Court dismisses lawsuit seeking down payment for a villa back

ABU DHABI: The Al Ain Court of First Instance dismissed a lawsuit filed by a man against a villa owner in which he demanded that he pay him Dhs9,000 which he had paid him as a down payment for renting the villa over and above the fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees.

The plaintiff pleaded that he found another property and consequently decided not to complete the contracting procedures, noting that he requested the villa owner to return the down payment but the later refused to do so.

Meanwhile, the villa owner pleaded that the Al Ain court had no jurisdiction to consider the case and demanded that the judiciary dismiss the case and obligate the plaintiff to pay the incurred fees.

He confirmed that he had received the amount as a down payment of a contract to rent the villa and that there were people who wanted to rent it at the time but he refused to rent the villa because he had concluded a contract with the plaintiff.

The court decided to dismiss the plaintiff’s lawsuit and obligate him to pay the incurred fees and expenses, noting that it was the complainant who changed his mind and refused to complete the contracting procedures though there were other leaseholders.

There was no proof that the villa owner had breached his obligations towards the plaintiff, nor was there any provision in the contract that the leaseholder was entitled to recover the down payment from the villa owner in case the contract was not concluded, the court said.

The court confirmed that according to Article 148 of the Civil Procedures Law, paying the down payment is evidence that the contract has become final and may not be rescinded unless the agreement stipulates otherwise.

Likewise, if it was the buyer who changed his mind and refused to buy, he would lose the down payment but if it was the seller who changed his mind and refused to sell, then he would have to return the down payment to the buyer.