Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Unified rental contract from March 2017 in Dubai



From next month March 2017 onwards, all of Dubai's property lease contracts will have a unified structure, according to the Land Department. The "Unified Lease Form" is designed to "regulate relationships between all parties involved in such transactions and guarantees the rights of all parties," the agency said.

Landlords will have to download and print contracts from the Ejari website and must provide assurance that all items included within are based on a legal framework that regulates the transactions. Items within the contract will thus be governed by applicable laws, including those related to rents.

If any omissions are subsequently found, there is provision for penalties to be applied. Parties to the contract agreement should agree on the items before signing the lease.

According to Hamdan Al Madhani, Director of Rental Relations Regulatory Department, “The applied unified lease form primarily depends on the legal system, and having unified contracts between the parties guarantees the rights of all stakeholders involved.

“The Rental Affairs Sector carries the responsibility to apply the new unified lease contract, in addition to registering leases and tracking the real estate index."

As per Law No. (26)  (under clause No. 16), the landlord is responsible for maintenance repair, and repair of any damage or defect that may affect the well-being of the tenant within the premises, unless otherwise agreed.

Therefore, there cannot be a clause forcing the responsibility on one party alone. Law No. (2) is one of the references used to draft the unified contract. The document also refers to Law No. (33), which regulates the relationship between landlords and tenants, specifically clause No. (25), which specifies the cases that enable the landlord to request an eviction.

These can include subleasing of the property, or in the case of using the property for carrying out prohibited or illegal activities.

No comments: