Q: Hello Advocate Nikhat, How are you, Madam? My house is in Abu Dhabi and I had rent bounced cheques due to my job loss. Q.1 As we know that for a rent cheque bounce, after the police case is closed and the civil case is opened, then in this civil case, the judge will decide on the amount for instalments. Won't he consider what we say about how much we can pay? Q.2 Ref to the above question, it means there is no jail directly if we agree with the judge on the amount to be paid in instalments. Now, I understand that once the instalments are finalized, then we have to pay them regularly. The question is, in the civil case, there is no direct Jail in the first or second hearing, as the judge negotiates the amount for payment, correct? Q.3 During eviction case, when rent/lease is expired. Since the lease is now connected with Tawtheeq, so if Tawtheeq expires as the rent agreement expires, Will ADDC cut my electricity during this time? Q.4 Please, also advise what is Legal Advice Middle East, is it a law firm?

Q: A cheque bounced with an amount more than 1 million Dirhams but there's no legal agreement with the party. Questions: 1. If a case is filed against the cheque issuer, what will be the court stand? 2. How much time does it take by the court for judgement? 3. In whose favour will the judgement be? 4. Can the cheque issuer file a case against the borrower as there's no agreement with the party? And what will be the outcome?

Q: I have a bounced cheque of AED 75,000. It is under the name of a saloon and the owner is asking me to give her time to pay. She is telling me that she will pay me monthly starting this end of January, and she will pay AED 100,000 instead. Is it possible to do an agreement with this? If ever, is this valid in court?

Q: Hello, I took out a loan in the amount of 4,000,000 DHS, and I repaid the principal amount but I refused to pay the interest which was 800,000 DHS, I still own a property in Dubai and the value is around 3,000,000 DHS. The bank wants to take the whole property as collateral for my debt. Can the bank do this? Or do they have to sell the property, take what I owe them, and pay me the rest? Or will they be taking the whole property? Are they allowed to do such a thing?

Q: My friend has a cheque bounce of 15000 dirhams and he is in jail but he does not have money to pay. What will the consequences for it be since he does not have the money to pay and his documents are also not valid? Please assist me with the details. Thanks!

In the UAE, cheque bounce is a very frequent problem faced by people during their span in the country. It is covered under the purview of Commercial Transactions Law, and legal implications/penalties can be financially severe and daunting for more “serious” offenses. Bounced cheque issues may arise in a variety of commercial transactions, including but not limited to, companies’ exchanges, bank loans, property rents or purchases, and individual transactions.

An interview-format article covering the topic of loans and bounced cheques in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

What shall I do if I have a bounced cheque? You need to contact your lawyer as soon as possible to issue a travel ban against the person who issued the bounced cheque. It should be noted that time plays a very important role in bounced cheque cases.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

The provisions of this Decree by Law amend the Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 by replacing Clause (4) of Article (379) as well as Articles (600), (617), (641), (642), (643), (644), and adding new articles numbered (635) Bis, (641) Bis (1), (641) Bis (2), (641) Bis (3), (641) Bis (4), (643) Bis (1), (643) Bis (2), (644) Bis (1) and (644) Bis (2). The Decree-Law also repeals Articles (401), (402) and (403) of the Federal Law No. (3) of 1987.