Notice for Dubai tenant to vacate turns out to be invalid

Landlord who added vacating notice to contract cannot evict tenant or raise the rent, says property expert Mario Volpi.

Dubai rental laws do not consider vacating letters implementable even if signed by both parties. Stephen Lock / The National

I have a tenant in my studio apartment. During the signing of the tenancy contract in 2013, he had agreed to vacate the property by the end of the lease in August 2014. This was mentioned on a paper agreement and signed by both of us and this vacating clause was mentioned in the tenancy contract as well. Now he has turned around saying he wants to renew and is pressuring me on renewal as his current rental is almost 30 per cent below market rate. What are the best options for me? TN, Dubai

Regrettably, the law does not support vacating notices from tenants as these go against the spirit of current rental laws. While you do have a written agreement between you and your tenant, this is only valid if the tenant adheres to the agreement. If, as in your case, he now wishes to renew, unless you are wanting to sell the property or move into it yourself or your immediate next of kin you will be forced to renew because the law states this is permissible. Not only will you have to renew but unfortunately assuming you did not inform the tenant of any changes to the contract 90 days before the expiry, in actual fact you will also have to renew at last year's rent.

These are the cold, hard facts and unfortunately you will not be able to dodge them or do anything else about it until next year. Remember to inform the tenant 90 days before expiry of the agreement of any changes and by this I mean the rent, so at least next year you will most likely be able to raise the rent.

My wife and I have rented a fantastic apartment on the right side of Palm Jumeirah and Al Hatimi with full sea views since October 2010. I know my rights and have kept the rent rises to the minimum and it now stands at Dh175,000. The Dubizzle adverts are around Dh200,000 to Dh210,000 for a fully furnished apartment in the same location. This puts my rent around 20 per cent below potential market rates.

If Rera agree then the maximum my landlord could raise it by is 5 per cent or Dh9,000. However, I gave him all the laws and decrees so he has served me with an eviction notice 15 months before as he wants to live in the property himself. I have advised him that if he changes his mind he can't rent out for two years. He would also have to prove he had nowhere else to live (he lives in Switzerland). He will very probably rent it out for Dh210,000, therefore making himself Dh24,000 more than my 5 per cent rise. I will vacate but will now have to pay at least Dh200,000 to get the same style of apartment plus agency fees 5 per cent plus moving costs. I will pay my 3.5 per cent to take a case out with the rent committee, so:

1) What compensation can I expect bearing in mind my Dh40,000 to Dh50,000 extra costs.

2) How can I get this money from a man living outside of the UAE?

3) Are the damages punitive? ie if he makes Dh50,000 more in rental over the two years then it's a simple accountancy calculation to throw me out, pay the compensation and fill the apartment. JP, Dubai

The points you make are all correct but I will answer your queries as posed.

1. If you take the landlord to the Rent Committee and win, you will be entitled to compensation as per the law. Regrettably I have yet to have a definitive response from other tenants who have taken their landlord to court as to exactly how much compensation they received. In reality, the judge should take each case as per its merits, so if you have had to shell out extra costs of up to Dh50,000 then this, might be the sort of compensation you might get. The exact amount is to be determined but this part of the law is in place to stop landlords getting tenants out to just relet to others for maximum market gain.

2. Getting any financial recompense from someone who does not live in the UAE is difficult but presumably as he has a property here he ought to have a UAE bank account. If this account also has funds, the judge would order payment via this account.

3. As stated, this part of the law is in place to stop landlords from evicting one tenant for the sake of material gain from another but I cannot unfortunately confirm if the compensation is just your out- of-pocket expenses plus or minus some extras in addition to punitive damages too.

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

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