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ewmoda

What's up with one cheque policy?!

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 07 March 2016 - 11:17

I am really annoyed with the landlords demanding 1 cheque and making 2 cheques sound like a big favour! What about monthly payments like in the rest of the world? Do we still have these ridiculous packages? And cheques, really? Which in addition to everything cannot be cancelled? I didn't know they still existed before coming here. Argh!!!

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18

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 March 2016 - 21:52

If LL will not release you early from the tenancy agreement, do not give him the keys back until the end of the period for which you have paid, and make sure you changed the locks [if you didn't already when moving in'>. At least he won't be able to re-let & get double rent.

197

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 March 2016 - 10:18

So why is Dubai so different from the rest of the Gulf. We have lived in both Qatar and Bahrain,both have a high turnover of people coming and going . However we have never had to pay a full years rent in advance.

197

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 10 March 2016 - 10:18

So why is Dubai so different from the rest of the Gulf. We have lived in both Qatar and Bahrain,both have a high turnover of people coming and going . However we have never had to pay a full years rent in advance.

767

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 10 March 2016 - 06:42

Emirates NBD offers loan for 1 check rent and you can pay in 12 installments. Yes, the less checks are because people are travelling a lot here and risk of leaving the country completely.

25

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 20:36

In my case, we paid the rent upfront in one cheque. Now we are leaving, we gave the landlord the 3 months notice required, and he simply turned round and said he's not refunding us any of our rent money. Over 100000 dhs. Never again will I pay a full years rent upfront. It's no surprise to me that landlords have a bad reputation here when they do things like this!! I don't agree with or like the 1 check policy, but why would the landlord refund your money just because you are leaving early? Your lease was for a year (regardless of 1 check or monthly checks). Where I'm from, there is normally a clause in leases that say if you leave early (and give proper notice), you can be free and clear for whatever is left on your contract only if your landlord is able to re-lease the property. However, if the LL cannot then you would be liable for the entire term. In Dubai, we didn't even get a clause like that in our lease. So if we leave early, then we are SOL. We do have a clause that says we can break the contract if we give 3 months notice. so how many people stay for exactly 1, 2, 3 years etc? What happens to the people who have to leave after 30 months for example?

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 17:29

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash. Yep, I have a property investment back home and the tenant covers just half of the monthly payments, and in case they decide to leave, I still can continue with my contributions. All because when buying that property I calculated all the risks involved and whether I would be able to pay the loan even if I didn't rent it out.

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 17:25

In my case, we paid the rent upfront in one cheque. Now we are leaving, we gave the landlord the 3 months notice required, and he simply turned round and said he's not refunding us any of our rent money. Over 100000 dhs. Never again will I pay a full years rent upfront. It's no surprise to me that landlords have a bad reputation here when they do things like this!! I don't agree with or like the 1 check policy, but why would the landlord refund your money just because you are leaving early? Your lease was for a year (regardless of 1 check or monthly checks). Where I'm from, there is normally a clause in leases that say if you leave early (and give proper notice), you can be free and clear for whatever is left on your contract only if your landlord is able to re-lease the property. However, if the LL cannot then you would be liable for the entire term. In Dubai, we didn't even get a clause like that in our lease. So if we leave early, then we are SOL. Indeed. So what about the security deposit? Since when is it not enough? In fact, I know some landlords renting the place while the previous contract is still in place, so they get paid double when the tenant left earlier.

ThirdCultureFamily

138

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 17:06

In my case, we paid the rent upfront in one cheque. Now we are leaving, we gave the landlord the 3 months notice required, and he simply turned round and said he's not refunding us any of our rent money. Over 100000 dhs. Never again will I pay a full years rent upfront. It's no surprise to me that landlords have a bad reputation here when they do things like this!! I don't agree with or like the 1 check policy, but why would the landlord refund your money just because you are leaving early? Your lease was for a year (regardless of 1 check or monthly checks). Where I'm from, there is normally a clause in leases that say if you leave early (and give proper notice), you can be free and clear for whatever is left on your contract only if your landlord is able to re-lease the property. However, if the LL cannot then you would be liable for the entire term. In Dubai, we didn't even get a clause like that in our lease. So if we leave early, then we are SOL.

25

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 16:45

In my case, we paid the rent upfront in one cheque. Now we are leaving, we gave the landlord the 3 months notice required, and he simply turned round and said he's not refunding us any of our rent money. Over 100000 dhs. Never again will I pay a full years rent upfront. It's no surprise to me that landlords have a bad reputation here when they do things like this!!

