‘Can I be Evicted if I don’t Agree to a Rent Increase?’

Question: My rental contract is expiring in a couple of days and I have not come to an agreement with the landlord regarding next year’s rent. The owner has proposed increasing the rent to Dh175,000, from Dh135,000.

He approached the Dubai Land Department to change the unit specification in the Ejari from a four-bedroom apartment to a five-bedroom penthouse with pool. If I do not accept the rent increase and sign the new rental contract before the expiry of my current lease, can the landlord evict me?

Under what circumstances can the landlord serve an eviction notice? If the landlord serves an eviction notice on the pretext of selling the apartment and fails to follow through, what compensation will the tenant be entitled to?

Answer: Technically speaking, a rental contract renews under the same terms and conditions as before, unless otherwise agreed. If the landlord’s new terms and/or conditions for the next renewal are allowed as per the law and in accordance with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency’s rental calculator, unfortunately, you have to abide by these changes or move out if you disagree.

This is on the condition that the landlord served the statutory 90-day notice from the expiry date of the tenancy agreement. If he did not serve this notice period, the landlord is not entitled to make any changes to the rental contract.

The landlord can only serve an eviction notice if he wants to sell the property, move in himself or for his next of kin of first degree, if the unit requires extensive modernisation, which would make it impossible for the tenant to live there, or in the case of demolition.

In each of these cases, the landlord needs to send the tenant 12 months’ written notification of eviction via notary public or registered mail. The landlord can alter the property and change it from a four-bedroom to a five-bedroom unit, but this needs physical changes within the unit, which would require approvals and certain procedures, such as altering the title deed at the DLD. This would take time and also attract fees.

The landlord can give you notice under the same terms as mentioned above. For your last point, if the landlord claims to want the property for his own use or use of next of kin by first degree and you find out after moving out that the unit has been re-let, you can file a case at the Rental Dispute Settlement Committee (RDSC). If you win the case, the compensation is equal to the annual rent you were paying.