Q: I live in a 4 bedroom apartment in Deira/Dubai. 3 out of the 4 bedrooms have sewage leakage problem somewhere in the ceiling and the smell is horrible. The landlord refuses to fix the problem even though my tenancy contract clearly states that he must fix on his expense. To make the story short, After filing for a case against him at the RDC, It all went down to the police station where he refused to sign a paper that states his willingness to fix. Next, a Dubai Municipality official visited the apartment and submitted a report to the Land Department confirming that the apartment smells very bad. All meanwhile I refused to pay any rent to pressure this landlord to fix. So now 4 months have passed and the accumulated rent has built up to above AED 100,000. The landlord has filed a case to claim the rental amount. What to do? And how can he file a case against me at the RDC without the RDC asking him to fix the apartment first?! Can I refuse to pay this landlord? I think it is unfair to pay!

Q: I have a tenant with an expired contract. I agreed to have a new contract for this year but I did not sign with him yet. He was 35 days late to pay the first 50% of the rent. Our agreement with him that he pays maintenance, but he deducted AED 40,000 from the rent because he said he changed the door latch and main circuit barker. I objected and demanded my money for the full rent (he paid 8,000 and he deducted 40,000). I want my full payment.

Q: Hi. I am an owner of a studio. My tenant informed me about some floor tiles breakage. So, with his suggestion and consent, I decided to get the whole floor retiled. He agreed to move out for 3-4 days. The work was completed in exactly 4 days and I paid for the job. However, it took me two weeks before that to decide a good contractor for the job. All that while he was occupying the apartment. He only left for 4 days. Now, he has registered a case against me for compensation of AED 8000 as he lied and said he couldn't occupy the apartment for one whole month. The mediator called me and asked me if I'm willing to pay him one month's rent as compensation to which I refused. Now, our hearing is on 4th March. Please advise.

Q: Hello, I am a tenant living in Dubai and last winter lots of villas were affected by the rain and there was a lot of damage caused by the rain. There was leakage in the entire villa, the floor went down and a lot of tiles popped out and cracked, and that’s what the engineer sent by the developer to see the damages told me. I have the proof paper from the developer for all the damages. They only fixed the leakage, painted the walls, and refused to fix the tiles. My question is, is it my responsibility or the landlord's as it wasn’t caused by me?

The provisions of this law, promulgating UAE Civil Code, govern the civil transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The commercial transactions remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their regard.