45

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 16:21

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash. Dubai is a very transient region and the vast majority of people here are ex pats. If they lose their job or cannot afford to pay the rent, they can skip. The threat of that is far higher than in other countries. In the UK for example people who flee a property can be found quite easily whereas here if they have skipped they cannot That doesn't mean I agree with the 1 cheque rule :-) I understand all that but it's still not relevant. When tenants flee in the UK, they aren't traced and forced to pay up the entire year's rent. The landlord typically just re-rents the property to someone else. It's all part of the risk of buying to let. Re-renting here is not so straight forward. A tenant not having paid for 4 months is not something the LL can simply take as lead to use their keys, open the door and re-rent,. That rent contract has a life and that life needs to be over for the LL to rent it *the property). Otherwise, they have to go through the courts and try to claim their property back and that is costly. So landlords secure themselves by saying upfront. I am not a landlord let me say. But I think LLs also take a lot of risk on. Properties here are not the easiest investment choice to make - just as with tenants, if a LL loses their job, they too can be on visit visa, no income tomorrow,. But their bank debt is far higher than the tenants. So the chances of them leaving the country are tougher than the tenants are. Maybe should try avoid investing into something that could potentially lead them to jail. Why should a tenant pay for someone's bad decisions?

ChilliChai81609

102

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 15:05

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash. Dubai is a very transient region and the vast majority of people here are ex pats. If they lose their job or cannot afford to pay the rent, they can skip. The threat of that is far higher than in other countries. In the UK for example people who flee a property can be found quite easily whereas here if they have skipped they cannot That doesn't mean I agree with the 1 cheque rule :-) I understand all that but it's still not relevant. When tenants flee in the UK, they aren't traced and forced to pay up the entire year's rent. The landlord typically just re-rents the property to someone else. It's all part of the risk of buying to let. Factored into the decision of buying has to be the risk of non-payment of rent in various scenarios, to balance the much higher interest rates, market instability, less regulation, sudden changes/introductions of rules. If the market standard is one cheque then that may be sufficient to balance those risks at the time of purchase. I don't think the statement "it's all part of the risk of buying to let" is correct... and neither "you just re-rent it to someone else"...due to all of the above. In other parts of the world tenants can sign with a break clause, but so to can landlords issue notice within the same time period, realise market rents, get tenants quicker, perhaps offer lower rent as don't have to worry about being locked into a low rate (that perhaps doesn't cover the cost of finance) for many years. Landlords can be hugely profitable enterprises, or they can just be normal one-home families trying to make ends meet, and I think it's incorrect to assume you're dealing with a buy-to-let landlord driven only by profit and wanting the money all at once out of greed. I think many tenants and landlords would prefer an open market with shorter, more flexible contracts, monthly payment etc, but there are pros and cons of both systems.

858

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 14:45

existing tenants have a bit more room to negotiate than newer tenants... coz at our compound we now pay in 4 cheques They can't negotiate because they signed for one cheque payment. Contract can't be changed :( If both parties agree it can be changed. Our tenants went from paying in one cheque (because it suited them as the company was paying) to paying in four as they lost their job and were footing the bill themselves. We would have been happy for them to pay monthly, and gave them that choice. Not all landlords are mean!

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 14:25

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash. Dubai is a very transient region and the vast majority of people here are ex pats. If they lose their job or cannot afford to pay the rent, they can skip. The threat of that is far higher than in other countries. In the UK for example people who flee a property can be found quite easily whereas here if they have skipped they cannot That doesn't mean I agree with the 1 cheque rule :-) I understand all that but it's still not relevant. When tenants flee in the UK, they aren't traced and forced to pay up the entire year's rent. The landlord typically just re-rents the property to someone else. It's all part of the risk of buying to let.

8965

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 14:19

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash. Dubai is a very transient region and the vast majority of people here are ex pats. If they lose their job or cannot afford to pay the rent, they can skip. The threat of that is far higher than in other countries. In the UK for example people who flee a property can be found quite easily whereas here if they have skipped they cannot That doesn't mean I agree with the 1 cheque rule :-)

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 14:07

It is one of the first things people find out about when making the decision to come here - normally a critical element in deciding whether to say yes or no. This policy was set in further in stone after the many people left huge debts here and ran and landlords said they still have to pay their mortgages on the house being rented and cannot risk non payment if the tenant decides to run - because running here, unlike the rest of the world, means boarding a plane and leaving to a country where they cannot be brought to justice. Whereas in the rest of the world it means running to a different zip code where they can be caught. Mortgages on buy-to-let properties still have to be paid everywhere else in the world too, but nowhere else do they expect the tenant to take on 100% of the risk. Buying to let is meant to be an inherently risky business, so using the whole mortgage argument as justification for the one cheque system really doesn't wash.

237

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 12:19

existing tenants have a bit more room to negotiate than newer tenants... coz at our compound we now pay in 4 cheques They can't negotiate because they signed for one cheque payment. Contract can't be changed :(

1257

Posts

EW OLDHAND

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 11:57

existing tenants have a bit more room to negotiate than newer tenants... coz at our compound we now pay in 4 cheques

237

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 09 March 2016 - 11:43

I though things are changed after a slow down in Dubai? :thinking:

5452

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 07 March 2016 - 11:39

Yes, Dubai is definitely not like back home....

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