# Abu dhabi - recovering rent



## Testingthewater (Apr 14, 2009)

Dear All

Can I ask someone for some advice. When I pay out 12 months rent in advance in Abu Dhabi and something goes terribly wrong for example I dont like my new job and want to leave or worse still my new employers decide I am not the man for the job, what happens regarding rent.

My employers are giving me a monthly rent allowance which I can take as a lump sum to make a downpayment. If I have to pay this in advance and then subsequently terminate a 12 month lease early, can I aks the landlord for any monies back? There seems such a huge risk in renting as potentially you loose thousands of pounds.

I am sure I am not the first to ponder this scenerio but cant find any infromation on this situation anywhere. 

Thanks in advance


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## levlinm (Jun 20, 2009)

Testingthewater said:


> Dear All
> 
> Can I ask someone for some advice. When I pay out 12 months rent in advance in Abu Dhabi and something goes terribly wrong for example I dont like my new job and want to leave or worse still my new employers decide I am not the man for the job, what happens regarding rent.
> 
> ...


what does your tenancy contract state....in some cases the contract cannot be terminated..in other cases if you have to give maybe a month to 2months notice, in which the land lord should pay you your monies back pro-rated..


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## Testingthewater (Apr 14, 2009)

levlinm said:


> what does your tenancy contract state....in some cases the contract cannot be terminated..in other cases if you have to give maybe a month to 2months notice, in which the land lord should pay you your monies back pro-rated..


Dear Levlinm

I am arriving in 4 weeks so have yet to look at anything. Just looking at the websItes at the moment to see whats on the market. Is this something then that I shoudl try and negotiate as a clause in the lease contract. Would most expats do this as the norm?

Also, is it me or has the rents styarted to come down a bit?
TY


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## AB_in_Dubai (Jun 13, 2009)

You can negotiate termination clauses. I suggest you be PROACTIVE with your hunt for a decent place. If your allowance is anything less than AED180,000 you'll get nothing decent and still have to buy all your fixtures. I suggest look at Dubai around the Marina. I gave up after 35 properties I checked out in Abu Dhabi. The drive is about an hour and in Dubai you wont even feel like you're living in the middle east. Abu Dhabi has f*ck all to do afterhours except hang out in the Marina or Abu Dhabi Malls.......dont be bullied by bull**** landlord or property agents. Also, whenever ANYONE says 'Will be finished in 2 weeks InShala' its total bull****. I have a friend living in a 2 br apartment in Abu Dhabi with a generator for the past 3 months because he has no electricity! No termination clause and all rent paid upfront!

ps: InShala means: God Willing!!!


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## Amnesia180 (May 13, 2009)

I've found Dubizzle.com | Property for Sale and Rent, Jobs, Classifieds to be quite useful in terms of comparing prices. There are plenty of phone numbers for local agents there too, so just give them a call and ask the question!?


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## jander13 (Mar 12, 2009)

if it is not mentioned in the contract then i am not sure if you can get your money back. i had the same thing happen to me with one of the houses i rented for an engineer in the company but it was in dubai and after some research i found out that i can give the landlord 3 months notice and if he refuses to let you go then it is possible can open a case by going to RERA. When i told the landlord that i was going to file a complaint with RERA he accepted the 3 months fine.

I am not sure if RERA deals with both abu dhabi and dubai or if it is dubai only.


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## mayotom (Nov 8, 2008)

nope RERA is a Dubai Authority only

Testing the water, Abu Dhabi is at a pincle point, rent will drop shortly, lots of peolpe are leaving , lots are moving to dubai and lots of property is completing, so logic indicated a price drop


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## titirangi (Aug 14, 2008)

yep - rents have already tanked in AD for villas as the supply in khalifa city, MBZ city comes online. plus craploads of western expats (2000 families last few months from one construction company alone - all western expats) heading home as projects are put on "hold".

as soon as our contract has finished our fmily heading to JBR/JLT - I do the commute which is similar to back home anyways so no big deal. Save a bundle and live in a much nicer place.

like the other joker said, push back on the LL. Most of them are deluded and ignore market, prefer to leave place empty rather than lose face. If they want 200, insist the agent present offer of 100 in person, if no accept, decline the counter offer and walk. you will be surprised...


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## levlinm (Jun 20, 2009)

Dear testing the water, 

sorry for the late reply ..but i dont think you will get a better answer than the ones already posted.. (thanks all)..at the end of if before you sign your tenancy contract all you need to do read through it completely and raise your concers to the estate agent and whatever answer he gives you make sure you have it mentioned on the contract , because 3months later when you do decide to leave, its just gonna be you and the landlord..

=)


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## Testingthewater (Apr 14, 2009)

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to reply to me. Your comments were really useful and have certainly made confident that I can negotiate more that I had first thought.
Thanks All - ps Chnaging from Testingthe water to Tested the Waters soon!


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## Testingthewater (Apr 14, 2009)

Thank you to everyone who replied to me. I appreciate it very much.


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## levlinm (Jun 20, 2009)

Testingthewater said:


> Thank you to everyone who replied to me. I appreciate it very much.


Your welcome..hope you got the answers you needed..=)


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