# MFR Rent Committee Tennant Nightmare



## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi everyone

I'm a tennant that took an apartment with MFR Properties last summer, and since then their operation became exposed as a big scam with lots of landlords and tennants left out of pocket. They basically took 1 cheque from me at 100k and promised the landlord 150k in 4 cheques. In the end the cheques bounced leaving the landlords without their rent.

I filed a case with the rent committee to stay in the apartment at my initial rent (with a small increase in line with the rental index) as the landlord wanted the amount on his contract with MFR. It turns out MFR was basically subletting. I was told my contract was valid by the people at RERA, but my first hearing at the RC didn't go very well.

I want to know how the decision is likely to go in the RC as they don't always follow the law exactly, it is more of an art than a science shall we say! I have to go away for work around the time the contract expires leaving my wife by herself, so as you can imagine I'm a bit stressed!

I would like to know if anyone else has any experience with taking these cases to the RC. I saw something on another Dubai forum and I tried to message the user but I can't even seem to register there.

Any help appreciated.


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## tarekaf (Jun 24, 2012)

Hello,

I am facing the same case but have not yet visited RERA or rent committee. 

Any updates with your case?


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

I'm very happy to say I have settled into my new apartment after finally leaving the whole matter with MFR Properties and my previous apartment and landlord behind me. The short story is that the Rent Committee didn't really help me as much as they had hoped, and I was effectively forced to move out or pay the amount MFR Properties had agreed with the landlord as it was considered a sublet. I think the outcome depends a lot on your landlord, unfortunately mine had a well earned reputation as a difficult guy!

If you would like more details or help with where to go, it's basically been my life the past few months so feel free to message me and hopefully I can save you some time.


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## tarekaf (Jun 24, 2012)

Hello again and thank you for your response. 

Contratulations on your new place!

I have been to RERA this week, and the information they gave me is similar to what they told you, and apparently contradicts with the outcome of your case. I would appreciate a few minutes of your time to chat a little. Can you please email me your number on ***, or propose any other convenient way I can get in touch with you.

Many thanks in advance.


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## booker- (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi Rutherford, i would be interested in talking to you about your RC experience. (cant PM you yet as i have too few posts on here)

I am in a similar position stuck between an MFR sublet and my LL. My problem is also about the dates though rather than just the difference in Rent, MFR let from the LL from August to August, MFR let to me from November to November.

I am now in direct contact with my LL who wants me to renew in August, or vacate, essentially loosing ~34K AED worth of tenancy.

All the legal advice i have managed to get advises me to sit tight, and that my tenancy is legal until the RC prove otherwise. RERA told me something similar, and the reception of the RC also.

However, you may have seen the news article last week where the RC awarded in favour of the LL of an entire block and 70 tenants now face eviction on the end date of the LL/MFR contract. - Which doesn't fill me with any confidence anymore!

Did you get anywhere with RERA after the RC decision went against you? Was there any suggestion of compensation for you from the bond they are holding from MFR? etc etc...

Any insight would be greatly appreciated,
Many thanks,
B


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## tarekaf (Jun 24, 2012)

Hi booker,

I am currently negotiating with LL, who also wants me to vacate/renew according to his dates with MFR, rather than mine.

Any updates with your case? Have you reached a common ground with LL?

Thanks,
t


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## booker- (Jun 28, 2012)

Hi Tarekaf,

My LL and I managed to find a common ground somewhere in the middle. Our agreement was that I sign now a new lease to start on the expiry of my existing one in November, despite it being still 3 months away. I am paying much more for the new lease than i did through MFR, and maybe 5-10K above the market rate, but when you average the two years out i am still only paying what i think is below average for this apartment. I don't intend to renew for a 3rd year due to a growing family so i was aware that the new rent rate wouldn't effect me beyond this tenancy anyway.

I still believe that i had a strong case to stay until the end of my tenancy, and was almost daring my LL to pursue me. But, I also had the dates in my favour with Ramadan upon us, i knew that by the time his case was heard after the Rent Comittee holiday, and then if i forgot to appear once or twice for the hearing, the best he could do was take back the last month of my tenancy even if i lost the case, so i didn't have that much to loose. But then what would i have done? Begged him to re-let the apartment to me so i don't have to move and pay agency fees again?

The mutually agreeable settlement is, i think, a better way to conduct business. It means that the LL now has a (good) tenant until late 2013, he has recovered some of his losses for the mismatch in dates by charging me a higher rent, but i also have somewhere to live without the aggravation of legal action and Rent Committees hanging over me. And there's no agents involved anymore.

When negotiating with your LL, remember you have now lost your 5% deposit to MFR and you could try to get him to accept that it is his problem now. I have ended up forfeiting mine, but haven't had to pay a new one for this new tenancy. In November, i will probably pursue MFR for its return.


