, some landlords have either failed to pay the fees, or have been slow in stumping up the annual charges - leaving some tenants to face the consequences. Some tenants have faced threats of being locked out of their apartments, having their access cards canceled or other services shut-off.

Yousef Al Bahar, an advocate with Bahar and Associates, agreed that the lists were unacceptable, stating some owners were understandably upset about high rates and a lack of transparency.

Bahar told CW online that some owners live outside the UAE and were unaware of the lists, while some are simply unable to pay. A "name and shame" list would not necessarily persuade them to do so, he explained.

"Ideally, the issues should be taken forward to RERA," he said.

However, in JLT, one OA board member noted that within two months of posting a list, collection jumped by 60%, though the notice did not name or say anything slanderous about owners, it simply listed apartment numbers.

Though many owners are aware the “name and shame” list might be flawed, they are left questioning the choices they are left with, Alistair McCracken, head of Novous Community Management told The National.

"It comes out of a sense of frustration with the difficulties of collecting here," he said, adding that Novous does not encourage the practice but it was probably the most effective way to ensure payment.

"The question is, what other choice is there?"