Q: Hello, I have a disagreement with my landlord. We rented a villa in Dubai for one year and before only one month of the end of our tenancy contract, the landlord asked us to vacate and informed us that he is not willing to renew because he is selling the villa. We have a clause in the contract that: The tenant and the Land Lord have to submit in advance 60 days' written notice before the expiry of the tenancy contract for vacating or renewal of the tenancy contract. We did not express our intention to renew before 60 days from the expiry of the contract but we did after he asked us to vacate. I tried a lot of times to convince my landlord to renew because he needs to send 12 months evicting notice for selling and also he did not send the non-renewal rental before 60 days. I would like to know my rights please and if I go to the rent committee, would I win the dispute? Thank you very much!

Q: The landlord wants to provide us with a 12 months' notice to evict but has not provided a reason. We have advised him of the 4 reasons as per RERA in which he can do this and that he cannot rent the property to another tenant for 2 years if he proceeds with this. He has ignored this and now asked to inspect the property next week. Obviously, as he has given notice we have to allow this. Where do we stand in protecting ourselves? It is quite clear he wants us to leave as the rent in our area has increased significantly but the RERA calculator is not allowing any rental increase.

س: مرحبًا، لدي شقة في دبي رمرام مؤجَّرة. أنذرت المستأجر عبر الإيميل والرسائل النصية والواتس قبل نهاية العقد بثلاثة أشهر أنني لا أرغب في تجديد العقد معه لسنة جديدة. هل هذا الإجراء صحيح؟ وماذا يترتب على رفض المستأجر إخلاء الشقة عند نهاية العقد؟

The relationship between tenants and landlords is regulated in Dubai by Law No. 33 of 2008 Concerning the Relationship Between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai. The arising rental disputes are referred to Rental Disputes Settlement Centre (“RDSC”) created by Decree No. 26 of 2013 to reconcile between the parties and reach an amicable settlement or seek a final judgment issued and enforced by the RDSC.

An interview-format article covering the topic of residential retail properties pertaining to the liability for property maintenance and the repercussions of defaulting on rent payments in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

The provisions of this Law apply to real property leased out in the Emirate of Dubai, including vacant and agricultural lands, but excluding hotel establishments and real property provided by natural or legal persons as accommodation to their employees at no charge.

Provisions of this Law supersede articles (2), (3), (4), (9), (13), (14), (15), (25), (26), (29), and (36) of Law No. (26) of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Landlords and Tenants in the Emirate of Dubai. 

This Decree determines the maximum percentage of rent increase for real property in the Emirate of Dubai when renewing lease contracts.