Buyer Guides · Due Diligence

How to Verify a Property's Escrow Account Details: The Exact RERA/DLD Process

The short answer: Take the escrow account name, number/IBAN and trustee bank from your sale agreement, then match all three against the project's registration in the Dubai Land Department's public project directory (Dubai REST app / dubailand.gov.ae). The trustee bank must appear on DLD's published list of approved escrow trustees. Any mismatch — or any request to pay a different account — is a stop signal.

The escrow law does its job only when the details in your contract and the details on the DLD register are the same account. This is the checking procedure, field by field.

Updated 23 Aug 2026 · Process per Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 and Dubai Land Department published procedures — always confirm current requirements

Why the details, specifically, are the check

Dubai's escrow regime — Law No. 8 of 2007 — requires every off-plan project to collect buyer payments into a dedicated, RERA-supervised account per project, released to the developer only against inspected construction progress. Most buyers know this. What loses people money is not ignorance of the law; it is paying into the wrong account: a booking fee to a general company account, a "reservation deposit" to an agent, a transfer to an account whose name is close but not the one on the register.

So the verification is not "does the project have escrow?" — it is "is the account in front of me the registered one?" That is a field-matching exercise, and it takes under an hour. (For the broader workflow — checking the developer itself before you get to this stage — see our companion guide, how to verify a RERA developer and its escrow account.)

Step 1 — collect the account details from your contract

Before signing anything, your sale and purchase agreement (or reservation form) must state four things: the escrow account name, the account number or IBAN, the trustee bank, and the exact registered project name and number. Developers operating properly volunteer all four. If any is missing, request it in writing — a developer reluctant to put its escrow details on paper has told you what you need to know.

Step 2 — pull the project's DLD registration

Search the exact project name in the DLD's public project directory via the Dubai REST app or dubailand.gov.ae. A registered off-plan project appears with its project number, its escrow details and an inspected completion percentage. Use the register as the reference copy — not the brochure, not a PDF the sales office sends you. If the project is absent from the directory, there is no supervised escrow over your money, and the exercise ends here.

Step 3 — match three fields exactly

Account name. It should be a project-specific escrow account tied to the development — not the developer's general operating account, and never a personal account or an agent's account.
Account number / IBAN. Digit-for-digit against the DLD record. Confirm the number through a second channel (the trustee bank or the DLD record itself), not just the emailed contract — invoice-tampering fraud targets exactly this step.
Trustee bank. The bank named in the contract must be the bank on the project's registration.

All three match, or you do not pay. A mismatch is occasionally an administrative slip — but it is the developer's job to prove that, in writing, before your money moves.

Step 4 — confirm the trustee bank is DLD-approved

Escrow accounts must be held with an escrow trustee approved by the Dubai Land Department, and DLD publishes the list of approved escrow account trustees. Confirm the bank in your contract appears on the current list. This closes the loop: registered project, registered account, approved trustee.

Step 5 — pay into the verified account, and document everything

Transfer only into the verified escrow account, with your unit number in the payment reference. Then hold three documents: the transfer record showing the escrow account as beneficiary, the developer's receipt naming that account, and your Oqood certificate confirming the purchase is registered with DLD. As instalments fall due, compare the payment schedule against the completion percentage DLD publishes for the project — payments running far ahead of inspected construction is a risk to price consciously, not discover later.

Ras Al Khaimah: same discipline, different regulator

RAK — including the Al Marjan and Hayat Island corridor — regulates its off-plan market through RAK Municipality rather than Dubai's RERA, with escrow requirements for registered projects. The field-matching procedure does not change: confirm the project's registration with the RAK authorities, take the escrow details from your agreement, match them against the registration, and pay only into that account.

Questions buyers ask

Where do I find a project's official escrow account details?

Two places, and they must agree: your sale agreement or reservation form, and the project's registration in the Dubai Land Department's public project directory (Dubai REST app or dubailand.gov.ae). A registered Dubai off-plan project shows its escrow details on its DLD record — that record, not the developer's paperwork, is the reference.

What exactly should I match before transferring money?

Three fields: the escrow account name (it should be a project-specific account, not a general company account), the account number or IBAN, and the trustee bank. All three in your contract must match the project's DLD registration, and the trustee bank must appear on DLD's published list of approved escrow trustees.

Is it safe to pay a booking fee before the escrow check?

No. Booking fees paid 'to reserve the unit' into a non-escrow account are where off-plan losses concentrate. Dubai's Law No. 8 of 2007 exists precisely so buyer money sits in a supervised account released against construction progress — a payment that bypasses it bypasses the protection.

What proof should I hold after paying into escrow?

Keep the transfer record showing the escrow account as beneficiary with your unit reference, the developer's receipt naming the escrow account, and your Oqood registration certificate confirming the purchase is registered with the Dubai Land Department.

How does escrow verification work in Ras Al Khaimah?

RAK regulates its off-plan market through RAK Municipality rather than Dubai's RERA, with escrow requirements for registered projects. The discipline is identical: confirm the project's registration with the RAK authorities, and pay only into the escrow account named in your agreement after matching its details.