Q: Hi. I am a tenant and gave notice to my landlord on 3rd July 2017. The contract was for 12 months starting March 2017 but had the following provisions: "The Parties agree that there may be instances where the Tenant shall need to terminate the lease early, and in accordance with current guidelines the Tenant will give a two-month notice and two-month rent penalty in the case of immediate vacation." The landlord did not come to the pre-agreed date of vacating the premises on the 7th of September because I refused to pay him the two-month penalty, although I had already given him over 2 months notice. He is saying I have to pay him the additional 2 months even though I read it as only payable if I vacated immediately.

Q: My tenancy contract specifies that "In the event of early termination, Tenant shall have to serve two-month written notice prior to the vacating date and to pay two months rent as a penalty to the landlord and the remaining balance to be refunded". Based on that, please advise if during the two months notice I can stay in the property and paying those two months rent (which are effectively already paid) are the penalty or if after the two months notice an additional two months rent should be paid as a penalty? Thank you

Q: Hi, I wish to terminate my lease with my current landlord before the end of my contract. There is a clause in the lease stating I should give 60 days notice with no other mention of penalties. The landlord is demanding 2 months rent after the 60 days, is this legal? How can I approach this? Thank you

Q: I was a resident of Sharjah and was staying in a 2 BHK apartment. As I was looking for a furnished apartment on rent for a short span of 6 months only, the landlord denied to make the agreement but verbally decided to accept the rent upfront each month and asked for 1-month rent as security. I objected to giving any security deposit but promised to pay rent at the beginning of each month and gave him a cheque with 1-month rent amount if I don’t make the payment at the beginning of the month but not a security deposit. Due to living with the family, I had to look for another option I moved to a new apartment before the new month started. Now, the landlord is asking for rent for the month in which I’m not going to stay and threatening me to deposit the cheque of AED 1,600/- and get the cheque bounced and take legal action to put me behind the bar. I have paid AED 1,000/- for utility in advance for which bill was generated as AED 640/- only. What are the legal ways to come out of this??

Q: We have been using an office for rent in Al Karama since 2014 and renewed contract in August 2020. Now, since business is less we wanted to vacate the office because the rent was high and we informed the real estate office but they are saying we need to pay 2 months rent for free. Also, they are saying they will take AED 8500 old security deposit for damages and repair of office but there is no damage in office and it doesn't even have any interiors or partition works done, just open office. Kindly advise if we have any rights to vacate without paying additional payments.

Q: Dear Mam, I took one-bedroom flat in Sharjah for AED 28000, from June 2017 to May 2018. I paid 3 cheques but the last cheque I was not able to pay and stayed 3 months more. My owner made a complaint to vacate the house in august, so I vacated the house in September and he calculated for 7 months rent and was told to pay 18000. I paid 5000 cash in December and lost my job in February 2019. Now my company tried to cancel my visa, then only I come to know he filed a case. My company submitted my passport to Sharjah police HQ. I want to know what will happen next. Will the police arrest me? What do I need to do? I'm very much struck financially, please help me to solve this. Because of this problem, without knowing I lost one offer also, please guide me on what to do now.

Q: A company has rented a small office in a business center, but has been unable to pay the rent for a few months since the COVID-19 lockdown. The business center has locked up the office, preventing access and usage, but continues to accrue the new unpaid rents as being due even though the company has no access to use the premises. Is this legal? The lease mentions that the landlord is allowed to lock up the office in case of late payments, but I had in mind that was illegal, hence that this clause was invalid, and that the company should have access to the office and to retrieve its belonging from there. Thanks, E.

س: أنا مستأجر شقة مالكها تُوفي منذ عام ونصف والورثة يحررون لي إيصال إيجار مكتوب فيه المالك (ورثة فلان) ولا يكتبون أسمائهم وإنما اسم المورِّث. هل هذا الإيصال رسمي وسليم أم أنه غير معترف به؟ وماذا أفعل؟ شكرًا لحضراتكم!

س: يوجد بحقي دعوى بتجديد عقد الايجار من دون علمي ز انا خارج البلاد منذ 2016 رقم الدعوى 1020/2017 تنفيذ , أريد أن أعلم هل تنقضي الدعوى بانقضاء المهلة او الزمن؟ وكم هي المدة؟ لدي عقد عمل في الامارات و اريد العودة الى أبو ظبي ماذا علي ان أفعل

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.