Thursday, Dec 25, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: All Dubai tenants must register their tenancy contracts on the Real Estate Regulatory Authority's (Rera) online website by law, according to Rera officials.
Around 100 companies have already registered their tenancy contracts on the new Ejari website, as Rera plans to achieve a comprehensive view of Dubai's rental market.
Marwan Bin Galita, chief executive officer of Dubai's Rera, said that over 100 companies have already registered online and about 82 have been trained in the system.
Registration of all tenancy contracts is compulsory based on law No 26, said Bin Galita.
"One of our responsibilities as the Real Estate Regulatory Authority is to register all rental contracts in Dubai. We've made it online so people don't have to come to us," Bin Galita told Gulf News yesterday.
The final rental index will be finished when 60 per cent of units in Dubai have been registered in the new system, Bin Galita said.
If the tenant found a property to rent through an agent, then the agent will register the contract online. If there is no agent involved, then the landlord and tenant both must sign the registration form.
Bin Galita said he expects everyone to register their contracts online as it is a positive step and one that will hopefully see the end of dishonest behaviour and landlord-tenant disputes.
The current cost to register a contract is Dh100, although this figure has not yet been finalised.
As the new year approaches, many tenants in Dubai are in the middle of paying next year's rent, mostly in the dreaded one-cheque system.
With many having to take out personal loans in order to pay their annual rent, and these loans are now harder to come by, it is harder to pay rent.
Rera hopes that rental payments will become easier in the coming months, as the rental index is fin-alised. "This is what I'm strongly trying to introduce. People should have the choice to pay monthly or quarterly or in six months," Bin Galita said.
The rental index, when complete, will help newcomers to Dubai see what properties are available and the average rental rates in carefully zoned areas.
"2009 will be a year when the rental market adjusts itself because all the signs are there to show the market will adjust.
Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
