The seven clauses that decide how the tenancy actually goes

Most tenancy disputes are not about exotic legal questions — they are about seven ordinary clauses that were written vaguely or not at all. Here is what each one must do.

1. The parties

The landlord exactly as the title deed records the owner; the tenant exactly as the Emirates ID records the name. The register matches names against documents, so the contract should too. Where an agent or representative signs, the contract names the principal and the authority is attached.

2. The property

Unit, building, community, and the DEWA premise number. The premise number is the field people skip and the register will not.

3. The term

Start and end dates, stated plainly. Dubai convention is the one-year term, but shorter terms are lawful and registrable in the unified format. What the term clause quietly controls is renewal mechanics — covered on the renewal page, including the renewal the law implies when the parties say nothing.

4. Rent and payment

The annual rent and how it is paid — in Dubai practice, the number of cheques, with their dates. Write the cheque schedule into the contract: the number of payments is a negotiated term, and a dishonoured cheque has consequences well beyond the tenancy. Any rent change at renewal is governed by law, not by this clause alone.

5. Purpose of use

Residential or commercial, and consistent with the unit’s classification. A residential unit cannot be contracted into an office by a clause, and the mismatch surfaces in licensing and registration checks.

6. Maintenance

The single most-litigated vague clause. The workable convention: the landlord carries major and structural maintenance, the tenant carries minor upkeep — with ‘minor’ defined by a dirham threshold per incident written into the contract. A number ends arguments; an adjective starts them.

7. The security deposit

State the amount, the condition standard for its return, and the timeline. Market custom in Dubai runs around five percent of annual rent unfurnished and ten percent furnished — custom, not law, so the contract figure is whatever the parties write. What the law and good drafting both require is that the deposit secures the property’s condition, not the landlord’s mood: tie its return to an inspection against the move-in condition.

Agreement signed? It counts for nothing until it is registered.
Send the signed contract to ejaries and the Ejari registration is completed the same day, certificate delivered electronically.

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