How to verify a property’s escrow account details on the DLD website

Off-plan means you pay while the building is still being built. Dubai’s system expects those payments to sit in a project-linked escrow account at a bank — not in a random personal account and not in “any company IBAN the broker WhatsApps you.”

DLD’s FAQ is explicit: the escrow account is the project bank account for purchaser and financier deposits, and it must be opened in the project’s name. That is the fact you are matching. ^[5]

Escrow does not mean:

• the project will finish on time
• the price is fair
• you will make a profit
• every brochure promise is locked in

Escrow does mean you are checking one hard payment fact: the money is aimed at the registered project channel, not a lookalike name. That is why DLD surfaces escrow details next to project progress on Dubai REST. ^[1]

If the developer form, the bank letter, and DLD/REST do not match, stop. Do not “fix” a mismatch by guessing.

Gather a small paper pack first. Ten quiet minutes here save you from searching the wrong tower.

1. Exact product name — the full name on the SPA or booking form, not only the master community brand. Example: not only “Riverside Views,” but the tower or phase name printed on your papers.
2. Developer name as printed on the form.
3. Unit ID / unit type if you already reserved.
4. Payment instructions you were given: bank name, account name, account number / IBAN, any reference code, any “beneficiary” line.
5. Screenshot or PDF of that instruction, with date and who sent it.
6. Your Emirates ID or passport details if the app asks you to log in for buyer-linked views.

If you only have a marketing flyer, you are not ready to transfer. Get the payment form first, then verify against the official project record on DLD channels. ^[1]

Buyers usually meet four official paths. Use them as a set, not as gossip from a chat group.

1) Dubai REST (app — primary for escrow number) DLD describes Dubai REST as the smart real estate platform for owners, tenants, brokers, developers and investors. For off-plan, a key feature is real-time project information such as completion percentage, project photos, the escrow account number, and payments due on projects you invested in. ^[1]

Download only from the official App Store / Google Play links on the DLD Dubai REST page — not a random APK. ^[1]

2) Dubai Land Department website — Project Status Enquiry The official service lets a customer enquire about project completion and details by land number, project number or project name, on the website or the app. Use the live DLD page, not a broker screenshot. DLD’s FAQ points buyers to the same Project Status Enquiry path. ^{[3] [5]}

3) Approved escrow account trustees (DLD website) DLD also publishes a public list of approved escrow account trustees. That list is trustee names, not a project IBAN. Use it only to check that the bank named on your form appears as an approved trustee. ^[6]

4) Register Project (context, not a buyer form) DLD’s Register Project service is for developers: it is how a company registers a project and opens an escrow account for off-plan sales. It explains why escrow sits inside the regulated project record; it is not the buyer verification screen. ^[2]

Tip: if a broker says “DLD is down, just transfer today,” treat that as a stop until you can see the record yourself.

Exact menu names move when DLD redesigns the app. The logic stays the same: find the registered project, open its official data, read the escrow account number, then compare it to your payment form.

1. Install Dubai REST from the official store links on the DLD Dubai REST page. ^[1]
2. Open the app. Create or log in with the UAE Pass / method the app offers. Use your own identity — not a shared broker phone.
3. Look for off-plan projects (or the current equivalent section for project search / project follow-up). DLD states beneficiaries can obtain real-time off-plan project information here. ^[1]
4. Search by the exact project name on your SPA/booking form. Try the full legal string first. If needed, try the developer name plus phase.
5. Open the project card that matches developer + location + product, not just a similar brand word.
6. Find the field for escrow account number (and any bank / trustee labels the app shows). Screenshot the whole screen with date and time. ^[1]
7. If the app also shows completion % and payments due, save those screens too — useful later, but separate from the escrow match. ^[1]
8. Put your phone next to the developer payment PDF. Compare line by line:

• bank name
• account / IBAN
• account / beneficiary name
• project reference

Match → you may continue other checks. Mismatch → do not transfer. Go back to the developer with written questions and re-check DLD.

If you cannot find the project at all, that is also a stop signal until you know why (wrong name, not registered, or you are looking at a sibling tower).

Some buyers prefer the website; some steps need a browser. Use both when the app view is thin.

1. Open the official site: dubailand.gov.ae. Prefer typing the domain yourself.
2. Open Project Status Enquiry from DLD e-services — not a third-party clone. The live search page also tells users they can check Project Status (Mashrooi) in the Dubai REST app. ^{[4] [1]}
3. Search with the same full project string as on your contract. The service landing’s official procedure is land number, project number or project name. ^{[3] [5]}
4. Read the live record. The official search-page template includes Escrow / Bank Name fields next to project and developer details. Note whatever the current page actually shows; do not assume every project surfaces a full IBAN on the website. ^[4]
5. Photograph or PDF the result page with date.
6. Cross-read those identifiers against the SPA, the payment form, and the escrow line in Dubai REST. ^[1]
7. Optionally open DLD’s Approved escrow account trustees list and check the bank name only. A named trustee is not proof of the account number. ^[6]

DLD’s Register Project service describes opening an escrow account as part of developer project registration — another reason the project identity must be right before money moves. ^[2]

Print this or copy it into notes. Tick only when two independent sources agree.

Rules of thumb:

• One wrong digit in an IBAN is enough to refuse the transfer.
• “Close enough” project names are not enough.
• A new PDF that appears after you asked hard questions needs a fresh DLD check, not trust. ^[1]
• A bank name on DLD’s approved-trustee list is not the same as a matching account number. ^[6]

A matching escrow number is necessary, not sufficient.

1. Keep the REST/DLD screenshots with timestamps.
2. Keep the payment instruction PDF and the bank transfer receipt together.
3. Use the reference text the developer asks for (unit ID, SPA number) so the payment is easy to allocate.
4. If instructions change later, re-verify the new set on DLD/REST before sending more money. ^[1]
5. Continue the wider buyer sequence on the due diligence checklist and the Oqood registration guide. This page stops at the payment-destination match.

Pause the transfer if any of these appear:

• Payment to a personal account or an unrelated company name
• “Temporary” IBAN “only for this weekend”
• Project not findable on Dubai REST / DLD while sales claim it is fully approved
• Escrow digits on the form do not match REST
• Broker forbids screenshots of official screens
• You are told DLD checks are “only for locals” or “not needed for foreigners”

Official channels exist so buyers can see project and escrow data themselves. ^{[1] [3]}

• Checking the master community only. Escrow is project-specific. Sibling towers can differ.
• Trusting a forwarded WhatsApp crop. Always open the live app/site. ^[1]
• Verifying once at booking, never again. Re-check when a new instalment instruction arrives.
• Thinking escrow = guarantee of handover date. It does not.
• Treating escrow as the whole due-diligence checklist. A matching account is one payment fact. The wider sequence is a separate page.