Landlords or real estate leasing and management companies are once again being warned to register rental contracts on the Ejari, e-registration portal, or face penalties for non-compliance.

A notice on the Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s (Rera) website reads “real estate companies engaged under the following activity (a) self-owned property leasing and management services, (b) leasing and management of other people’s property, (c) real estate management supervision service and (d) real estate leasing brokerage; landlord’s legal representative, commercial compounds or malls and landlord (person or company) must take initiative to register in the Ejari online system for the issuance and registration of rental contracts electronically.”

“In the case of non-compliance registration in the system within a month of this announcement will be subject to the penalties set (for) year 2010,” the notice said. No date of issue of the notice has been mentioned.

In April, Mohammad Khalifa Ahmed bin Hammad, Director of the Real Estate Relationship Regulating Department, Rera, told this website that registration of residential and commercial rental contracts in Dubai is mandatory through the Ejari and failure to comply with the law, by any party to the contract, may lead to imposition of penalty.

"Law No. 26 of 2007 concerning regulating the relation between tenants and landlords of property makes it mandatory to register lease contracts with Rera and this should be carried out through its Ejari system. There is no exception for commercial or residential contracts," he then said.

According to Rera, the Ejari software was developed and the system formally introduced in order to fully regulate the relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai in accordance with Law 26 of 2007 concerning regulating the relation between tenants and landlords of property in Dubai.

The objective in enacting the provisions of the law was to make this relationship transparent and ensure all parties to a rental agreement are aware of their rights and obligations. Effectively, it establishes a sound, rigorous and well-defined procedure within which rental agreements are made, officially recognised as a matter of course, and if necessary, the terms enforced.