Business | General
Ras Al Khaimah freezes rent law
Ras Al Khaimah yesterday issued an order freezing the new rent law, and said the earlier law will be in force until October 1.
- By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:03 June 12, 2008
Ras Al Khaimah: Ras Al Khaimah yesterday issued an order freezing the new rent law, and said the earlier law will be in force until October 1.
In the meantime amendments will be made to the new legislation.
A senior government official said the controversial Law No 8 for 2008, which was issued on May 26, was vague and needed amendments.
The new law stating that rent increases had been capped at five per cent for residential properties and seven per cent for commercial properties had been vague and had given landlords the upper hand, he said.
The official said Article No 24 of the new law, many interpretations of which gave the landlords the right to evict their tenants, will be reviewed.
He said residents had been coming to the Rental Dispute Authority and the courts with questions, enquiries and complaints.
The Rental Dispute Authority had not invoked the new law in any dispute and for a long time the authority had not even accepted any dispute cases, waiting for clarifications of the new law from the Emiri Court.
The official said re-imposing the earlier law with a 15 per cent rent cap was aimed at protecting the rights of both tenants and landlords.
Since the new law was announced, people had been complaining that it was vague and unfair to the tenants since it gave the landlords the right to evict them and re-rent the properties.
The official said the issue was the problematic article.
Scores of landlords, however, approached the courts to file eviction cases, but their cases were put on hold until the decision of the government was made to enforce the older law.
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