Q: I am a tenant in a villa. The landlord wants to sell the property to a new owner who wants to move in. My rental agreement is till August 15, which means my 90-day increase notice is due on May 15. Three parts to this question: 1. If the current owner serves me a 12-month notice, can the new owners still increase my rent? 2. If the current owner doesn't accept my counter-offer for the rental increase that he served before the notice (My offer is in line with the RERA calculations, but his is not), can he legally increase my rent if I get an eviction notice? 3. Is my eviction notice still valid if the sale of the property goes through? Or must the new owner serve me a new notice? Thanks in advance

Q: I’ve been served a notice on a property in a place where all landlords are evicting tenants due to the rental increase. It’s easy for a landlord to serve notice and then not actually move in (which is the reason he has given). I’ve spent a lot of money on landscaping the garden as it was empty when I moved in. How can I contest the eviction notice? My landlord owns more than one property in Dubai and he lives in India. He keeps saying he is moving in, yet the notice he served also says he is evicting me due to his need to move or sell it.

Q: I bought a villa without viewing it on 30-12-2022. It was rented at AED 75,000/year (contract expiry 23-03-2022). The previous landlord served an eviction notice (Sale) in September 2021 to the tenant for 12 months. He also sent an email 90 days before the expiry of the tenancy agreement to the tenant informing him that "the rent increase will be as per RERA guidelines and by him or the new owner if he managed to sell the villa before March 23, 2022". Last week, the tenant sent an email requesting to renew the contract and then on WhatsApp chat he agreed to a rent renewal at AED 100,000. When I sent the tenancy contract to him on WhatsApp, his lawyer sent me a legal notice: 1. Forcing me to renew the contract with AED 75,000 and not as per the RERA increase which will be almost 95,000. The current market is AED 125,000 2. Not allowing me to inspect/view the villa and if I insist, then he will take legal action against me What should I do?

Q: Good morning I would like to know if one buys a tenanted house with an already served notice of eviction to the tenant, does the new owner have to re-serve a new 12 months notice, or does the first notice remain in force? I read that if the sales contract mentioned that a notice has already been served, the new owner does not have to serve a new notice. Could you please advise? What should the sales contract say exactly? Also, since the current owner already served notice, can he also ask for a rent increase if he does so before 90 days of the contract renewal? Thanks in advance

Q: Hi, I am an agent and I recently sold one rented property. There are still 8-9 months left for the tenancy contract, since now we have a new owner. So we prepared a new tenancy contract and asked the tenant for his signature on the new tenancy contract and to replace the cheques under the name of the new owner. However, the tenant keeps delaying the process and not responding. How can we replace the cheques under the new owner's name? If not, how can we legally ask the tenant for the replacement of cheques? We do have old cheques.

Q: My Dubai tenant's rental agreement is ending by the end of September 2024 and the completion of 12 months of legally served Eviction Notice is the end of December 2024. I have two questions: (a) Can I send a rent increase notice 3 months before as the rent has increased as per the RERA rent calculator? (b) The second question is, do I have to renew the rental agreement for 3 months (until December 2024) or not? Thank you.

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.

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.