Hydra Properties forced to auction land to repay homeowners

By Claire Valdini
  • Wednesday, 5 December 2012 1:47 PM
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Hydra Properties is being forced to auction three plots of land in Dubai to settle outstanding payments owed to homeowners who won legal cases against the developer for delayed and cancelled real estate projects in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi’s Court of First Instance ordered the developer sell AED164m (US$45m) worth of land, including two plots in the Burj Khalifa area and one in Al Barsha, in three separate auctions, starting December 12 at the Ramada Downtown Dubai.

Proceeds from the auction will be used to pay off outstanding creditors, including eight home owners owed AED11m, Fareya Azfar, head of arbitration at The Legal Group told Arabian Business.

“It’s a very rigorous implementation of the execution procedure; it shows the severity and the consequences of not paying, [which] can lead to auctioning,” said Azfar.

Local developers faced a slew of legal cases from buyers in the wake of the 2008-2009 economic downturn, which led to billions of dollars worth of projects being put on hold or cancelled while house prices plummeted around 60 percent from their peak. 

More than 100 buyers last year filed cases for refunds from Hydra for property in stalled projects, including Hydra Village, Hydra Avenue and Hydra Golf Walk.

Dubai-based The Legal Group has won eight cases against the developer to date, said Azfar. Successful cases have included owners of property in Hydra Avenue, Hydra Executive and Marina Spirits.

In addition to those eight cases, The Legal Group said it is also representing other buyers that have not yet won their cases but in the event they do, will also benefit from the auction.

“If the court grants us the interlocutory attachment order then while these purchasers’ cases are ongoing, they will not face the risk of exhaustion of Hydra’s assets because their share in those assets will be secured via this attachment,” said Azfar.

Hydra was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Arabian Business.

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Posted by: Sanjay Batheja Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:25 AM[UAE] - United Arab Emirates

Did anyone receive their monies from Hydra Properties?

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Posted by: Daniel Thursday, 21 February 2013 11:19 AM[UAE] - UAE

Does anybody have a contact of a lawyer who has been sucsessfull at dealing with Hydra. If so, please could you send me the contact details. daniel@voip101.us

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Posted by: waiting for get my life saving back Sunday, 27 January 2013 3:09 PM[UAE] - UAE

Auction was on the 23rd of Jan and we dont know what was sold. One land was sold, but nothing is confirmed yet!!
the second aution is suppose to be on the 30th of Jan, but dates keep on changing with no valid reason?
I have been waiting for excution since june 2011- it is really sad.
If Hydra is doing well and we have won the cases so why cant we get our money back????????

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Posted by: harry Thursday, 13 December 2012 10:59 AM[UAE] - uae

it is unbelievable ,we have been going to the Land department regularly and infact were advised recently the Business Bay project is on hold .The land Department needs to be fair to all the investors and before settling the court judgements they must allow all the investors to file their claims of recovery and the proceeds should then be distributed among all the investors .Everyone should get together to form a group to ensure we all get our investments back .

Posted by: raj Tuesday, 5 March 2013 9:25 AM[UAE] - UK

yes its frustrating - we have units in Hydra and have an advisor who is handling our papers as we are in UK.

Posted by: waiting for get my life saving back Sunday, 27 January 2013 3:09 PM[UAE] - uae

lets get together then and do somthing to get our saving back.
pls get in touch via email to rolaone@hotmail.com. thnx

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Posted by: Concerned Tuesday, 11 December 2012 3:16 PM[UAE] - Dubai

The lawyer is wrong, the auction is on the 20th December 2012. How can this article even be published without the facts being checked!!

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