DEWA are cutting us off because of landlord :-(

That's really an awful situation. dewa will accept part payments and we have done that when we had a big bill due to a leak. In fact you can pay any amount you like any time online. If you pay say a quarter, it'll probably be enough to stop your supply being cut off. Go into Dewa with the kids and explain to them. There are a lot of rules in Duba but they tend to bend them for you more readily than other countries, especially to prevent upset to children. Is the water still leaking? That is a real problem as it's literally money down the drain. The problem with the change of landlords is that the new owner will have had the sales price adjusted down to cover the rent cheques that the old owner is holding. So you have no leverage with the new owner at the moment. The old owner is holding your cheque and is now unaffected by any problems with the property but you can't legally not cover that cheque. To the authorities that is a whole different issue. I hate to say it but you will probably have to cover the dewa bill and repairs (to stop the bill going even higher) and will only be able to reclaim your money if you renew the contract. You can go to the Rent Committee to ask them to authorise you deducting payment from the next rent cheque. They will do this and the landlord will have to lay the cost of the case. Your only leverage is to tell the landlord's agent this but he will probably tell you he's not renewing the lease anyway. Good luck

Horrible situation! Hope you can work it out but just wanted to add as there are some varying responses and advice below - you can go to jail for a bounced cheque!! I have a friend who ran into difficulties with a former employer, bounced a rent cheque and was sent to jail for 3 months in Ajman before being deported back to his home country. So it does happen! This was in 2012. Be very careful! Hoping you can sort it out, best of luck :-) x <em>edited by emilyjem on 11/02/2014</em>

And ladies, let's try not to turn this thread into another "Dubai is such a bad place" thread. We've had enough of these already. Really, life can and will be stressful in any country on this lovely planet of ours. So true Marroosh. Given the fact that the UAE is only 42 years old, they have done an amazing thing compared to many other countries that have been establishing their systems for hundreds of years (and still aren't perfect).

I am so sorry this is happening to you. I know for sure DEWA do not accept part payments. Our DEWA got cutoff because our credit card expired and I forgot to pay it, my husband had taken my credit card on that particular day and went into the desert with our family that were staying. I was frantic as I was worried they would come back to no ac and no water. I had 2000Dhs in my wallet and the DEWA bill was 5000Dhs. They would not even consider accepting part payment to turn on the DEWA. I had to get my husband to come back and give me the card so I could get the money out to pay them. It was horrible so I can really imagine how your feeling. Secondly you will not go to jail for one bounced cheque! That is just scaremongering. Your landlord does not deserve to be paid. Don't pay him, send a polite message explaining the issue and that you will organize payment when you can. If they want to take it further hopefully you will have had enough time by then to get the money to pay the rent. Please look after you family first and then that awful landlord. Thirdly find out your new owners details and get this info through to them, its so important they know whats happening. Good luck, and honestly bounce that rent cheque and pay your DEWA bill. xx

Go to the rent committee and RERA as the other ladies said. Forget about the agent he is a waste of space behaving that way. But how come you don't know who your new LL is? I'm sure he won't be happy finding the villa in a state, find out who he is, and things might be sorted out sooner. And ladies, let's try not to turn this thread into another "Dubai is such a bad place" thread. We've had enough of these already. Really, life can and will be stressful in any country on this lovely planet of ours.

I wish I could just get on a plane back to England right now. Does anybody else find it so stressful living here? Yes, hence why I am in the UK right now registering at the private wing of an NHS hospital for our baby birth. Everything in Dubai is ten times harder, more disorganised and complicated than anywhere else and frankly I could no longer be bothered with the hassle, not to mention, eating out here, SO much easier! From trying to find out if cheese is pasteurised in Dubai restaurants, to a certain large hospital moving my appointment to an hour later, giving me 30 mins notice, then not informing the doctor who then tells me off for being late, to DHs four visits to free zone visa company to get my spousal visa (they change the paperwork requirements every time) now they no longer do spousal visas at all and expect us to go to Fujairah (where they will probably change the paperwork requirements four times as well), to immigration failing to put through my tourist visa extension in my passport last month, despite us paying them for it and filling in all the paperwork and then having to spend over two hours running all over Dubai airport when trying to leave, finally running to the gate with 20 mins to spare, which turned out to be in the other terminal, with no offer of assistance from any airport staff despite repeatedly asking them to call the gate to tell them I was on my way and them knowing where the gate was located and that I was pregnant (and now thanks to that unexpected airport dash also suffering with sever sciatica). Lets just say I was really happy when I finally got on that plane, arrived to a smiling (not on his mobile phone) passport control officer in London and had my first meal out in lowly Pizza Express, where the non native English speaking server was not only able to tell me the cheese on my pizza was pasteurised but without any prompting also advise that the cheese on DHs was not therefore he should not share it with me. So yes I can wholeheartedly understand your stress in Dubai, as someone who had a fairly high standard of living in the UK (we solely moved to Dubai for DH to gain international experience in his field) I find many systems in Dubai poorly organised and a never ending stream of frustration. As for your current issue I can only suggest go with the advice on here, newspaper, rent committee, I would be going insane if I was in your current situation for a very small plus point, at least it is not summer. edited by RuthM on 10/02/2014 Well said Ruth - the same here for me. So many frustrating problems here and goodness knows how much more leading up to 2020. Just heard radio UAE thinking of dropping age of legal driving !! What on earth. That is a whole 'nother thread! Why on earth would a 16 year old emirati need to drive? In the US, they do because they have jobs, but here????

