I am the landlord of an Abu Dhabi villa and the annual contract with my tenant – who has lived there for the past three years – has expired. I had given them notice for renewal, but the tenant sent me an email saying he wanted to leave. Then I found out that only the wife and child live in the villa while the husband – the person whose name the contract is in – lives in another flat. His wife then approached me saying she did not want to move until her husband provided them with another place to live. There is an ongoing divorce case between them in the Abu Dhabi courts. So I approached the husband again and he said not to worry, he would return my villa before the expiry date. The contract has now expired – his wife and child don’t want to leave and the husband won’t pick up his phone. What should I do? MS, Abu Dhabi
This is a rather unfortunate situation but I can only explain your options from a legal point of view; from a human aspect you will need to decide if you will allow the wife and child to stay. The tenancy contract is in the name of the husband and therefore as the official tenant he is the one dealing with it. The reality is that both landlord and tenant have a 60-day window to inform the other party of any changes to the contract and this appears to have been missed. The tenant then legally has to renew again for another year, even though he doesn’t want to, as the contract will automatically renew under the same terms as before. Given he is now not replying to you or ignoring your calls, you have no alternative but to file a case at the rent dispute settlement committee. Please note that there is a charge of 4 per cent of the rental amount capped at Dh20,000 to file the case.
Last year at renewal, my landlord asked me to sign an eviction notice. He wanted me to leave the apartment as he wants to sell it. Then in October he sent me an official eviction notice. My rental contract will finish soon, but I need to stay in the apartment for longer. He insists I have to leave the apartment now. Can I stay? If so, will my rent increase? KM, Dubai
There are two problems I see with the notices that have been produced between you and your landlord. The first eviction notice was produced at the correct time as prescribed by law 33 of 2008, ie upon expiry of your tenancy agreement. But it was not sent via notary public or registered mail, therefore it is invalid. The second notification letter sent in October is sent via registered mail but has no bearing as it’s just a notice requesting you to confirm your eviction. Given the details you have sent me, I believe you would be entitled to stay on for another year as the owner needs to send your eviction notice for reason of selling upon expiry of your tenancy agreement either via notary public or registered mail. As far as the renewal rent is concerned, your landlord is not entitled to any increase as he has not informed you of any changes to the contract giving you the statutory 90 days’ notice.
I will be resigning from my job and leaving the UAE. Am I obligated to pay the rest of the lease agreement? What are the rules on how to break the lease in this instance? TI, Dubai
I would ask you to check your tenancy agreement, specifically the addendum as this is where you will find the information on breaking the contract. Presumably, you have also registered the tenancy with Ejari and under the terms and conditions you will see that there is a penalty of two months’ rent owed to the landlord for terminating the agreement early. The other condition is that you should have been in the property for at least six months to qualify.
Mario Volpi has worked in the real estate industry in Dubai and in London for the past 30 years. Send any questions to mariovolpi@aol.com.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only.
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