Q: Hi Sir, If a person paid his all cheques penalty at court and got free from there, can the estate agent put another new rent case on the basis of tenancy contract? The rental amount was already paid in court in 2018 and the person was free from court. Now again the same case. What should the person do? He has all the documents and proof of payment of cheque and Baladiya (municipal slip) too.

Q: Hello Sir, Please advise me in the below matter. In Nov. 2019 I got an apartment from a real estate agent, made the payment of 19k in one cheque. The cheque was encashed (in the name of real estate co). After 15 days, I received a contract from him but the terms were mentioned as 22k and 6 cheques. I inquired about the reason & he said you have paid in 1 cheque hence there is a discount from the owner but the contract is made at the market value. After approx. 10 months I received a call from one person claiming to be the owner of the apartment and he said he has not received a single dirham. The real estate guy has done this with almost 10 of his apartments & has run away. The contract finished on Dec,19 but the owner is not issuing me NOC as I have moved out of the apartment. I requested him many times but he denied. I'm still paying SEWA even not in the apartment & maybe municipality charges also building up just to avoid defaulting on the bank payments. What can I do to resolve this issue peacefully since the owner is not listening to me at all? (I have all the receipts).

Q: Hi there, We were staying on a monthly rent basis in one small apartment which was vacated on 31 Jan 2021. We paid all rents but unfortunately, we don't have any proof for Nov, Dec and Jan. Now the landlord has filed a case against us saying we are staying at the property and not paying them. Before leaving, we informed them through my email (which is not registered in the records) and cc my husband. We didn't know that the paper we are signing was a sub-agreement as we never saw a contract before. Now based on this, they have filed a case and fine and rent is levied on us now if the case number is generated. We have a hearing for settlement but the landlord is not agreeing to settle as he is asking us to sign a key form saying we vacated just now on the current date. We need to travel urgently. Will we have a travel ban? We want to resolve the case even if we travel. Please advise

Q: Our office is going for a rental contract with a company (both the names on the contract are of companies). However, they want us to pay cheques in the name of an employee of the company (individual) as they have some problem with their company account. Is it legal to do so? And how can we safeguard ourselves? Best Regards

Q: Hi Sir/Madam. I was renting an apartment in Sharjah. My agreement has finished and I got a NOC from the landlord to cancel my flat. I canceled my municipality, SEWA and everything, and later my landlord filed a case against me in RDC. I showed all the cancellation papers to the judge and he said to show him the payment receipt, but I forgot to take it from the landlord. Now I don't know how to deal with this.

Q: We have an issue with an unreturned cheque back on our 2019 to 2020 contract (RESIDENCE FLAT CONTRACT). We deposited a cheque to the landlord for the last quarter payment, but instead of this, we settled to pay by cash and they told us that they will return the cheque to us (we have the receipt). Until the contract end, we were expecting that everything went fair and well. We renewed for another year this same contract (July 2020-July 2021) until the end and terminated this last contract last July. We settled everything and even received our deposit. Unfortunately, on September 6, 2021, they filed a complaint at the police station regarding this cheque. We went to their office and told us that it is their mistake. their legal told us to go to police station to pay AED1,050 to cancel this report. We don't know if this is to cancel the case. Any advice, we want to clear our name from this case. We want a refund, we want to clear our name and receive our cheque back.

Q: My landlord is abroad and is not currently able to travel to Dubai to withdraw one of my rental cheques. Instead, he has asked me if I would be able to transfer the rent amount to the building management team as part of paying off his service charges. I am not comfortable with this and wanted to know where I stand from a legal perspective.

Q: Hi, I received a 30-day legal notice for missed rent on 26th Jan. I transferred the rent to the landlord by 7th Feb. I have communication from him that it was received. The subsequent months up until March were all paid and acknowledged by the landlord. A couple of weeks before renewal, he tried to increase the rent from 56k to 70k. On the contract renewal date, I filed an offer and renewal case, which the landlord did not respond to. On 8th May, he filed a case of First Instance stating he was still owed rent from the previous contract, which was already paid and acknowledged. I then uploaded the documents, but in English, and the decision went in his favor. Can I still appeal this enforcement?

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.

With the introduction of the new procedures for obtaining a power of attorney (POA) remotely in the UAE, after it was mandatory to appear in person in front of the notary public as a global rule to ensure the identity and intention of the person requesting a POA, we put between your hands this brief guide for how you get it done.

The provisions of this law On Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions (Law of Evidence) govern evidence in civil and commercial disputes in the UAE.

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. 

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.