I live in Sky Court, Dubailand, and my office is moving to Abu Dhabi so I will have to move out of my current apartment. My landlord gave me one year's notice in March this year and we have to vacate the apartment on March 16, 2015. I gave the landlord two cheques, one that he cashed at the time and a second dated for November 6 which will cover until the end of contract. I would like to know the penalties of cancelling the contract early and what to do if the landlord cashes in the second cheque? Does he have to return the difference? MK, Dubai
I suggest you look at your contract carefully, especially any addendum, because this is where you will probably find the details if requiring to break the contract early. Normally there is a notice period that has to be given and a financial penalty – again normally two months' worth of rent. With the rental situation in Dubai at the moment, landlords are often quite happy if the tenant needs to leave early. Not only does he get a financial benefit but he can rent the property out at market rent which is considerably more than average rent which is what is used by the rental calculator to determine the correct rent at the time of renewal. Any unused rent should be returned by the landlord including the security deposit. It is normal, however, that the landlord will use the deposit to repair the property before giving back what's left.
Between May 2010 and May 2014 I rented a two-bedroom villa in the Springs. The rent rate during that time varied between Dh78,000 and Dh90,000. In my last year the landlord served me a 12-month eviction notice (via email, so in my view not an official notice) because he was going to sell his property. During the last few months of my tenancy, there were a few potential buyers but eventually it appears the landlord wasn't able to sell his property and he has now re-rented it for Dh140,000. I moved out of the villa in May and into another villa in the Springs for Dh130,000 (Dh40,000 more than I was previously paying). So is the landlord within his rights to re-rent the property or do you feel that I should file a case against him? NB, Dubai
Firstly, you are right that the 12-month notification to vacate was not sent via the proper manner so was not legal. You chose to vacate in May even though, from what you were saying, you did not have to. If he cannot sell the villa, he is entitled to relet it but he should have informed you of the same. It would seem odd, however, that having moved out you would move back in so I can understand why he may have decided not to contract you. In reality, the law does not allow for one tenant to be evicted in favour of a landlord to rent to a new tenant for the purpose of getting market rent. You therefore potentially do have a case but it is possible the landlord could argue that no one was interested in his villa to buy so had no alternative but to rent it out again. It is difficult to second guess
what a judge will say but I believe your mistake was vacating before a buyer was found. The tenant has the right to stay beyond the 12-month notification period if a buyer is not found during this time. A tenant does have the right to request sight of the Memorandum of Undertaking to prove a property has indeed been sold. If none of this is forthcoming then staying put in the property is not illegal. As you have vacated and the landlord has relet you may have a chance but given the circumstances I’m not certain of what the exact outcome could be.
Mario Volpi is the managing director of Prestige Real Estate in Dubai (prestigedubai.com). He has 30 years of property industry experience in the emirate and London. Send any questions to mario@prestigedubai.com
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate independent legal advice
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