Wife of UAE tenant who lost his job needs leeway on rent from landlord

A tenant whose husband has no UAE residence visa and has bounced the rental cheque must rectify the situation fast or face eviction.

Communication with a landlord – and paying rent money owed as soon as possible – is key to resolving problems that come up with the rent. Courtesy Luxhabitat

I live in an apartment in the UAE but my husband's visa has been cancelled and he has been rejected for a visit visa. Now he has applied for employment again, but the rental cheque on the property has bounced. When my husband returns to the UAE he will be able to pay, but what should I do in the meantime? KM, Dubai

Communication is the key to your situation and a face-to-face meeting with the landlord is the only way to try to resolve the issue. Explaining your predicament and convincing the landlord to be a little patient while your husband gets back is the way to get this sorted.

Renting in UAE is only allowed with a valid residency visa, which normally is connected to employment. Presumably your husband’s visa was cancelled through losing his job, but now that he has found a new employer to sponsor him he will be able to continue with the rental. What is also important is to pay back any debt to the landlord as quickly as possible. You do not mention exactly when your husband is returning, but payment has to be made. Otherwise the landlord has the right to evict you for non-payment of rent.

We have rented an office in Tecom from a private owner and our lease is due to expire in May. Our previous landlord served us a Dubai court eviction notice in March 2016, telling us that he intended to sell and that we needed to vacate the office in the said time. He then sold our office to another private owner. In May 2016, while our contract was due for renewal, we signed a new tenancy contract with the new owner. We still have not received any legal notice from the new owner. Ninety days before our current contract was due to expire, we emailed the new owner to renew the contract. The new owner then said he did not wish to go ahead with the renewal and advised us to vacate the office in May. We have spent a huge amount on our office fit-out and for us to move will adversely affect our business. Does the new landlord have the right to evict us based on the previous owner's court notice or does he need to serve us another 365 days notice letter for him to have possession of his property? JA, Dubai

Past examples of this same situation have always resulted in the new owner having to serve the 12 months eviction notice again. The reason for this is that the original notice is not transferable. Given that the new owner can now only legitimately evict you for the reason of use by himself or his next of kin by first degree, I suspect that he will change his mind and renew with you. This is only my hunch because the other reasons for eviction would not be applicable such as the following: selling (it has just been bought so I don’t believe this is viable), demolition or extensive modernisation that would prevent you from being in the unit while the work was carried out. These last two reasons also require technical reports from the concerned authorities.

I suspect that when you explain to the new owner that he would need to serve you a new notice he will not agree, so either of you can then file a case at the rental dispute committee to effect a solution. It is important to know that the law is not set on precedent and that the final decision lies with the presiding judge at the Rental Dispute Settlement Centre.

Mario Volpi is the chief sales officer for Kensington Exclusive Properties and has worked in the property industry for more than 30 years in London and Dubai. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Please send any questions to [e-mail].

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