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## duniverse (Jan 5, 2011)

*Any help greatly appreciated*

Hi Rutherford

I am in a similar situation as you were and would like a few moments of your time if possible since the information I am getting seems contradictory. My email id is rsuterwalla the provider is hotmail and it is dot com (sorry have to separate since the site will not let me post my email diretly) if you could send me a mail with your contact number (or we can communicate via email if you prefer) I would be most grateful

Thanks

Riyaz






rutherford said:


> I'm very happy to say I have settled into my new apartment after finally leaving the whole matter with MFR Properties and my previous apartment and landlord behind me. The short story is that the Rent Committee didn't really help me as much as they had hoped, and I was effectively forced to move out or pay the amount MFR Properties had agreed with the landlord as it was considered a sublet. I think the outcome depends a lot on your landlord, unfortunately mine had a well earned reputation as a difficult guy!
> 
> If you would like more details or help with where to go, it's basically been my life the past few months so feel free to message me and hopefully I can save you some time.


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

*MFR Scam*

Hi rutherford,

I have just been advised by my LL that his second cheque from MFR has bounced. I still have 8 months to go and he is "offering" me to vacate the flat in December.

I am new in Dubai and don't know anything about my rights. I spent hours on forums/articles but couldn't get any consistent information out of it.

Would you have any information about the rent committee ? My friends are telling me that my contract with MFR is still valid and that I can stay in the apartment until the of of the initial tenancy period. I don't know what to do ? Whether find an agreement with the LL or tell him to go to Dubai rent committee, hoping that they will award in my favour + buy some time if the procedure takes 6 months ... As I guess that they now have thousands of cases to proceed.

Please let me know if we can have a quick chat.

Thanks in advance 





rutherford said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> I'm a tennant that took an apartment with MFR Properties last summer, and since then their operation became exposed as a big scam with lots of landlords and tennants left out of pocket. They basically took 1 cheque from me at 100k and promised the landlord 150k in 4 cheques. In the end the cheques bounced leaving the landlords without their rent.
> 
> ...


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi Mbesri

Sorry to hear about your situation, feel free to write me an email ******** and maybe we can speak on the phone.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Just a reminder to everyone that posting personal contact details in the forum is not allowed, please use the private message facility instead. This is clearly stated in the forum rules.


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

Apologies, I know it's not good practise or even a good idea to post my email but I couldn't figure out how to send a private message. Maybe I don't have the privilege yet, maybe it's obvious and I'm just missing it.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

rutherford said:


> Apologies, I know it's not good practise or even a good idea to post my email but I couldn't figure out how to send a private message. Maybe I don't have the privilege yet, maybe it's obvious and I'm just missing it.


No worries. Just click on the name of the person you want to message, and then select 'send private message' from the drop down menu. Your private message facility should be active now. Let me know if you have any issues.


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

Hi Rutherford,

Can't find how to send you a private message

Can u try to send me your email via pm pls 

Thanks


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi

I'm trying to send you my email! I still can't send you a private message, although I can send one to the moderator so I did that and asked him to help me. I think you need to be granted some extra privileges.

This site is quite difficult to use and normally I don't have any problems with computer related stuff.


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## dizzyizzy (Mar 30, 2008)

Everybody with a minimum of 5 posts (actual posts not rubbish) can send private messages, is very easy, I just explained above how to do it. It may take half an hour after the 5th post for the private message facility to get activated (it does not happen immediately and unfortunately there is nothing we can do as this has to do with the forum software itself). 

We appreciate people want to get in touch to discuss the rental scam issue and we have no problems at all with people using the forum with that intent, but please do not post contact details (this include personal facebook pages), this is clearly stated on the forum rules everybody has agreed on upon joining the forum.

New forum users: please make 5 valid posts, wait half an hour, and if after half an hour you still cannot send private messages then contact the forum admin by using the 'contact us' link at the top of the page, and he'll be happy to help. But make sure you allow for that half hour first


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## s&s (Apr 9, 2012)

Mbesri

I would not vacate. The LL appointed MFR as the agent to sublet the apartment so your tenancy contract is legal. You have paid your rental and it is legal. RERA will confirm this. The LL will have to get his money from MFR, or at least attempt to, by making a case with the police. This does not involve you.

If I was you I would stay put. If he wants you to vacate early, he will have to take legal action, which is highly unlikely.

The LL chose the real estate. Not you. It's between him and MFR.


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi

I'm sorry to keep going on about this, I'm sure we both have better things to do. But this same issue might affect other people.

As you can see, I have made 18 posts so I have had the private message facility for some time. As I wrote above to Mbesri, I sent you a private message with no problems. I can't send a private message to Mbesri, when I click on his name I don't have this option (as I do when I click on your name). So I suspect he cannot even receive private messages until has made his 5 posts.

I understand this is probably a feature of the software that you cannot control but it does seem to be just a little bit more difficult than it needs to be to communicate between users.

Anyway thanks for your help and for moderating an otherwise great resource.


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## m1key (Jun 29, 2011)

rutherford said:


> Hi
> 
> I'm sorry to keep going on about this, I'm sure we both have better things to do. But this same issue might affect other people.
> 
> ...


Yes Mbesri has not made 5 post (2 at time of typing), therefore you can't PM him/her regardless of how many posts you have made. The rules are very sensible and 5 posts is actually quite low IMO. It is to stop the spammers from abusing the system and goodness knows there are enough of them trying to post on here. The Mods do a great job of deleting their posts quickly.

