Ejari e-registration transforms regulation of Dubai rental market
Dubai - United Arab Emirates: The Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) has announced that from today all rental/lease contracts for Dubai properties must be registered through its new Ejari online portal. The announcement makes effective the provisions of Law No.26 of 2007 Regulating the Relationship between Tenants and Landlords in Dubai and requires all individuals and companies acting as landlords to register tenancy agreements.
Landlords and tenants who fail to comply with the new ruling will find that their tenancy agreements fall outside the protection offered by the law and Government agencies and will not be able to enforce the provisions of the agreements they enter into. The Law clearly states: 'Judicial bodies and governmental departments and authorities should not consider any claim, case or execution based on a tenancy contract unless the same is registered with the Agency.'
Announcing the new ruling and the full activation of Ejari, its state-of-the-art online registration system, RERA formally called on everyone involved in drawing up and entering into such contracts to ensure full compliance and avoid violation. Mohammed Bin Hammad, Director of the Real Estate Relations Regulatory Department in RERA, said: 'We have launched the ejari electronic registration web service to meet the requirements of the law and RERA's vision and mission to establish a robust regulatory system for the rental market and protect the rights of everyone involved.
'Today's announcement puts in place a key mechanism which will go a long way towards stamping out violations and malpractice in the rental sector. The aim is to ensure all lease contracts and the parties to such agreements are registered and the details recorded. This will lead to the Dubai rental market becoming one of the most transparent and accountable anywhere and, at the end of the day, one of the best regulated.
'Registration through Ejari offers full protection of their rights to all parties with tenancy agreement. It ensures these rights are recognised, upheld, and enforced by all Government agencies. It establishes full transparency between landlord and tenant, fully integrates rental contracts into the legal framework and opens up the possibility of being able to revise these contracts seamlessly in the event of disputes.
'At a different level, full implementation of Ejari registration will enable the authorities to construct a full and accurate picture of Dubai's rental market which will play a crucial role in its planning for the future of the sector and its ability to influence such factors as the supply side of the market and ultimately the level of prices.'
RERA has endeavored to make Ejari e-registration of lease/rental agreements as easy and accessible as possible and Bin Hammad said: 'Individuals and companies should have no difficulty in using the system'.
Registration through Ejari is a simple process requiring little technical knowledge and that only the basic details of agreements are entered. These include information such as details of the property, the name of the rental company, and terms of the agreement. Once the agreement is entered into the system and registered it is allocated a unique barcode which acts as its reference throughout the life of the contract. RERA will keep its own record of the agreement and update changes to the register as these occur.
The Ejari system provides a full portfolio of services beyond registering the initial lease agreement. Renewals, cancellations, transfers and terminations can all be logged. Bin Hammad said: 'Ejari will ensure rental agreements are fair and transparent to the parties involved and that their terms and conditions are given full weight. Today's launch has moved us closer to the stage where we have one of the best regulated rental markets in the world and best practice is the norm across Dubai's rental sector.
Landlords and tenants should consult the website www.ejari.ae
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© Press Release 2010
