When the rent stops arriving. What to do, in order.
A tenant in arrears, or a cheque that has bounced. The notice you have to serve first, the 30 days that follow, what filing at the Rental Dispute Centre costs, and how long the whole thing takes.
Serve a formal notice to pay. The tenant then has 30 days to settle. If the money does not arrive, you file at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre, which costs 3.5% of the annual rent with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000. Judgment usually follows in 30 to 60 days and execution in a further 30 to 90. Do not change the locks at any point in that sequence.
In short
The 30-day notice comes first. You cannot file at the Rental Dispute Centre until it has been served and the 30 days have run.
Filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000.
The Centre works in Arabic. Every contract, notice, cheque memo and exhibit needs an Arabic version or a legalised translation, or the file is not accepted.
A straightforward case runs 30 to 60 days to judgment, then 30 to 90 more for execution.
Changing the locks or cutting the DEWA supply is unlawful and hands the tenant a counterclaim, even where the debt is undisputed.
Start with the notice
Nothing moves until the tenant has been told formally that the rent is overdue. That notice starts a 30-day clock, and until the clock has run the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre has no case to hear. Owners routinely spend a month sending messages and then discover they are back at the beginning.
Put it in writing. Name the contract, state the period the arrears cover and the figure owed, and keep proof that it was sent and received. A run of unanswered messages asking where the money is does not do this job, however many of them there are.
A fair number of tenants pay inside the 30 days. That is the outcome the notice exists to produce, and it costs you very little to find out.
What the file needs
The Centre decides on documents, so assemble yours before you file rather than after.
You need the tenancy contract, the Ejari registration, the notice you served, a record of what has been paid and when, and evidence of the default itself. Where a cheque bounced, the returned cheque and the bank memo are that evidence. Where a transfer failed or never arrived, the statement covering those dates does the same work.
One requirement catches overseas owners out. The Centre works in Arabic. Every document you rely on, the contract and the notice and the cheque memo included, has to be in Arabic or carry a legalised Arabic translation. A file submitted in English alone is not accepted, and translation arranged in a hurry after a rejection costs more than translation arranged before.
Filing, and what follows
Filing is done online through the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre portal, with the evidence uploaded as part of the submission. The fee is 3.5% of the annual rent, subject to a floor of AED 500 and a ceiling of AED 20,000. On a unit let at AED 120,000 that comes to AED 4,200.
| Stage | What happens | How long | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notice to pay | Served in writing | 30 days | Notary or post |
| Filing | Filed on the RDC portal | Same day | 3.5% of rent |
| Judgment | The Centre rules | 30 to 60 days | In the fee |
| Execution | The order is enforced | 30 to 90 days | Separate step |
Timings are typical rather than guaranteed and depend on the Centre's list and on how complete the file is. Filing fee is 3.5% of annual rent, minimum AED 500 and maximum AED 20,000. Position current at September 2026.
The judgment is not the end of the matter. A ruling in your favour still has to be executed, and that is a separate stage with a timetable of its own. Add the 30 days of notice at the front and the execution window at the back, and a case that felt urgent in September may conclude in the new year.
What you must not do
When someone is living in your property and not paying for it, the temptation is to make staying there uncomfortable. Resist it.
Changing the locks is unlawful. So is cutting the DEWA supply, and so is removing the tenant’s belongings. Any of those hands the tenant a counterclaim and exposes you to damages, and it does so even where the arrears are undisputed and the tenant has no answer to them at all. A case you were going to win becomes a case you are defending, on facts you created yourself.
The formal route is slower, and it is the one that ends with both the money and the property.
Before the next tenancy
Register the tenancy on Ejari.
The registration is one of the documents the Centre expects to see, and it is the cheapest piece of protection available to you. An unregistered contract is a gap in the file before you have said anything about the arrears.
Keep the payment record as you go.
Cheque dates, transfer references, bank memos and the dates each one cleared or failed. Assembling this after a default means reconstructing a year of banking under time pressure. Keeping it as it happens takes minutes.
Serve the notice on the day it is due.
The 30 days do not start until the notice is served, so every week of informal chasing is a week added to the end of the process. Send the formal notice first and have the conversation afterwards.
Work out what the arrears are worth pursuing.
A filing fee of 3.5% of annual rent, translation costs and several months of a unit you cannot re-let all sit against whatever is owed. On a small balance with a tenant who is leaving anyway, settling and re-letting can put you further ahead than winning.
General information for property owners, current at September 2026, and not legal advice. Procedure, fees and timings are set by the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre and can change. Take advice on your own case before serving notice or filing.
Questions
- What do I do first if my tenant stops paying rent in Dubai?
- Serve a formal notice to pay. It has to be in writing, it has to name the contract and the amount owed, and you need proof that it was sent. The tenant then has 30 days to settle. Until that notice has been served and the 30 days have run, there is no case to file, so a month of chasing by phone leaves you exactly where you started.
- How much does it cost to file a rental case in Dubai?
- Filing at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre costs 3.5% of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000. On a unit let at AED 120,000 the fee is AED 4,200. On a unit let at AED 800,000 the ceiling applies, so you pay AED 20,000 rather than the 28,000 the percentage would suggest.
- Can I change the locks if my tenant has not paid?
- No, and doing it will cost you. Changing the locks, cutting the DEWA supply and removing a tenant's belongings are all unlawful in Dubai. Any of them hands the tenant a counterclaim and exposes you to damages, and that holds even where the arrears are undisputed. A case you were going to win turns into one you are defending.
- Does a bounced cheque help my case?
- It is useful evidence of the debt, so keep the returned cheque and the bank memo and put both in the file. What it is not is a shortcut. The bounced cheque supports the claim you file at the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre; it does not give you a separate route to possession of the property.
- How long does it take to remove a tenant for non-payment in Dubai?
- Budget months rather than weeks. After the 30-day notice, a straightforward non-payment case usually runs 30 to 60 days from filing to judgment. Execution of that judgment takes a further 30 to 90 days. Owners who plan around a decision arriving in two months and possession the same week are the ones who end up surprised.
- Can I file at the RDC without an Ejari registration?
- An unregistered tenancy puts you in a weak position from the start. The Ejari registration is one of the core documents the Centre expects to see alongside the contract, the notice and the payment record. Filing without it means opening your case with a gap in the file, which is a poor place to begin an argument about someone else's obligations.
Mulki keeps every lease, cheque date and renewal in one place.
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