Many thank yous again. I had a gentle (ha ha) word to DH and he was persuaded not to pay it. When it came time to hand over the checks today he told the LL that he would not pay the DH 1000 charge and that we knew we could just take our checks to RERA if they were not going to provide a new lease based on us not paying their charge. They backed down straight away. We have been given notice that they are selling and we have 12 months, however the information about it not selling in the 12 months is noted and I will keep a keen eye on what happens.
The demand to pay this charge is appalling given the ease of preparing these leases. We had no changes to ours. I hope others will do something similar if faced with such an outrageous request. Your advice ladies has been so very helpful.
This question came up on the property show on the radio the other day. Basically the answer is there is no law saying they can or can't charge, therefore real estate agents are charging. The real estate company representative on the radio seemed to think dhs 500-1000 was a fair amount as it takes the agent time to print then get it to you to sign etc.
Personally I think it's outrageous and wouldn't pay it.
Also even if you are given 12 months notice correctly and the property is not sold by the end of the 12months you have the right to stay, the owners can't kick you out and rent it to someone else for a higher rate.
<em>edited by starsouthern on 29/08/2014</em>
You should absolutely not be paying anything for lease renewal. It's not necessary for the LL to use an agent, but if they do and there is a charge involved, it's up to the LL to pay. The whole renewal process is the LL's responsibility. What a cheek!
Thank you for all your advice. DivineBeet, no such clause is in our current lease. The charge was only mentioned just over a week ago, less than a month before lease expiry. They are also not using a realty company as far as I know. Geordie Expat, do you know if this charge is just a "done thing" or is it mentioned some where in law?
Do check your current lease for notes about the renewal costs. In our original lease, there is a 400AED admin charge for renewals noted, so we're stuck paying this fee at time of renewal to the realty representing the landlord. If you don't see anything like this in your lease then I do not believe the landlord can force you to pay it. If he notified you of this additional charge 90days prior to re-signing, and you agreed then you might have to..
As previous posters have said, there is no such thing as a non-renewable lease. If you sign such a lease, this clause will not be legally recognized. The landlord can however serve you with official eviction papers at the start of your new lease (using one of the reasons mentioned below), so you would not be able to stay past those 12 months. We're in this situation now - we're renewing this month but were told that we will be served eviction papers at time of renewal.
Thanks for this Izzy. From what you have indicated then - is it unusual to be asked to pay Dh 1000 for the lease to be prepared? Appreciate your advice on printing it - I bet it is straightforward and at this stage I don't require the template but appreciate the offer :)
I just want to be sure when I ask my DH to tell the LL that we are not paying this cost.
The blue stanard paper can be bought in any stationary shop / printing shop - it costs about 25 aed per bundle - if you have ms publisher i can send you the template and you can prepare it yourself. I do this wit my LL (i also do all for my boss and i do not charge the tennants one dirham for doing so - harram)
The LL can evist you for 3 reasons:
1 - he wants to move in
2 - he is selling
3 - he needs to do repairs that he can't do with you in it.
This needs to be given as 12 months notice either via registered mail or public notory.
If you want me to send you the template for rent contracts just let me know and post your email addy.
Morning ladies. I have read so many useful threads on here about rental issues and thought that when the time came I would be so very well equipped.....but sure enough we have an issue that I am not sure I have read about. Our landlord is insisting on 1000 Dhm to cover the cost of preparing the new lease. Sounds a bit odd to me and I am trying to find out before my husband just goes and hands over the money. DH says that others he knows have paid this fee and it is standard practice, although not required and he just wants to be done with it. I don't! Does anyone have advice on this?
On a smaller issue, we were told by email (without any reasons) that our lease would not be renewed after this one. I told my DH not to respond or do anything, because unless they put it in writing with the appropriate reason it is not enough to just tell us in this fashion. Am I correct in my thinking on that?
A little bit panicked as I am still overseas and DH sys he is going to be handing over cheques tomorrow.....
TIA