The Rental Disputes Center, the judicial arm of the Dubai Land Department, reported that the owners are obliged to pay charges for real estates owned in common unless the lease provides otherwise.
HH Judge Abdulqader Mousa, Chairman of Rental Disputes Center, said that Article (16) paragraph (b) of Law No. (6) of 2019, on jointly owned real estate properties, which was recently issued, prescribes that unless otherwise stipulated in the Unit lease agreement, the Owner will be liable to pay the Service Charges and Usage Charges. In all events, the Owner may not be discharged from his liability to pay the Service Charges and Usage Charges if the tenant fails to pay the same as prescribed under this Law.
Paragraph (a) of the aforementioned Article stipulates that the property unit owner and tenant are required to abide by the Statute and Master [statutory] Community Declaration, Building Management Regulation, as well as the other owners and occupants of the other units, the Owners' Committee and the administration entity. Judge Moussa explained that pursuant to the provisions of the law, the owner is liable to pay the Service Charges and Usage Charges for the common property areas, unless otherwise mentioned in the lease, pointing out that the common areas include all common parts of the real estate property, and the fees shall include chiller - "DISTRICT COOLING " charges for these areas.
He stressed that the invoices approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) shall be the reference points in the event of disputes over the charges relating to these areas. Failure to pay these fees may expose the owner to problems that are indispensable as he is the originally responsible for settling these charges, and the accumulation of these charges can lead to the sale of such unit in the interest of settling service and usage charges.
In addition, Judge Mousa said that the disputes over common areas in the past were within the jurisdiction of the Dubai Courts, but moved under the new law to the RDC, pointing out that most of these disputes related to the amount of charges, and complaints raised by the owners not benefited from some of these services.
He added that the RDC will work on the latest smart systems in relation to these disputes, ensuring that quick solutions to the disputes over jointly owned property are reached. The fees mentioned herein shall include chiller charges for common areas.