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I have just had a very frustrating and annoying experience caused by a greedy landlord and a letting agent who doesn't understand the law relating to tenancy contracts.

One month before the expiry of my tenancy contract my landlord informed he would evict me on expiry as he needed the house for his son. I explained to him he couldn't do this as it is illegal.

He then informed me that my rental charges would be increased by 20%. Again I informed him that he couldn't do this and it was illegal. The RERA online calculator showed that an increase of only 10% would be allowed.

The letting agent contacted me one week before expiry and informed me that the rent would be increased by 10%. I explained that they couldn't this. If they want to change any terms and conditions, including rental increases then they must inform me no less than 90 days before the expiry of the tenancy contract. They didn't believe me and many emails were exchanged before they eventually backed down and gave me a new contract without any rental increase. Victory!

The worrying thing was that my letting agent didn't understand the law, I had to explain it to him!

My advice to anyone being bullied by their landlord or letting agent is check the law on RERA's website or telephone them, they are very efficient, helpful and are well aware there's are many landlords and letting agents in Dubai who are not following the rules and regulations.

David - Jumeirah Village Triangle

DNCUK wrote:

they eventually backed down and gave me a new contract without any rental increase. Victory!

Congrats! Nice post, might be useful for many expats!

Who was your letting agent? If it's not a secret..

A lot of letting agents are just kids brought over on the promise of good money and a party life style. They won't know the law and won't care. They are desperate to get the contract signed as they are only on commission. They will bluff and hope you don't know your rights. Fool if you take anything these people say as the truth without checking yourself. I'm not saying they are bad people, I just wouldn't trust them. I once let my flat to the head mortgage advisor for Smith and Ken. He was a total liar and when I contacted his employer Ben Smith, he turned out to be an even bigger liar.

Dear BMreformed, yes I completely agree with what you are saying.

The guy I was dealing with didn't have a clue, when I realised that he didn't know/understand the law I asked to speak to the Manager, he said "I am the Manager!" I asked "You're the Manager of the Letting Agency, you should be the expert, why am I having to explain the law to you?" he didn't give any answer but I suggested that he and his staff go and get some training before they land themselves in trouble.

One thing I forgot to say, the Letting Agency were also trying to charge me AED 1,000 to renew my Tenancy Contract. I told them I would not be paying it, according to RERA they are not allowed to charge anything for renewing contracts except for the registration fee of AED 195.