UAE Property: ‘Should my landlord pay for property maintenance?’

Question: We just rented and moved into an older villa in Dubai. The place has various maintenance problems , which the landlord arranged without any issue, but the A/C has mould and needs deep duct cleaning . Is this the landlord’s responsibility or mine? The cooling works fine. Is there any rule or law around this which we can refer to? SP, Dubai Answer: According to law 26 of 2007, which is the law that governs the relationships between landlords and tenants , maintenance is the responsibility of the landlord. However, over recent years, the specific responsibility was decided based on the monetary value of the issues that need to be taken care of. The current practice is that any maintenance issues that cost less than Dh500 ($136) will be managed by the tenant, but those above Dh500 will be the landlord’s responsibility to sort out and pay. These figures could be even higher, subject to agreement. Looking at your specific issue, it would cost more than Dh500 to remove mould and clean the A/C duct. In this case, the responsibility falls on the landlord to give you an A/C system that not only works but is clean and without potential health issues. Q: I received an eviction court order, with the landlord stating the reason as “personal use”. He later proceeded to rent out the property as a short-term let. I recently went to the Dubai Land Department and they have suggested I apply for a petition order, using the DLD lawyers to represent my case in court for compensation. This is an expensive process and one that is not guaranteed, especially to obtain a petition order for a DLD agent to visit the property to prove the landlord is not residing in it. If the short-term tenant is not home, then I have to keep paying until someone answers the door. Is it necessary to go with legal representation? Does this strengthen a case, or can it be done on my own providing the relevant documents in Arabic? I want to get all evidence documented before opening a case with the dispute centre, which will alert the landlord. LM, Dubai A: It may be advisable to go down the DLD route, if nothing else, it will add gravitas to your case. However, it is not compulsory. You can still file a case yourself with all the relevant evidence gathered. The likely outcome will be down to providing the most information in favour of your case, so it is imperative you get as many people as possible to help you. By this, I mean security guards, the building management and, if you can pull it off, even the current residents. This way, any judge will find it easy to give the judgment in your favour. These cases are not so straightforward and always require time and money spent on them to push through, but hopefully it will be worthwhile in the long run. The opinions expressed do not constitute legal advice and are provided for information only. Please send any questions to mario@novviproperties.com