I live in Sky Court, Dubailand, and my office is moving to Abu Dhabi so I will have to move out of my current apartment. My landlord gave me one year's notice in March this year and we have to vacate the apartment on March 16, 2015. I gave the landlord two cheques, one that he cashed at the time and a second dated for November 6 which will cover until the end of contract. I would like to know the penalties of cancelling the contract early and what to do if the landlord cashes in the second cheque? Does he have to return the difference? MK, Dubai
I suggest you look at your contract carefully, especially any addendum, because this is where you will probably find the details if requiring to break the contract early. Normally there is a notice period that has to be given and a financial penalty – again normally two months' worth of rent. With the rental situation in Dubai at the moment, landlords are often quite happy if the tenant needs to leave early. Not only does he get a financial benefit but he can rent the property out at market rent which is considerably more than average rent which is what is used by the rental calculator to determine the correct rent at the time of renewal. Any unused rent should be returned by the landlord including the security deposit. It is normal, however, that the landlord will use the deposit to repair the property before giving back what's left.
Between May 2010 and May 2014 I rented a two-bedroom villa in the Springs. The rent rate during that time varied between Dh78,000 and Dh90,000. In my last year the landlord served me a 12-month eviction notice (via email, so in my view not an official notice) because he was going to sell his property. During the last few months of my tenancy, there were a few potential buyers but eventually it appears the landlord wasn't able to sell his property and he has now re-rented it for Dh140,000. I moved out of the villa in May and into another villa in the Springs for Dh130,000 (Dh40,000 more than I was previously paying). So is the landlord within his rights to re-rent the property or do you feel that I should file a case against him? NB, Dubai
Firstly, you are right that the 12-month notification to vacate was not sent via the proper manner so was not legal. You chose to vacate in May even though, from what you were saying, you did not have to. If he cannot sell the villa, he is entitled to relet it but he should have informed you of the same. It would seem odd, however, that having moved out you would move back in so I can understand why he may have decided not to contract you. In reality, the law does not allow for one tenant to be evicted in favour of a landlord to rent to a new tenant for the purpose of getting market rent. You therefore potentially do have a case but it is possible the landlord could argue that no one was interested in his villa to buy so had no alternative but to rent it out again. It is difficult to second guess
what a judge will say but I believe your mistake was vacating before a buyer was found. The tenant has the right to stay beyond the 12-month notification period if a buyer is not found during this time. A tenant does have the right to request sight of the Memorandum of Undertaking to prove a property has indeed been sold. If none of this is forthcoming then staying put in the property is not illegal. As you have vacated and the landlord has relet you may have a chance but given the circumstances I’m not certain of what the exact outcome could be.
Mario Volpi is the managing director of Prestige Real Estate in Dubai (prestigedubai.com). He has 30 years of property industry experience in the emirate and London. Send any questions to mario@prestigedubai.com
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate independent legal advice
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South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
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The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket