Dubai tenants get chance to appeal landlord's eviction notice

If you have been served an eviction notice after losing your case in Dubai Municipality’s Rent Committee in the past 30 days, you now have a chance to appeal.

The newly set-up Rent Dispute Resolution Centre, the judicial arm of Dubai Land Department (DLD), will hear cases arising from decisions made up to 30 days before it commenced operations on November 17.

The option for appellants to take a case to the centre will remain open until December 16 with all appeals being subject to the controls provided for in Articles 17 and 22 of the Decree No. 26 for the year 2013, which pertains to resolving rental disputes in Dubai.

"We held our first session on Sunday November 24 which dealt with four new case hearings. 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,” said Judge Abdul Qader Mousa, Head of the Rental Dispute Resolution Centre.

Article 17 excludes appeals being made where there is a lawsuit claim that involves a value of less than Dh100,000, with certain exceptions.

Those appeals that may be heard in the trial chamber where the amount claimed is less than this  figure include a judgment that has resulted in an eviction, or a judgment that is in violation of the rules of jurisdiction.

The other exceptions include judgments where the result was in excess of what the adversary had claimed, where the appellant had not been represented correctly, where the lawsuit announcement had been delivered incorrectly, where the judgment was based on forged documents, or where any of the parties has been found to have concealed evidence pertinent to the case.

According to the Article 16 of the Decree No 26, 2013, all committees will have to judge all rental lawsuits within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of referral of the case to them.

The deadline may, however, be extended in accordance with the rules and procedures adopted by the chairman of the centre in this regard.

No fee details are still given, but the centre will charge 3.5 per cent of the annual rent as fees, similar to the fee charged by previous rent committee.

The centre's scope of practice does not cover rental disputes arising within Dubai's free zones, which have their own judicial committees, or special courts, to adjudicate in such matters.

Its authority does not extend to disputes arising from contract leasing, as well as those arising from long-term leases covered by the provisions of Decree No 7 for the year 2006, which pertains to real estate registration in Dubai.

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