DIFC 043/2019
Joel v Julissa
This case involved a claim for unpaid service charges for a property which came under the DIFC Strata Title law. Issues discussed included the impact of the owner taking a case in the Dubai Courts which did not have jurisdiction.
Background
The claimant Joel was a housing management company with offices in Dubai. The defendant was an individual owner of a property.
On 31 January 2019 the Claimant filed a claim in the DIFC Courts' Small Claims Tribunal for certain sums allegedly owed as service charges for the property owned by the Defendant.
On 12 February 2019 the Defendant filed an Application Notice requesting the claim be suspended as he was pursuing the matter in the Dubai Court. .On 18 March 2019 the Defendant responded to the Claim Form and Application Notice.
The Claimant stated service charges are due for the last seven quarters; of 82,753.10 AEDas of 10 January 2019.
They argued that, on 7 October 2013, in line with the Strata Title Law (DIFC Law No. 5/2007), they were established to manage the building in DIFC and were responsible for invoicing all unit owners to pay service charges for the building.