Q: The owner is asking for chiller charges for the last 2 years, for an apartment that we have vacated 2 months ago. The bills are in the owner's name, who has been settling them and is now requesting reimbursement contract mentioned a company for the chiller by the name '[----], which does not exist. We did ask the building and agent for a chiller and were told that those are covered within the building. In the 2nd year, the term chiller was removed by the owner from the contract. The invoices shared to claim the chiller charges are from a building management company that is issuing building management charges to the owner based on the area of the apartment and it has nothing to do with the consumption. At end of the lease, the owner asked for settled copies of all other utility bills which were shared and there was no mention of chiller charges even then. Accordingly, the owner paid back the security deposit. The owner has sent a legal notice to reimburse these paid invoices, along with the charges he incurred on the legal notice and lawyer.

Q: Dear Sirs, I am facing a serious issue with regards to the chiller unit of my flat. I stay in Ajman in a 2-bedroom flat in a tower owned by a real estate company and the flat owner is an expatriate. My cooling bill from the real estate company is coming abnormally high even when we didn't use it during the winter the chiller charges keep on coming. So when I contacted the real estate company they send a technician and checked and told me the issue is with the units installed inside the flat not outside and it's not their responsibility. Then I contacted the flat owner who sent technicians and found some faulty components and replaced them. Now I have incurred a total cooling bill of more than AED 8000 from the real estate company, which was just due to the faulty components of the AC parts installed inside the flat. Am I liable to pay this amount? Both the real estate company and the flat owner refused to take responsibility. Kindly guide me on what options I have. V. C. T.

Q: My landlord has requested the A/C company to bill the district charges to me. I have lived in the apartment for the past 2 years. Last week I received a bill with backdated charges since October 2016. My contract states I am responsible for water and electricity and does not mention A/C. I have paid for the usage of all the utility bills since moving in there. Who is responsible for the district cooling charges, and if it is the landlord, how can I stop the A/C company from billing me?

Q: I have purchased a property unit through court and have a court letter that clears service charges for the previous owner. The developer OA acknowledged it but still has not amended it because of their bureaucracy (4 months so far). Even though they acknowledged that the service charge was wrong, they sent me a legal notice through Molak that I had to pay in 30 days or they would auction the unit. Now, I am not sure what to do, believe the developer and wait for them to fix the service charge, pay the wrong service charge to avoid legal action like auctioning the unit, or file a complaint with the court or RERA.

Q: My building asked the tenants to register for the empower portal after 1 year of tenancy. After my lease renewal, I asked the management team to provide me the Ejari and they stated I have to pay for the non-registration period (the 1 year before empowering registration) to the landlord, otherwise, I won't get the Ejari. Am I supposed to pay for that period?

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I am a 50% owner of a leasehold property. The lease agreement does not specify joint or several liability. It only mentions "xxxx and yyyy" as the lessees. We have not paid service charges for the last 3 years. The other co-owner left the house 3 years ago and ceased all communications with me. The co-owner is uncontactable. The management company initiated an RDC execution case against me and my co-owner. Am I liable only for 50% of the total due amount? Or am I liable for 100% of the due amount? Can you please inform the correct article of law that covers this issue?

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.

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.

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.