The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) has announced it has canceled the licenses of the Golden Gate project.
In an emailed message to investors, RERA said it has decided to withdraw Golden Gate’s licenses – LLC No. DVT-201903/0014 and D201810/0066 – “in view of serious and repeated violations committed by the developer of Golden Gate, and failure to fulfill legal obligations towards the regulator, the buyers and the project, and its failure to implement the directives of RERA to address the violations despite ample time being provided for the same”.
The authority said it was forced to take the decision after exhausting all the legally prescribed measures and notifications, including the imposition of fines and the temporary suspension of the project license for a period of three months.
It added that the decision was in the public interest and aimed at preserving the money of buyers and investors.
RERA also said it would inform investors about measures being taken to protect their interests according to the law. It advised investors to immediately stop payments to the developer including into the escrow account of the project until further notice.
In a separate email, Golden Gate told its customers that it has filed a court appeal against the authority’s decision of September 10, when its license was suspended for three months as a result of ‘violations’, based on the provisions of Law 27/2017 promulgating real estate sector regulations.
The developer said the court has yet to issue a judgment on its appeal seeking a reversal of the suspension. It now plans to file a grievance about the cancellation with the authority.
If the grievance is rejected, Golden Gate plans to challenge the decision in court, saying “according to the law, the decision is not final unless a decisive judicial ruling is issued for the matter in accordance with the provisions of Article 11 of Law no. 27”.
RERA had granted Golden Gate two licenses: a developer’s license, which is required for auditing and qualifying developers, and an off-plan sale development license.
