Owners Association Escrow Registration
1. What is meant by Owners Association Escrow Account?
An Owners Association Escrow Account is a bank‑maintained escrow account opened in the name of an Owners Association Community, used to hold, manage, and disburse service charges and related funds collected from property owners for the operation, maintenance, and management of jointly owned property.
2. What does “Escrow Account Registration Workflow” refer to?
This workflow refers to the registration and opening of an Owners Association (OA) escrow account, covering onboarding, documentation, and system updates.
3. Who initiates the OA escrow account registration process?
The bank initiates the onboarding process.
4. What documents are required to open an OA escrow account?
The required documents include:
- OA Escrow Agreement
- OA Pricing Proposal
- Multi‑Account Opening Form
5. Who provides the regulator appointment letter?
The Community Management Company provides the bank with the regulator appointment letter, along with the required account opening documents.
6. What information is updated in the Mollak system?
Only the following details are updated in Mollak system:
- Budget information
- Escrow account numbers
Payment records are not updated in Mollak system.
7. Which systems are involved in the OA escrow registration workflow?
The key systems involved are:
Mollak system (post‑opening updates)
Owners Association Escrow Payments
1. What does the “Escrow Payment Workflow” cover?
This workflow covers the process of verifying, approving, and processing payments from an Owners Association escrow account, including system updates and reporting.
The client initiates the payment by logging into the CIB system and submitting a payment request.
2. What is the process in pertaining a hybrid access in the CIB system to initiate requests?
Once the account opening process is finished, the coverage team will reach out to the client to collect all necessary signatures for user access. If a walkthrough is needed, the client excellence team will contact the client to offer additional clarification.
3. What are the documents required for payment processing?
- OA Escrow Agreement
- OA Pricing proposal
- Multi-account form
Payments are made once the CBD‑Operations team verifies all documents and agreements signed with the client, then approves the payment requests if in-line with the approved budget of the service.
Once approved, the payment is displayed in the Mollak system, subject to system update rules.
4. What information is updated in the Mollak system?
The Mollak system update includes:
- Budget downloads
- Escrow account number updates
- Payment transaction details themselves are not fully recorded in Mollak.
- Monthly reports are uploaded as part of the escrow payment workflow.
- All client‑initiated payment requests must go through CBD‑Escrow verification and approval before processing.
Owners Association Escrow Closure
1. What does “Escrow Account Closure Workflow” refer to?
This workflow describes the process for closing an Owners Association escrow account.
2. Who reviews the escrow agreement before account closure?
The closure of the Owners Association escrow accounts should by in-line with regulatory approval to proceed.
3. Is client engagement required during the closure process?
Client should provide the approval and required closure documents to proceed.
4. When is the escrow account considered officially closed?
The escrow account is considered officially closed once ASU completes the closure process.
Please find the below checklist for all documents to be provided:
No. | Process | Status |
1 | Request initiated by the CMC in CIB | ☐ |
2 | For General Fund payments, Escrow Ops verifies: Tax Invoice, Contract / LPO, Job Completion / Service Report / Delivery Note, TL approval (Dubai-based), Security cheque (mandatory for advance payments) | ☐ |
3 | For Reserve Fund payments, Escrow Ops verifies: Tax Invoice, LPO, Job Completion / Service Report / Delivery Note, Security cheque, TL approval (Dubai-based), Reserve Fund Validation Report, Reserve Fund Study Report, Quotations: 3 quotations if PO < AED 100K, 6 quotations if PO ≥ AED 100K, Technical Inspection Report, RERA approval (mandatory if payment exceeds AED 100K) | ☐ |
4 | Escrow Ops updates the tracker with the budget approved in Mollak | ☐ |
5 | Escrow Ops ensures the payment amount is within the approved budget prior to processing | ☐ |
6 | Escrow Ops may approve payments exceeding the approved budget only if RERA approval is obtained by the CMC | ☐ |
7 | Payments for DEWA, Empower, FTA, General Fund–Reserve Fund (GF–RF) transfers, and Insurance can be processed without an approved budget and may exceed the budget | ☐ |
8 | Reserve Fund payments may be processed even if they exceed the approved budget | ☐ |
9 | Ensure the tracker is accurately updated for each payment | ☐ |
10 | Availability of Official letter providing details of compensation if project delivery is delayed | ☐ |