I wish I could just get on a plane back to England right now. Does anybody else find it so stressful living here? Yes, hence why I am in the UK right now registering at the private wing of an NHS hospital for our baby birth. Everything in Dubai is ten times harder, more disorganised and complicated than anywhere else and frankly I could no longer be bothered with the hassle, not to mention, eating out here, SO much easier! From trying to find out if cheese is pasteurised in Dubai restaurants, to a certain large hospital moving my appointment to an hour later, giving me 30 mins notice, then not informing the doctor who then tells me off for being late, to DHs four visits to free zone visa company to get my spousal visa (they change the paperwork requirements every time) now they no longer do spousal visas at all and expect us to go to Fujairah (where they will probably change the paperwork requirements four times as well), to immigration failing to put through my tourist visa extension in my passport last month, despite us paying them for it and filling in all the paperwork and then having to spend over two hours running all over Dubai airport when trying to leave, finally running to the gate with 20 mins to spare, which turned out to be in the other terminal, with no offer of assistance from any airport staff despite repeatedly asking them to call the gate to tell them I was on my way and them knowing where the gate was located and that I was pregnant (and now thanks to that unexpected airport dash also suffering with sever sciatica). Lets just say I was really happy when I finally got on that plane, arrived to a smiling (not on his mobile phone) passport control officer in London and had my first meal out in lowly Pizza Express, where the non native English speaking server was not only able to tell me the cheese on my pizza was pasteurised but without any prompting also advise that the cheese on DHs was not therefore he should not share it with me. So yes I can wholeheartedly understand your stress in Dubai, as someone who had a fairly high standard of living in the UK (we solely moved to Dubai for DH to gain international experience in his field) I find many systems in Dubai poorly organised and a never ending stream of frustration. As for your current issue I can only suggest go with the advice on here, newspaper, rent committee, I would be going insane if I was in your current situation for a very small plus point, at least it is not summer. edited by RuthM on 10/02/2014 Well said Ruth - the same here for me. So many frustrating problems here and goodness knows how much more leading up to 2020. Just heard radio UAE thinking of dropping age of legal driving !! What on earth.

I wish I could just get on a plane back to England right now. Does anybody else find it so stressful living here? Yes, hence why I am in the UK right now registering at the private wing of an NHS hospital for our baby birth. Everything in Dubai is ten times harder, more disorganised and complicated than anywhere else and frankly I could no longer be bothered with the hassle, not to mention, eating out here, SO much easier! From trying to find out if cheese is pasteurised in Dubai restaurants, to a certain large hospital moving my appointment to an hour later, giving me 30 mins notice, then not informing the doctor who then tells me off for being late, to DHs four visits to free zone visa company to get my spousal visa (they change the paperwork requirements every time) now they no longer do spousal visas at all and expect us to go to Fujairah (where they will probably change the paperwork requirements four times as well), to immigration failing to put through my tourist visa extension in my passport last month, despite us paying them for it and filling in all the paperwork and then having to spend over two hours running all over Dubai airport when trying to leave, finally running to the gate with 20 mins to spare, which turned out to be in the other terminal, with no offer of assistance from any airport staff despite repeatedly asking them to call the gate to tell them I was on my way and them knowing where the gate was located and that I was pregnant (and now thanks to that unexpected airport dash also suffering with sever sciatica). Lets just say I was really happy when I finally got on that plane, arrived to a smiling (not on his mobile phone) passport control officer in London and had my first meal out in lowly Pizza Express, where the non native English speaking server was not only able to tell me the cheese on my pizza was pasteurised but without any prompting also advise that the cheese on DHs was not therefore he should not share it with me. So yes I can wholeheartedly understand your stress in Dubai, as someone who had a fairly high standard of living in the UK (we solely moved to Dubai for DH to gain international experience in his field) I find many systems in Dubai poorly organised and a never ending stream of frustration. As for your current issue I can only suggest go with the advice on here, newspaper, rent committee, I would be going insane if I was in your current situation for a very small plus point, at least it is not summer. <em>edited by RuthM on 10/02/2014</em>

So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? Go to the Rent Committee, explain your problem, and then suggest this as one of the solutions. Doing it this way may put your new LL in the picture If your check bounces, you will go to jail. Regardless of the reason. Go to DEWA and the RC immediately. Not true. Only if the LL approaches the bank and complains. Which might be difficult if he is in Iran. . Not true if you want to put yourself at the mercy of what the LL may or may not do ... otherwise, true.

