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: Hello. I hope I can get some good insight from you. I have tried to reason with my landlord to allow me to break my tenancy contract early. He refused. Now what legal action can I take, and can I refuse to pay the full amount as too many shortfalls in the building? It is very dirty, never cleaning, the gym is so dirty one may get a disease, faulty equipment, very bad maintenance, a pool no one can access... so many. What can I do about it? Can I refuse to pay the whole amount? Who can I complain to? I need some info to know what to do. Thank you.

Q: Good day, I would like to ask regarding the tenant rights. Our air conditioning broke down and the landlord is insisting that we are the one who should buy a new compressor which is not on the leasing contract that I signed. Are we really liable for the repair cost of that AC or the landlord? Thanks for the help!

Q:   Dear Sir/Madam,       We vacated our 1 BHK apartment after a year. Recently, we received an email from the management regarding maintenance charges of AED 5812. The details show pictures of almost everything in the house that are not damaged.       They have mentioned that they need to replace everything with new items, including the toilet paper handle, shower cap, shower head, valve, soap handle, and so on.       When we asked the management why they needed to replace these items, they simply responded by saying that Dubai properties are expensive and they are very strict.       However, they could not provide a reason as to why these items needed to be replaced when they were not damaged. They only said that new items are given to new tenants, and the same would happen to the next tenant as well.       We have disputed these charges, but the management responded by saying that they do not have a dispute team and we are required to pay the full amount.       We had requested them to inform us during the inspection, but they failed to notify us and conducted the inspection without our knowledge.    

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, We rented a property from a property management company on April 25th and started staying there from that date. We paid the initial rent and deposit as mentioned by the bank. However, there are many maintenance issues in the flat that they have not fixed even after we complained continuously. We are suffering a lot due to this. I want to know if we can file a case on this, as the conditions of the government contract agreement have not been met.

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I have a question about the renewal of my contract for the third year. The owner has increased the rent according to the RERA index, and I have agreed to this. However, there was an additional term in the contract that stated that the landlord would be responsible for major maintenance. The landlord has now said that all maintenance will be the responsibility of the tenant, and he has stopped communicating with me. Is it allowed to change the terms and conditions of the contract when renewing it with a higher rent price?

Q: Dear All, I am renting a villa in Dubai. The water heater stopped working and needs to be changed. We do not have hot water in the house. After receiving quotations from several companies, the owner is avoiding the repair as he is selling the property. I would like to know the legal procedure in RDC to address the damages. Thank you very much!

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.

This Decree establishes a specialised judicial system to hear rent disputes and develops the procedure for determination of such disputes through an expeditious and simple process for the purpose of realising social and economic stability for all persons involved with the real property rental and other related sectors.

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.