Realtors suggest a neutral damages assessment body to avoid conflict

Tenants: Landlords and leasing offices take advantage of the "clearance" to impose deductions from the "rental insurance"

• Realtors: there are increasing complaints about the exaggeration of owners and real estate companies in estimating damages to the leased property.

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Tenants of housing units reported that there are exaggerations from landlords and real estate companies in estimating maintenance amounts when evacuating the leased units, in addition to exploiting the requirement to obtain a “clearance of responsibility”, in deducting large sums from the financial insurance of the tenants, despite the delivery of the leased property on time.

They indicated to Emirates Today that leaving the authority to assess damages to the leased property of the owner or the real estate company gives them the power to impose conditions on the tenants and to collect large sums of money on the grounds of maintenance.

For their part, real estate developers confirmed the increasing complaints about the existence of exaggerations from landlords and real estate companies in assessing damages to the leased eye, proposing amendments to find neutral bodies specialized in assessing damages, and obtaining financial insurance or through post-dated checks.

They emphasized that the "clearance" is an inherent right of the tenant, provided that the terms of the rental contract are adhered to, and that procrastination by the owner is illegal.

Building management

In detail, the tenant, Muhammad Abdel Hamid, said that the real estate company responsible for managing the building in which he lived had imposed upon him, upon eviction, to deduct large sums from the financial insurance, claiming the maintenance of the apartment, despite the absence of significant or impactful damages, and it refused to grant him a clearance. When he objected to the required sums, and she did not give them to him until after he complied with her demands.

The tenant, Abdulaziz Hussein, added that «the owner of the building in which he lives, asked him to deduct an amount of 700 dirhams when evacuating and moving from the apartment in which he lives, claiming that it is to renew the paint of the apartment, although the cost of the paint is less than that, especially since the owner has a company specialized in These works, just as the owner did not paint the apartment for three years, and therefore it is natural that it will be renewed after its evacuation, ”pointing out that giving the owners the authority to assess the faults with the leased property makes them impose their conditions on the tenants.

The tenant, Sherif Mahmoud, pointed out that real estate companies take advantage of the requirement to grant a clearance to tenants upon eviction from apartments, in imposing conditions on tenants, and overestimating faults and damages, in addition to exploiting financial insurance and not returning it to the tenants, which is unfair to the tenants. Calling for "the necessity of obligating companies to obtain a check for insurance, and not granting them the authority to assess damages, by finding a neutral party or companies that would handle these matters."

clearance

The tenant, Amjad Al-Deeb, complained that the property manager is delaying giving him a clearance, under the pretext of not informing him before the end of the rental contract, and the intended goal is to reduce the rental insurance, pointing out that he verbally informed him that he will leave during the legal period agreed upon in the contract, but he does not have A document proving that, which he used against him, and appeared in the deduction from the rental insurance.

The tenant, Yasser Sheta, said that the landlords and rental offices are taking advantage of the tenant, as he is the weak party in the rental equation, in addition to his lack of familiarity with the procedures, as the sum of the insurance was deducted in full, and its value is 3000 dirhams, under the pretext of maintaining the apartment that he left, and given his need to move and lack of time, he was forced For approval, to obtain a clearance.

The tenant, Maher Kilani, said that the real estate manager deducted 50% of the financial insurance from him, despite handing over the unit on time and in its original condition, but the owner took advantage of the presence of some scratches in the wall, and deducted nearly 2000 dirhams from me from the total of 4000 dirhams, which I agreed On him to get a clearance.

Tenancy Law

In turn, the CEO of Al Somme Real Estate Company, Sufyan Al Salamat, said: “Regarding the lease law, in all the emirates of the state, it stipulates that the relationship between the two parties is regulated by the contract and according to the agreement of the two parties. The tenant, which is a very loose condition. ”

He added, “With regard to rental insurance, there is no justice with some landlords and real estate companies, as they decide the value of the deduction from the tenant’s insurance, and some of them exaggerate the value of the damage or damage to the apartment, and some of them charge the tenant for maintenance operations in the apartment, although it is outside the scope of His responsibility, and falls within the scope of normal consumption. ”

Al-Salamat explained that, “For example, bathroom doors, as some supply them when installed in the units, are of poor quality and are not protected from below from moisture and water, so they are quickly damaged, so the owner holds them to the tenant upon eviction, while the tenant did not make any sabotage to the door. , Or intentional harm.

He pointed out that "according to the followed mechanisms, the list of damages and their values ​​must be determined, and what will be deducted in a clear letter upon contracting, to be attached to the lease contract."

