Dubai Property Lawyer

Law No. 7 of 2006 on Real Property Registration governs ownership and the property register. Article 9 makes transactions that create, transfer, amend or extinguish real property rights invalid unless registered, and Article 7 gives the register absolute evidentiary value against everyone, short of fraud or forgery. Tenancies run on a separate law, Law No. 26 of 2007 as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008.

In designated areas, yes. Article 4 of Law No. 7 of 2006 restricts ownership generally to UAE and GCC nationals, companies wholly owned by them and public joint stock companies, while allowing non-nationals to be granted freehold, usufruct or a lease of up to 99 years in areas designated for that purpose under Regulation No. 3 of 2006. Whether a particular buyer — individual or company — can be registered for a particular property is checked against the property and the entity, not assumed.

It depends on the dispute. Landlord and tenant claims go to the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre under Decree No. 26 of 2013, subject to that Decree’s exclusions. Sale and purchase, developer and ownership claims generally go to the Dubai Courts unless a valid arbitration agreement applies. Registration and project regulation sit with the Dubai Land Department and RERA. Working out the forum comes before working out the argument.

Who is registered as owner and whether they can sell; whether the property is mortgaged or otherwise encumbered; service charge arrears; the payment schedule and what each payment is tied to; handover and snagging obligations; what happens on either side’s default; and how disputes are resolved. For off-plan, also the project’s registration status and the escrow arrangements.

Often not. Where the seller is registered, the property is unencumbered, the payment structure is simple and the buyer is eligible, a conveyancer and the Trustee Centre process handle it. Legal review earns its place where the structure is unusual, an entity is buying, the property is off-plan, there is finance or an existing tenancy, or something in the paperwork does not reconcile.

Whatever you already hold: the contract or draft, any addenda, the title deed or Oqood, payment records, notices served or received, correspondence with the other side or the agent, and the dates involved. Gaps are normal. What exists at the outset shapes what can realistically be argued, which is why we look at documents before offering a view.

This practice is built around Dubai property and real estate law. Adjacent work is taken where it genuinely arises from a property matter — corporate structures used to hold property, arbitration under a construction or development contract, and inheritance of real property. Matters unconnected to property are better placed with a practice that focuses on them.

No, but you need a properly drafted power of attorney, notarised and legalised for use in the UAE and translated into Arabic. It has to cover the specific steps involved — signing, registering, filing, settling and enforcing — because a general form is often refused at the point it is needed.

Yes, and that is the point at which review is worth most. Once the agreement is signed, the terms on payment, default, handover and termination are the terms you are held to. See sale and purchase agreements.