UAE legal Q&As: How to address tenant’s unpaid charges

Q: Does building management or a landlord have the right to stop a tenant from moving their belongings out of a property if the lease has expired but they have not settled their outstanding charges (such as cooling charges) and if the deposit is insufficient? What action can be taken?

A: The owner of a unit doesn’t have the right to evict a tenant either before or after the lease contract expires without an official ruling from the rent committee. A landlord may also not prevent a tenant from moving their belongings out. The landlord may, however, take the issue up with the rental disputes committee to ask for the unsettled dues, provided they produce evidence to support their claim. If the tenant did not settle the outstanding bills, the landlord does not have the right to disconnect water or electricity, or any other such service. If the landlord were to do so, the tenant could report the case to police and use the ensuing report before the disputes committee. Instead of disconnecting services, a landlord is advised to submit the case to the disputes committee.

Q: Are tenants allowed to play loud music before 8am and does a neighbour have a legal right to complain if they do?

A: A tenant is entitled to enjoy their home any way they choose to, provided they don’t encroach on the freedom of other residents in the building. There is not a specified time for listening to music but, if music were to be played loud at what is considered a time for rest, neighbours may report the incident to police. The authorities would warn the person in question. And if they continue to play loud music, the police could make them sign a pledge not to do so again. Should the problem persist, neighbours may file an official report with police.

Q: In a road rage incident, when it is a person’s word against another, how do the authorities decide whether it is worth pursuing? And does the incident even deserve to become a court case? Can a reckless driver be reported to the police when there is no evidence?

A: Road users are obliged to respect one another. The law protects the rights of individuals against even the simplest breach. So if a person has been verbally or physically abused, they should lodge a complaint with the authorities. The plaintiff should produce evidence in the event that they are called to be a witness in court.

* If you have a question for our lawyer, please email it to newsdesk@thenational.ae with the subject line “Know the law”.

No Shame

Lily Allen

(Parlophone)

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.