# Rental Payments and Post dated Checks



## Zayets (Jan 1, 2010)

As those who have read my previous posting "Loosing a job" will know I am going to be officially unemployed this week. I have a question regarding Rental Payments and Post Dated checks:

I have a 1 year rental agreement for 6 checks. The first check has already been cashed and is for the period up to the middle of May. The 2nd check is postdated for the middle of May followed up by the other 4 postdated checks. I have a clause in my contract that states that if "the tenant looses employment within the UAE he may vacate the premises with one month notice upon verification of termination or relocation notices".

That all sounds fine as I need to stay in this place in any case until the Middle of May (as I have paid). I can give the one months notice ( I am even ready to give notice this week which is more then a month) and I will have a termination letter from my employer (the proof that is needed as per the rental contract. It is also not a problem for me to stay through mid May as my employer has said that they are not going to cancel my visa (they even said they will transfer it to another employer if I find another job in the UAE and in that case I would even like to prolong rental of this flat).....even if the employer did cancel my visa I could probably stick it out until mid May by just going to Oman and getting a visit visa.

It all sounds good, however I would like to avoid any potential "Nightmare".......Has anyone heard of a landlord doing something crazy like cashing a bunch of postdated checks early just to "get the tenants money"?

I really think there is very little chance of this happening as my feeling is that I am dealing with good people here (Dubai based expat who seems to be a nice guy and is acting on behalf of a European based landlord) however I would like to cover my %$$ just in case.

Should I deal with it by: 

Phoning the guy here in Dubai who is acting on behalf of the landlord and telling him that I am being laid off and will be providing him with a copy of the termination letter as proof as per the contract clause AND THEN immediatly going to my bank here in Dubai and cancelling those post dated checks (just to avoid the very slight chance that this landlord or his Dubai based rep. will try to "cash in all or some of the checks)?

OR is there a better way of dealing with this?

Thanks in advance for your advice,

Zayets


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## Andy Capp (Oct 5, 2008)

You can't cancel cheques here....


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## rsinner (Feb 3, 2009)

Zayets said:


> It all sounds good, however I would like to avoid any potential "Nightmare".......Has anyone heard of a landlord doing something crazy like cashing a bunch of postdated checks early just to "get the tenants money"?


Zayets, I indeed read the other thread - hope things work out for you. 
The whole concept of date on cheques and post dating is so that they cannot be cashed before the date on the cheque
So once the rent agreement is being canceled, you will need to collect all the cheques back from the landlord (along with your deposit etc)


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

I would advise that you contact the estate agent and explain the situation. However, you need follow up the phone conversation, with written notice as per your tenancy agreement.

By mutual agreement, your landlord should effectively refund that part of your rent that you will not use. However, if you fail to agree, then you can go to the rent committee who will decide on suitable compensation to be paid to the landlord and then refund you the balance. You have a good contract in regards to the possibility of redundancy being covered by the Contract T&Cs. As Andy Capp said, you cannot just cancel the cheques. You actually need to present the original cheques to the banks if you want the bank to not honour the cheques.

Your landlord's response will more or less dictate the best course of action. I would advise that you have a record of the written notice that you hand to the agent and ask the landlord to confirm, in writing, that he will return the cheques on the day that you vacate the property. It will provide you with peace of mind and also be helpful in the event that he backtracks, forcing you to take the matter further.


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## Zayets (Jan 1, 2010)

*Thanks )*

Thanks for all your advice. I spoke with the Dubai representative of the landlord and he was very understanding of my situation so I think everything will work out ok as far as the flat goes.


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## Jynxgirl (Nov 27, 2009)

Zayets said:


> Thanks for all your advice. I spoke with the Dubai representative of the landlord and he was very understanding of my situation so I think everything will work out ok as far as the flat goes.


Was hoping to see you had posted a message that you had found a job. 

Good to hear this part is working out though.


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