New rent dispute centre opens

DUBAI // The Rental Dispute Resolution Centre at the Land Department heard four cases on its first full day of operation on Sunday.

The centre is to hear appeals against judgments made by the Rental Committee, which it was set up to replace.

Tenants and landlords can only lodge appeals at the centre in cases where judgment was delivered a month before it was to officially start work on November 17.

“The recently opened body, which has taken over from the committee as the Land Department’s judicial arm, will hear cases arising from decisions made up to 30 days before November 17,” said a release. Appellants can also approach the centre only until December 16.

“We held our first session on Sunday and dealt with four new case hearings,” said Judge Abdul Qader Mousa, the head of the Rental Dispute Resolution Centre.

“We will commence appeal sessions next week that will look at the decisions taken by the previous committee before the start of the centre’s work.”

The centre said it would turn down appeals where the claim was less than Dh100,000 except in cases where the judgement had led to an eviction or if the verdict was in violation of the rules of jurisdiction.

It will also entertain cases where the appellant had been misrepresented, if the judgment was based on forged documents, or if parties had concealed evidence.