300.1.3.6 Escrow Account for Real Estate Development–off-Plan Unit Sale and Rental Project
| No: 65681/67 | Date(g): 3/7/2019 | Date(h): 1/11/1440 | Status: In-Force |
Effective from Jan 01 2024 - Dec 31 2023
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The bank may open an escrow account in Saudi riyal for a real estate developer upon fulfilling the following:
a. Documents related to the real estate developer, the consulting office and the certified public accountant:
| 1. | Obtaining the commercial register and the license issued by the competent authority to practice the activity, if needed for such an activity. |
| 2. | Obtaining the memorandum of association and its annexes, if any. |
| 3. | Verifying the IDs of the owners of the entity, whose names are included in the memorandum of association (public joint-stock companies are excluded from this requirement). |
| 4. | Obtaining a copy of the entity's board formation decision and verifying the IDs of the board members. |
b. Controls related to opening each individual account:
| 1. | The bank shall not activate the escrow account for the project unless the license of the project issued by the Off-Plan Sales or Rent Committee in the Ministry of Housing is received. |
| 2. | The agreements signed by the real estate developer, the bank, the consulting office and the certified public accountant, covering disbursement conditions, the account operation, and rights and commitments of the contracting parities, shall be submitted, be in line with the regulations for the escrow account, and have the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry thereon. |
| 3. | Only one account shall be opened for each individual project and shall be named as follows: "name of project" Project- Escrow Account for "name of real estate developer”. Sub-accounts linked to the main account of the project may be opened, such as administrative and marketing expenses account, savings account, construction cost account, incentives account and finance account. |
| 4. | The bank shall keep 5% of the total value of the cost of construction works via deductions from each amount deposited into the account (until the 5 percent is reached), or the developer should submit a bank guarantee for the same percentage to the bank after obtaining a completion certificate issued to it by the consulting engineering office. |
| 5. | A written undertaking shall be made by the real estate developer stating that no disbursement shall be made from the account for purposes other than those concerning the project determined. |
| 6. | A written undertaking shall be made by the real estate developer stating its consent to amend the signed agreement between it and the bank in case of issuance of new, or amendment of existing, relevant regulations. |
c. Account management controls:
| 1. | Payment shall be made from the account by the payment document submitted by the real estate developer to the bank. Such document shall be certified by the consulting office and the certified public accountant and shall includes amounts required and on which they will be spent. |
| 2. | A list of the persons authorized to manage the account, as specified in the agreement, copies of their IDs (the national ID for Saudis/Iqama for foreigners), and their specimen signatures shall be submitted. |
| 3. | Payment from the account shall be made by check or transfers only and shall be within the limits stated in (C-1) mentioned above. |
| 4. | Project’s sub-accounts shall be used only for receiving/making deposits and transfers from and (in)to the main account. |
| 5. | Deposit in the account shall be made by buyers and financiers via any means of payment accepted by the bank other than cash. |
| 6. | The real estate developer shall provide the bank with a detailed list of the project’s real estate units, subject of contracts, and their prices. |
d. Other controls:
| 1. | The bank shall not attach the account for its own interest or that of the creditors of the real estate developer. |
| 2. | No funds may be transferred from the escrow account to any other accounts other than that of its sub-accounts whose purposes are specified. |
| 3. | The guarantee amount mentioned in Paragraph (B-4) shall not be disbursed nor delivered to the real estate developer except after the elapse of one year from the date of handing over the project from the developer to buyers and meeting all sound implementation terms during that year. |
| 4. | When a real estate developer obtains finance for a project, the finance amount shall be deposited in the escrow account of the project. |
| 5. | Checkbooks may be issued for this account at the request of the real estate developer. However, ATM cards and/or credit cards shall not be issued for this account. |
| 6. | Funds in the account shall not be used in any investment or speculation of any kind. |