Tenants who default their rents will now be evicted by enforcement agents without a court notice in Abu Dhabi, according to new changes in rental regulations.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), this week issued a new decision giving powers to the rental dispute settlement committees to allow landlords to bring in enforcement agents to reclaim the rental arrears or evict the tenants who default payments.

The new decision applies only to properties with lease contracts registered with the Department of Municipalities in Abu Dhabi.

According to the new changes, the rental dispute committee will issue a decision in a minimum of two days and a maximum of three weeks. Currently, the landlords have to go through a lengthy legal process, which can take up to six months so as to obtain an enforcement notice from court.

Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, said the decision is a qualitative leap in facilitating access to justice and speeding up dispute resolutions.

“This initiative, the first of its kind in the region, supports the efforts to create an attractive environment for real estate investment in Abu Dhabi and also for speedy settlement of disputes,” said Al Abri.

“The new measure is likely to shorten the proceedings at the courts of first instance and appeal, to reduce the number of rental disputes and to regulate the rental system in Abu Dhabi,” he added.

Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, head of urban planning and municipalities department, said: “The decision will help expediting the process of adjudicating rental disputes as the registered lease contract becomes an executory document admissible before the rental dispute committees, without passing by the different judicial proceedings”.

He noted that the new changes to rental regulations will contribute towards enhancing investors’ confidence in the real estate sector and stimulate investment in it.

The new decision applies to all cases of rental disputes and a copy of the lease contract must be attached while filing the complaint. This is likely to encourage all parties to abide by the registration process and will decrease illegal partitioning of houses, added the officials.

The new regulations also allow an interim order to be submitted before the summary matters judge in the rental dispute settlement committees, in case of claiming the value of water or electricity consumption or refunding the guarantee deposit amount after the expiry of the lease period.

Benefits of new decision
The rental dispute committee will be able to issue a decision in a minimum of two days and a maximum of three weeks. Currently, it takes up to six months for the landlords to obtain an enforcement notice from court.

It will also shorten the proceedings at the courts of first instance and appeal and reduce the number of rental disputes in Abu Dhabi