its that time of year again

[shirt]

Just read this back. Pretty long, apologies in advance!

Please don't quote the whole post, I may well delete it once I know what's what.



Rent negotiation time, whoop!

You might remember this from last year:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

If not, then the back story in a nutshell is:

Moved in 2 yrs ago. My mate was moving out and said I was interested. I dealt with the landlord direct, no agency, and the tenancy agreement was one of the blue forms you get for 2dhs from the newsagents with a separate set of terms & conditions [damage, notice period etc.] which I drew up. For this first contract, both parties signed with a 3rd party witness [might've been Jase, can't remember exactly].

After the palaver of the linked thread, I renewed last year at the 11th hour, literally. He came round 2 days before the end of the tenancy [he lives in Pakistan] and wanted to put the rent up 10%. I told him that under Ejari he could only put it up by 5%, but even then he had to give me 3mths notice of doing so. In the end we agreed to exactly the same deal as the year before [i.e. no increase] and I wrote the contract again. This time there was no 3rd party witness to the contrac.

Now, I haven’t registered the contract with Ejari and I doubt he has either. I do realise I should have after the last one but really wasn't in the best frame of mind this time last year and drinking to forget made my affaird slightly lax.


So far, so good? Ok then:


Today he was emailing me about the flat, which I replied to and said that I want to stay for another year. I mentioned that the Ejari calculator says max increase is 15% which I said I am happy to pay. I also said this will likely be my last year in Dubai so if he wants to serve me 12mths notice to quit that'd be ok with me.

His reply then mentioned all the trouble in his home country [Pakistan, not seen owt on the news] and made overtones that he wants me out at the end of the tenancy so he can move his family over. He’s also asking whether I paid the last cheque, which I deposited as cash in April FFS [I have a receipt in the flat].

So, my questions are:

- Does it matter that I haven’t registered with Ejari? I thought it’s the landlord’s responsibility to do so? If we end up in arbitration will this go against me or him?
- Does it matter that I have only given 2 mths written notice to stay [current deal ends on 26th October, so not even 2 calendar months] and not 3 as per ejari?
- Does it matter that he has done the same in terms of wanting me out? Isn’t it 12 mths?
- Can he actually get me out at the end of October?
- Basically, what can I do and who’s side is the law on?

I know that if he says he wants to move in as a ploy to get me out and then rents it out he’s in the sh*t and gets a massive fine, but prob. not the best opening gambit eh?

I want to stay and have told him it’ll be my last year. I can go above a 15% rise as I’m paying 100k for a 2 bed in JBR which go for a lot more. However I can’t pay market rate that’s crazy money, 120k would be the top limit.

I sublet a room and have a cat, I can get rid of all evidence of both these things before he comes round. He was aware of previous subletting [before Sam left me, sob] and the cat and was cool with both, but maybe best to strengthen my position.

Doing my nut in as I’m still stuck in this sthole of a country for another couple of weeks and then don’t much fancy coming back and having to find somewhere else to live. Just want to stay put and get him off my case, but the lack of a proper contract and Ejari registration makes me feel ill at ease.

Pretty sure the family scenario is bullst, he moaned like hell at the last renewal when he couldn't up the rent and said then that he wanted his son to move in this year, yet no notice given. Also thread above attests to him generally ducking and diving.

Haven’t replied to his email yet. Want to tell him to get tae fu*k the wide-o cu*t and then stick the nut on him, but mebbes I’ve been reading too much Irvine Welsh this trip. Feel I should just say we can work something out and wait til I get back, but need to know what sort of poker hand I hold before working out how to play the cards.

Have sent the above pretty much verbatim to a mate who's OH works for a property law firm, but over to the floor for [hopefully] qualified opinion over heresay.

Mike - I know you have contacts in this area, if you could send anyone who would know a link to this thread I will stand you a few beers. As I wrote the T&C's to the contract I prob have them on my hard drive with me if anyone needs to read them.

Edited by shirt on Friday 5th September 23:32

[shirt]

thanks for that ezah, very helpful and settling post.

any ideas as to how to convince my landlord to either register with ejari [he has my passport copy] or to get him to send me a copy of the deed in order to do it myself? can't see him helping me out as it weakens his position.

will give it 24hrs thought and ping him an email. nothing provocative, just that i can negotiate on rent but need a resolution before the end of the week/10days. play it by ear, if he gets arsey i can start feeding him the facts.

[shirt]

ps - mike, couple of rum swizzles and a dip in the sea'll see you right!

[shirt]

i'm back in dubai. i have an extremely tidy flat and office but no tenancy contract. i have found landlord's passport copy, copy of the ownership papers, my cotnract from 2012, the terms and conditions [signed] for this year but not the blue contract form. fked if i know where it is.

the t&c's state i need to give him 60days notice to the end date if i intend to stay, which i did. it says he must give me 90days if he intends to put the rent up. i;ve 5wks til termination and still haven't discussed figures with him....

spending this week making sure i'm squeaky clean - doing maintenance, cleaning and renewing my alcohol licence [i have quite a collection he has commented on, don't want to give him any opportunity to cause me trouble].

i requested the ejari cert. by telling him i need it for a loan. i'll request again today. if no response then i'll contact ejari telling them the story to date and see what their response is.

luckily we have very good PRO's and legal team at work. they pulled me out of africa to come back and sort this so i have their backing should it be needed.

[shirt]

yes, missing the blue tenancy agreement. i have everything else including the landlord's passprt copy, deeds, and the terms and conditions of rental signed and dated/witnessed. just can;t find the bloody contract! i know i had it earlier in the year when i needed a new car park swipe card but cannot find it anywhere. thrown another bin bag of crap out from my desk draws today and the last place it might be is in my car [at the garage].

i might be able to get a photocopy of the contract from building services office.

[shirt]

apologies for the soapstoryesque updates today but i;ve now had 2 bits of good luck.

no.1, my cycling shoes arrived and they fit perfectly.

no.2, the tenancy contract was in the glovebox of my car. its been at the garage and i;ve been putting off collecting it so i could focus on finding the contract!

ah well, at least my house and office are super organised now…

jumeirah post office first thing in the morning