Neutral company

Al-Salamat stated that «there is a proposed solution, which is followed in some European countries, that the apartment insurance is paid to a neutral company, whose job is to receive insurance and keep it with it, and to inspect the rental unit when it is received by the tenant, so that it keeps pictures of the rental unit and its condition, and that you Evaluating and deducting the amount due from the rental insurance in favor of the owner upon evacuating the unit, and it invests large deposits with it to cover its expenses and obtain profits as well.

Some of these companies in Europe also insure the apartment in favor of the owner, so that the tenant or the owner does not bear any damage, but rather the insurance company, ”stressing that relying on the Rental Dispute Settlement Committee would be impractical, and very cumbersome for all parties.

He pointed out, "Of course, the owners and real estate companies cannot be completely blamed, as a number of tenants hand over the apartment in a very (miserable) condition, which is against the contract and is against the law."

Angel's procrastination

For his part, the head of "W Capital" real estate brokerage, Walid Al-Zarouni, stated that “there are indeed complaints from some tenants regarding the procrastination of owners in granting them clearance, in addition to unacceptable behavior, such as exaggerating late fines and doubling the rental value due to the extension. Al-Wady, and deducting the value of the insurance in the event that the contract does not expire, but in the end they remain individual behaviors, which cannot be generalized ».

Al-Zarouni said that "some behaviors and actions of landlords are not permissible, and there must be consideration for the tenants' conditions, in light of the conditions imposed by the repercussions of the new Corona virus on the rental market."

He added that "real estate legislation needs to be reviewed and updated continuously, taking into account both parties (the tenant and the owner)", calling on real estate owners to take into account the conditions of the tenants, at the present time.

Rights and Duties

For his part, the executive director of "Harbor" real estate consultancy, Muhannad Al-Wadi, said, "There are rights and duties on both parties, and that the contract is the Shari'a of the contracting parties. It is the duty of the tenant to inform the owner sufficiently before the end of the rental contract, that he does not want to renew."

Al-Wadi provided advice to both parties, stressing that the owner, or whoever acts on his behalf in managing real estate, must deal with the tenant with flexibility, and not exploit his ignorance of some legal matters to circumvent and deduct sums from insurance, and whoever practices these behaviors from real estate management offices and leasing, must He moves away from it, and adheres to the terms of the contract and the provisions of the law, and the tenant also has duties, most notably handing him over to the leased property in the state he received it, so that he can fully recover the rental insurance.

Contract clauses

In addition, the real estate expert, Muhammad Salman, said, “The dispute between the owner and the tenant over rental insurance may be caused by some clauses of the rental contract, some of which are relatively unclear, especially with the tenant’s demand to hand over the housing unit as it was when renting it, but The law did not indicate ways to prove this, so the rental legislation must be updated, in line with the problems that exist in the sector, especially since we are in an exceptional circumstance related to the Corona pandemic.

And he demanded the creation of an easy mechanism to calculate the right of the tenant and the owner in rental insurance, stressing that obtaining a clearance is an inherent right of the tenant, especially after the end of the contract and handing over the unit, stressing the need for owners to take into consideration the tenants, in light of the circumstances that a number of tenants are going through, including Leave work, reduce salary.

Negative practices

In turn, the CEO of "Standard Real Estate Management Company", Abdul Karim Al-Mulla, said, "There are negative practices of some real estate management companies regarding the payment of the rental insurance, including deducting all or most of the value of the security deposit, which is supposed to be a deposit with the owner or real estate offices." Noting that the clearance is linked to the tenant’s fulfillment of his obligations, stressing the need to establish clear controls and standards for rental insurance transactions, to preserve the rights of both parties.

Damage estimation

The real estate broker, Majdi Abdel Aziz, said, “The dispute over estimating the cost of damage and maintenance in residential units upon eviction is among the common issues between tenants and some real estate companies, which calls for proposing solutions related to finding a neutral party to assess any maintenance required by the real estate units, in addition to not obligating tenants to put The value of financial insurance, as a sum of money for companies, but through a post-dated check, which is what some companies have begun to implement, recently.

"The matter is on a petition" ... a guarantee to recover the insurance

The Rental Dispute Settlement Center, the judicial arm of the Dubai Land Department, confirmed that the tenant submitting an “order on petition” to the center is a guarantee for obtaining his rental insurance, provided it is delivered to the leased property, as it received from the owner, without damages.

The Center emphasized: The tenant must realize that the lease contract is renewed automatically, in the event that the owner does not object, and the contract is renewed for a similar time or for a year, whichever is less, and under the same terms of the lease contract, stressing the need to discharge his liability by obtaining proof of his delivery of the housing unit.

The security deposit is assumed to be a deposit with the owner or the real estate offices.

Requests to update rental legislation, in line with the problems in the sector.

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