Property management in Abu Dhabi: what property owners should know

What a property manager does, and what stays with you

Day-to-day management usually covers:

• marketing the unit and arranging viewings
• checking applicants and preparing the tenancy contract
• registering the contract on Tawtheeq and tracking its renewal date
• collecting rent and following up late payments
• logging repair requests, getting quotes and supervising the work
• inspections at move-in, during the tenancy and at move-out
• statements that show what came in and what was spent

What should stay with you: the rent you are willing to accept, the final say on a tenant, and approval of any repair above a limit you agree in advance. If a manager wants open authority over all three, ask why.

The systems you will deal with

• ADREC (Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre) regulates the market, licenses real estate professionals and keeps the registers.
• DARI is the official property platform for title deeds, sales, tenancy contracts and valuations.
• Tawtheeq is the register of tenancy contracts. Units are enrolled, then each lease is registered against a unit.
• Madhmoun is ADREC’s listing verification system. Each advertisement needs a valid permit, and up to three approved brokers can list a unit.
• TAMM is the government services portal through which many of these services are reached.

For a closer look at tenancy registration, read our guide to Tawtheeq.

Your duties as a landlord

Abu Dhabi’s leasing law, Law No. 20 of 2006, sets out the basics. Among them:

• Tenancy contracts must be in writing (Article 3).
• The property is handed over in a condition suitable for its use (Article 5).
• The landlord maintains the property and carries out necessary repairs during the tenancy, apart from minor “rental repairs”, unless agreed otherwise (Article 7).
• If the landlord delays a repair after notice, the tenant can ask the rental committee for permission to do it and deduct the cost from the rent (Article 8).

Registration of the contract on Tawtheeq and a Madhmoun permit for any advertising sit on top of these. Our guide to maintenance responsibilities goes further into who pays for what.

Questions to ask before you appoint a manager

About the company

• Is the company licensed, and can I see its licence?
• Who will be my point of contact, and how quickly do they reply?

About money and repairs

• Which repairs can you approve without asking me, and up to what amount?
• How often will I get a statement, and what will it show?
• Who holds the rent cheques, keys and original documents?

About the tenancy

• How do you check a tenant before recommending them?
• When do you start on a renewal, and how do you keep me informed?

Keep the paperwork in one place

Whether you manage the property yourself or appoint someone, keep these together and up to date:

• the title deed
• the current tenancy contract and its Tawtheeq registration
• move-in and move-out inspection reports with dated photos
• invoices and warranties for repairs and appliances
• service charge statements from the building

When something goes wrong, a dispute or an insurance claim, the owner with complete records is in a far stronger position.