I have a query on the 12-month notary notice that needs to be issued for the tenant to vacate. I issued such a notice and Dubai courts used a courier company to deliver the notice to the tenant. They have sent me the report and it indicates that since the tenant was unavailable, the notice was left at the door. Is there anything more that needs to be done? SD, Dubai
Sending the 12-month notification via notary public is sufficient for its validity, but most of the time the courts also send it to the property using registered mail. The common delivery problem that most registered mail companies face is actually handing the document to the intended recipient, therefore pasting it on the door is deemed as “delivered” in the eyes of the court. At this stage there is no more you need to do, but if you do manage to speak with your tenant, make sure that they are aware of your intentions and their obligation to move.
I emailed a rent increase notification to my tenant almost four months before the lease was due to end. The increase accords with Rera guidelines, but he has chosen to remain quiet. I am assuming that he will pay the increase, because he has not given any notice to vacate. However, in the event that he does not comply, what option is available to enforce the increase, bearing in mind that my wife and I do not live in Dubai? SS, Canada.
As the landlord, you are entitled to an increase in rent as long as you inform the tenant of this increase at least 90 days before the expiration of the agreement, and the Rera rental calculator allows for this. You appear to have complied with both requirements, so you would be entitled to your rent increase. If the tenant does not comply with your request, you will have to file a case at the rental dispute committee, which will involve a fee of 3.5 per cent of the rent. Given that you don’t live in Dubai, you have two choices. Either you visit Dubai to sort this out personally, or arrange for a power of attorney (PoA) to act on your behalf. Organising a PoA from abroad can, unfortunately, take several weeks, so my advice would be to come to Dubai to initially open the case against your tenant and while you are here go to the Dubai court to do a PoA with a trusted person to act on your behalf for when you return home.
After a slew of rental committee interventions, my landlord renewed the lease last year but sent me a 12-month eviction notice immediately after the renewal, citing his intention to sell the property. Since the renewal last year, we have not received any calls from either him or any of his agents for a viewing request. I emailed him couple of times sharing my intent to renew the contract this year as well, as the property has not been sold yet. In case he disagrees about renewing the lease, am I within my legal rights to file a case against him as the property is not yet sold? RA, Dubai
Your landlord does have a right to send you the 12-month notification to vacate notice for reason of selling the property, but this has to be served upon expiry of your tenancy agreement, not during. If the notice is served correctly in this way and after the 12-month period the property still remains unsold, the law is silent on whether you actually have to vacate at the end of the notice period if the property is not sold. The actual decision would be left up to a judge of the Rental Committee once a case has been filed.
I suggest you continue to communicate with the landlord that you wish to renew. But if he insists that you have to vacate then I would file a case, especially if the landlord has made no real effort to find a buyer by the manner of his actions – such as not hosting any viewings.
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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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The%20Mother%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Niki%20Caro%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jennifer%20Lopez%2C%20Joseph%20Fiennes%2C%20Gael%20Garcia%20Bernal%2C%20Omari%20Hardwick%20and%20Lucy%20Paez%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
