As a tenant in Dubai, it’s important to understand your rights. For example, you need to ensure that you are aware of what would happen if you ever tried to cancel your tenancy contract.
Specifically, you might be thinking about moving. Perhaps you have found a new job, or you need to relocate for personal reasons before your tenancy is up. Can you claim back the money that you’re going to lose here and do you have any rights if you decide to break free of your tenancy contract early?
Here are a few facts that will help you navigate this tricky road.
Unfortunately, no set regulation helps tenants escape their contracts early or even just informs them on how to do this. Law 26 doesn’t provide any benefits to you here. It only charters the relationship between you and the landlord.
As such, there is no point in seeking help from RERA in this situation. It won’t benefit you at all. Instead, you need to start by looking at your contract.
This is one of the reasons why it’s always a smart move to read your rental agreement carefully. You will usually find that there is something about leaving early and whether or not this is at all possible. Perhaps you’re on a monthly contract, and that would be great news because it would mean that you can escape your tenancy whenever you require.
If you’re not, you need to look for exit clauses and or penalties that relate to exiting your contract. If there is no exit clause, landlords don’t have to let you escape from continuing to pay rent on the property. So, in this situation, we need to move on to negotiations.
Contrary to popular belief, most landlords aren’t money guzzling monsters. Many are good-natured. If you explain the situation to them, they might help you work out a solution that you’re able to manage. For instance, you may find that they agree on a penalty of just two months rent. That’s manageable and doesn’t put you in such a difficult situation.
Alternatively, you might be able to offer to find someone to live there instead quickly before you move out. By doing this, you can avoid the landlord facing a loss, so there’s no reason for him to charge a penalty. How do you do this?
Something like Propertyfinder might be your best option when looking for a new tenant to take your place once you leave. You can put up an ad and perhaps even offer to pay a little of the rent for the first few months.
This gives someone an incentive to take you up on your offer and will likely be nowhere near the cost of a penalty that a landlord could charge.
We hope this helps you understand more about your rights as a tenant and ways you can escape your lease early.
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