Sorry, not what you want to hear, but a little patience is needed until Mbesri has made the posts


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## rutherford (Jan 17, 2011)

OK fine. Well here is a reply to Mbesri in the meantime.

It is hard to get a definitive answer on whether contracts are still valid in situations like this when the agent has been subletting. There was an article in the National recently with some advice from an experienced lawyer on what happens in these situations. I'm no lawyer, but my instinct tells me that technically the contract is broken when the agent doesn't pass the money back to the landlord.

However, what happens in these situations in Dubai doesn't always proceed according to common sense! I think your landlord cannot make you leave. I have spoken with people in the 'eviction department' in Land Department and they told me it is a very long and difficult process to evict someone and it is not something he will do lightly. 

As for the Rent Committee, their decisions are a little bit inconsistent. The committees are made up with businessmen who are obliged to do this in addition to their day job. If your LL insists and files a case, he will have to pay 3.5% of your annual rent upfront. This money is paid by you if he 'wins' and is lost if he 'loses'. However most cases are not 'won' or 'lost', in the end a settlement is found between the parties. 

The process is very time consuming and if you want legal representation, as many do since it is difficult to navigate yourself, it is expensive (maybe 20k for preparation and several hearings). However even the RC do not have the power to enforce eviction. So it is not really in your LL's interests to proceed to the RC.

Since you have a long time remaining until your original contract ends, I would just try to wait it out. As you rightly say the RC is completely backed up with cases so it will take a long time to go before them.

Anyway, I'm happy to discuss it in person and hopefully I can save you some time and stress. Just make those 5 posts and message me!


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

Thank you Rutherford for your help !!



rutherford said:


> OK fine. Well here is a reply to Mbesri in the meantime.
> 
> It is hard to get a definitive answer on whether contracts are still valid in situations like this when the agent has been subletting. There was an article in the National recently with some advice from an experienced lawyer on what happens in these situations. I'm no lawyer, but my instinct tells me that technically the contract is broken when the agent doesn't pass the money back to the landlord.
> 
> ...


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

Yeah, let's make these 5 posts


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

So ... Rutherford thanks again for your reply..

I spent hours on Internet reading forums, blogs, law, articles etc ... And it looks like (according to this expert interviewed by emirates247 or gulf news I don't remember) if the owner authorised MFR to sub lease the apartment then my contract is still valid ...

Btw I genuinely emailed this lawyer and he replied accepting to meet for an hour (free of charge) ... He is such a nice guy !! 

What I'm thinking to do is to try to buy some time, hoping that any procedure through the rent committee will take time ... I called rera and they said that it is actually the owners problem, not mine and that my contract is valid ... But the RC could have a different opinion ...

Whatever ... Lets hope we can pm each other and discuss it on the phone !!! Would be very very interested to get you opinion!!

Thanks again for your time ! 

Cheers


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## sarahfh (Oct 20, 2012)

Dear All,

Has anyone got any updated information regarding the tenants affected by the MFR scam?

@Rutherford - Can you please pm me and let me know what exactly you did/where to go etc etc

Im in a similar position, my contract with MFR exceeds the period of the Landlords contract with MFR and now LL wants me to pay or leave. I have another 4 months left on the contract and will not be re-newing. LL has already filed a case with RC I believe.

After looking at the posts on here I am concerned with one paragraph in the 24/7 article:
"
What are the options for the sub-tenant?
If a landlord does ask the sub-tenant to vacate the property, the sub-tenant should first establish whether the landlord approved the sub-lease. If such approval was granted, then pursuant to Article 30 of Dubai’s Law 26 of 2007, the sub-tenant should not be evicted.
If such approval was not granted the sub-tenant should still contact the landlord to request confirmation of the reasons why the landlord believes it is entitled to evict the sub-tenant. The sub-tenant’s arguments against eviction are strengthened if the sub-tenant can demonstrate that it is not in breach of the sub-lease and is not responsible for any breach of the head-lease.
It may be appropriate for the sub-tenant to issue a written notice to the landlord refuting the landlord’s right to terminate or to file a case at the Dubai Municipality Rent Committee seeking a declaration that it is entitled to remain in the property until the expiry of the sub-lease."

Has anyone issued this written notice to LL refuting the LL's right to terminate or file a case?

Any and all help/guidance/advice/direction welcomed.

Thanks in advance


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## wandabug (Apr 22, 2010)

Hi Sarah. Is it possible for you to just ignore the LL for 4 months. Maybe even change the locks. As it is only 4 mths he may not think it worth the battle. He cannot physically make you leave and it would take him longer to take it to court.
Or compromise with him that you do not pay him any money but move out in 2 mths so he can find a new tenant. Not ideal as you also lose out on 2 mths bit might be less stressful.


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## Mbesri (Sep 23, 2012)

Update on my case. Met the LL again and clearly stated my rights (I have an authority letter signed by him authorising MFR to rent, and collect the cheques) ... I could feel that he didn't want to go through the hassle of RC etc ... I preferred to find a fair mutual agreement which was to leave the apartment 2 months before the end of the lease agreement. This was the maximum loss I could psychologically bear and I bought my peace of mind. Took a reasonable hit and decided to move on.


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