Law No. (2) of 2003
Concerning the Profession of Renting
and Leasing out
Real Property in the Emirate of Dubai[1]
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We, Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Ruler of Dubai,
After
perusal of:
Federal
Law No. (5) of 1985 Issuing the Civil Code of the United Arab Emirates and its
amendments;
Law
No. (1) of 1992 Establishing the Department of Economic Development in the Emirate of Dubai and its
amendments; and
Decree
No. (2) of 1993 Establishing a Special Tribunal to Determine Disputes between
Landlords and Tenants,
Do
hereby issue this Law.
The following words
and expressions, wherever mentioned in this Law, will have the meaning
indicated opposite each of them unless the context implies otherwise:
|
Emirate:
|
The
Emirate of Dubai. |
|
DED:
|
The
Department of Economic Development in the Emirate. |
|
Person:
|
A
natural or legal person. |
|
Tribunal:
|
The
Special Tribunal to Determine Disputes between Landlords and Tenants. |
|
Profession:
|
Managing
the real property of others or taking lease of such real property for the
purpose of subletting it. |
No Person may
practise the Profession in the Emirate without a licence from the DED.
Subject to any other
requirements prescribed for licensing individuals and companies in the Emirate,
an applicant for a licence to establish an office to practise the Profession must submit a bank guarantee in
favour of the DED in the amount of five million dirhams (AED 5,000,000.00). The
bank guarantee must be valid for a period of one (1) year and automatically
renewable throughout the
validity period of the licence and for
one
(1) year after expiry of
that
period. The bank guarantee
must be unconditional, irrevocable, and encashable in part by the DED. Where a licence for
practising the Profession is revoked, the bank guarantee may only be released
after the lapse of six (6) months from the revocation date.
The bank guarantee
referred to in the preceding Article will be used only to settle any amounts adjudged against the provider of the guarantee by the Tribunal. It may not be used to settle
any other claim even if
a court judgement is rendered in respect
thereof.
a.
The Tribunal will, at any stage of a
rent action, be entitled to deduct from the
bank guarantee referred to in Article (3) of this Law an amount equal to the claimed
amount, fees, and costs.
b.
In the above case, the Tribunal
must notify the DED of its decision, and the
DED must deduct from the bank guarantee issued in its favour
the amount determined
by the Tribunal.
The DED will settle
any
amounts awarded by a
Tribunal judgement, to
which the executory formula is affixed, out of the bank guarantee provided by
the judgement debtor. In this case, the provider of the bank guarantee will be
required to reinstate the
bank guarantee to the amount
prescribed by this Law within fifteen (15) days from the date of being notified
of the same by the DED, failing which the DED must cease processing all his applications and notify the
Dubai Municipality, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the General
Directorate of Naturalisation and Residency of the same. The DED may grant the
provider of the bank guarantee
an additional grace
period of fifteen (15) days to reinstate
the
bank guarantee, failing which the establishment through which he practises will be closed
down.
For the purposes of the preceding Article, the
Tribunal will affix the executory formula to its judgements, and will enforce these judgements, in accordance with this Law. In return
for these services, the Tribunal will
collect the fees prescribed under Law No. (1) of 1994 Concerning Court Fees and
its amendments. These fees will be paid to the Tribunal.
The following companies are exempt from providing the letter of bank
guarantee stipulated in this Law:
1.
public joint stock companies engaged
in real property business in the Emirate; and
2.
private joint stock companies that
are engaged in real property business in the Emirate
and whose capital is not less than five million dirhams (AED
5,000,000.00).
A natural person may
be licensed to establish an office to lease out and manage the real property owned
by him, or by his relatives up to the second degree, without providing any bank guarantee, provided that the value of this real
property is not less than eight million dirhams (AED 8,000,000.00). For this purpose, the value of his or his
family's private residences will not be calculated towards the value of such
real property.
Persons practising
the Profession by the effective date of this Law, and those who lease out and
manage the real property owned
by them, or by their relatives up to the second degree, are hereby
granted
a grace period of two (2)
months from the effective date of this Law to comply with the provisions
hereof.
Without prejudice to
any stricter penalty prescribed in any other law, any Person who violates the
provisions of this Law will be punished by imprisonment, by a fine not exceeding five hundred
thousand dirhams (AED 500,000.00), or by both penalties.
The Director General
of the DED will issue the resolutions required for the implementation of this
Law.
This Law will be
published in the Official Gazette and will come into force on 1 March 2003.
Maktoum
bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Ruler of Dubai
Issued in Dubai on 24 February 2003
Corresponding to 23 Thu al-Hijjah
1423 A.H.
©2021 The Supreme Legislation Committee in the
Emirate of Dubai
[1]Every effort has been made to produce an
accurate and complete English version of this legislation. However, for the
purpose of its interpretation and application, reference must be made to the
original Arabic text. In case of conflict, the Arabic text will prevail.