Dubai tenant refuses to accept eviction notice and tries to stop landlord selling property

Tenant refuses to let people in for viewings. Expert Mario Volpi advises on this and other property queries.

A Downtown Dubai tenant is causing problems for the landlord. Jaime Puebla / The National

I wanted advice on selling my apartment and dealing with a difficult tenant. I first rented out my apartment in Clarens 2, Downtown Dubai, in October 2012. I would have preferred to sell but having bought at the peak in May 2008 at Dh3.1 million, I could not afford to cover the gap between my mortgage and the market price at that time. I renewed with my tenant again in October last year but did tell him that I wanted to sell the property as the price was moving in the right direction, and I would be looking to sell at Dh1.8m. Now the price has reached and exceeded this level and I am keen to sell. However the tenant is being difficult and saying I have to send a notarised vacating letter. When I sent a vacating letter by courier, he refused to accept delivery. Please can you advise what I should do to get the tenant to leave so that I can sell the property. He is not even letting me do any viewings or provide any pictures of the apartment. I also read that if I want to increase the rent at the renewal date in October, I have to give 90 days notice of the rent increase. AZ, Dubai

As a landlord you have the right to sell your property and in wanting to do this, you will have to give your present tenant a 12-month notification to vacate. The best way to go about this is to use a notary public. There you can also organise for it to be delivered via registered mail. The courier company is given the task to deliver the document in the proper manner. A tenant can obviously be difficult and try to refuse to accept this, but by law it would be deemed delivered if this notice is produced and handled in this way. Sometimes courier companies stick the notice on the door or slide it under the door. Politely remind your tenant that reasonable access to the property for viewings and so forth is allowed and that he should be flexible in this regard. Any changes to the contract have to be communicated to either party giving 90 days notice. This would include the rent amount or the number of cheques and so on.

I am a tenant in a two-bedroom apartment paying an annual rent that is 8 per cent higher than the relevant rate according to the Rera calculator. My landlord's office has sent me a notice as per the tenancy contract, for the tenancy renewal, without mentioning the renewal rent amount. On speaking to a member of staff at the office, I was informed that the rent would increase by 30 per cent. Is an increase exceeding 20 per cent allowed? RM, Dubai

You do not mention exactly when your tenancy agreement is due for renewal, but in any case the landlord has to give you 90 days’ notice before the expiration of the existing tenancy to alter the contract in any way, and this obviously would include the rental agreement. If your landlord has missed the 90-day window, then he is not entitled to any changes to the contract – therefore no increase should be allowed. Also, a 30 per cent increase in rent in one year is not allowed. Generally the maximum a landlord can increase in any one year is 20 per cent, but the actual rental amount has to be checked individually against the calculator after inputting all the data.

My rental contract in Dubai is due to renew next month, and the owner of my apartment wants to increase the rent. According to the Rera calculator, he has the right to do so but he has missed the 90-day notice required by the law. As I like the place and have had a good relationship with the owner, I was planning to offer him a lower increase (5 per cent instead of 15 per cent) in exchange for signing a two-year contract. My question: would a two-year contract be legal? Will the owner be compelled to respect it? JMS, Dubai

The law states that both parties need to inform the other of any changes to the contract giving 90-days notice. In this instance, your landlord has missed this window, so by law, you should be able to renew at the same terms and conditions as before. If you decide to negotiate, however, this is entirely up to you and your landlord to agree on different terms than what the law states. I agree that sometimes tenants need to look at the bigger picture and bend the rules to favour the landlord. If you therefore want to sign for a two-year contract and your landlord agrees, then this is perfectly legal, but I suggest you put in provisions to protect the landlord in terms of rent for the second year.

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 [e-mail]

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

Follow us on Twitter @Ind_Insights