So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? Go to the Rent Committee, explain your problem, and then suggest this as one of the solutions. Doing it this way may put your new LL in the picture If your check bounces, you will go to jail. Regardless of the reason. Go to DEWA and the RC immediately. Not true. Only if the LL approaches the bank and complains. Which might be difficult if he is in Iran. can you not go to the LL's agent's office in person with 2 screaming kids and offer to resolve things amicably with your solution of using the rent money to pay for the leak, and then giving the remainder of the rent owed in cash? I would refuse to leave the office until they had recognised the problem and come up with a solution. If necessary take an Arabic speaking male, ideally local in a kandoura, to really stress how unreasonable they are being. Whilst I totally agree with you I think the OP should bypass the agent, who doesn't seem to care one way or the other, and go straight to the RC. From what she has said the agent just appears to think all these problems are something to laugh at.

I wish I could just get on a plane back to England right now. Does anybody else find it so stressful living here? Leaving Dubai LLL was the best thing to me other than separation. So much less stressful living in UK now to be honest! I do not need to keep looking over my shoulder or in fear of offending (not that I would do intentionally).

So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? Go to the Rent Committee, explain your problem, and then suggest this as one of the solutions. Doing it this way may put your new LL in the picture If your check bounces, you will go to jail. Regardless of the reason. Go to DEWA and the RC immediately.

Write to Jay Hilotin at Xpress - the Thursday newspaper. These are the stories that they love to cover. And then let the agent know you are going to the media. [email protected] <em>edited by dolleymadison on 10/02/2014</em>

So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? Go to the Rent Committee, explain your problem, and then suggest this as one of the solutions. Doing it this way may put your new LL in the picture

So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? Go to the Rent Committee, explain your problem, and then suggest this as one of the solutions.

It is the landlord's agent who is laughing at us. We don't have the landlord's details although we know he lives in Iran. Reading stuff like this, the "all leasehold" days feel so much better, when even if you had rent increases and maintenance problems they were uniform as in affecting the whole building which automatically made things more stable. Right now you have some opportunistic foreign based owners who treat properties like a casino.

Paying the bill is not an option. We can't even get a bank loan because neither mine nor my husband's companies are on the bank's approved list. Aaarrgghhh!!!!!!!!! It is the landlord's agent who is laughing at us. We don't have the landlord's details although we know he lives in Iran. Just as a bit of background... our villa was sold a few months ago but we didn't know. We took our original LL to the RC last July and we won. He then immediately sold the villa but didn't tell us. We are still paying our rent to him, but the amount was deducted from the sale price. We only found out the villa had been sold when we called him about this problem... So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? What a terrible mess, you must go back to the rent committee and take advice, also go to DEWA as suggested (with two children baling their eyes out) and ask for help, even a small payment may help. You need legal advice, try the National and hopefully others may be able to suggest help. In the mean time fill some baths with water. I agree with Lolacat on this one, but I would also be tempted to do what you suggested and use some of the rent money to pay for all this. Your new LL may have no idea what is going on and I bet he won't want to find the car port of his property has collapsed.

Paying the bill is not an option. We can't even get a bank loan because neither mine nor my husband's companies are on the bank's approved list. Aaarrgghhh!!!!!!!!! It is the landlord's agent who is laughing at us. We don't have the landlord's details although we know he lives in Iran. Just as a bit of background... our villa was sold a few months ago but we didn't know. We took our original LL to the RC last July and we won. He then immediately sold the villa but didn't tell us. We are still paying our rent to him, but the amount was deducted from the sale price. We only found out the villa had been sold when we called him about this problem... So, our rent is due on 6 March (we paid in 4 cheques). The previous LL has our cheque. I am very tempted to use the money first to pay the DEWA bill and just give him what is left over. Can we do this? What a terrible mess, you must go back to the rent committee and take advice, also go to DEWA as suggested (with two children baling their eyes out) and ask for help, even a small payment may help. You need legal advice, try the National and hopefully others may be able to suggest help. In the mean time fill some baths with water.

I would agree go to the RC immediately, but also is it worth going in person to DEWA and speaking to someone and perhaps offering to pay something towards the bill so they don't cut you off. Is it your LL laughing at you or the agent? This is indeed an awful situation to be in, but you never know the power of the press and all that.

Maybe write to the National newspaper for their help section? This is terrible stuff, do you have a maintenance contract with the villa? What is the agent saying? I think you can go to the rent committee and seek advice free of charge, maybe someone can confirm that.

I am afraid that you might have to pay it and just keep the receipts. When it comes time for rent renewal, go to the Committee and have the 7500 deducted from the next years rent.