The Rental Dispute Centre in Dubai
Fees, Filing and How Far an Appeal Can Go
Almost every serious disagreement between a Dubai landlord and tenant ends up in the same building. This is what the Rental Disputes Centre actually charges to open a case, which disputes it is allowed to hear, what the statute says about appeals, and the procedural details that decide whether a filing is accepted or sent back.
Dubai’s Dedicated Court for Rent
The Rental Disputes Centre is not a mediation service or an arm of a real estate regulator that issues opinions. It is a judicial body with its own judges, its own registry and its own enforcement department, created by Decree No. 26 of 2013 to take rent cases out of the general court system and give them a single specialised forum.
That distinction matters because it sets expectations. A decision of the Centre is a judgment, not a recommendation. Its Judgment Enforcement Directorate can act on that judgment, including on eviction orders. Landlords who assume the Centre will simply encourage a compromise, and tenants who assume a filing is a formality that buys months of delay, are both working from the wrong model.
Article 6(a) of the Decree gives the Centre exclusive jurisdiction to determine all rent disputes arising between landlords and tenants of real property situated in the emirate, and that reach expressly extends into the free zones. It also covers counterclaims, provisional actions, appeals and enforcement. In 2019 its jurisdiction was expanded further under Law No. 6 of 2019 concerning the ownership of jointly owned real property, which pulled a category of owners association and community disputes into the same forum.
Structurally the Centre is built as a funnel rather than a single courtroom. Article 7(b) sets out four judicial divisions: a Mediation and Conciliation Directorate, a First Instance Division, an Appellate Division and a Judgment Enforcement Directorate. A case enters at conciliation and only moves to a committee if that stage fails, which is why the fee rules reward settling early.
One administrative change is worth noting before you go looking for the service online. RDC services have been migrated off the Dubai Land Department portal and are now delivered through the Centre’s own portal at rdc.gov.ae. Bookmarks and older guides pointing at the DLD e-services path no longer lead anywhere useful.
The RDC at a Glance — 2026
Official Rental Disputes Centre figures
What It Costs to File at the RDC
The headline fee is proportional, so the cost of filing scales with the rent or the sum in dispute — but it is capped, and the cap differs depending on what kind of claim you are bringing.
| Fee Component | Eviction / Renewal Claim | Monetary Claim | What It Is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case filing fee | 3.5% of annual rent or lease value | 3.5% of the amount claimed | The proportional core fee |
| Minimum fee | AED 500 | AED 500 | Floor on small claims |
| Maximum fee | AED 20,000 | AED 15,000 | Cap on large claims |
| Registration fee | AED 25 | AED 25 | Opening the case file |
| Knowledge fee | AED 10 | AED 10 | Standard Dubai government levy |
| Innovation fee | AED 10 | AED 10 | Standard Dubai government levy |
| Process service | AED 100 | AED 100 | Serving the other party |
| Refund on amicable settlement | Half the fee | Half the fee | Article 10(i), Decree 26 of 2013 |
| Appeal deposit | 50% of the amount awarded in the original case | Payable to lodge an appeal | |
Sources: Rental Disputes Centre official FAQ, rdc.gov.ae, retrieved 19 August 2026; Decree No. (26) of 2013 Concerning the Rent Disputes Settlement Centre in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae), retrieved 19 August 2026. The Centre’s portal calculates the exact payable amount at submission.
What the RDC Can Hear — and What It Cannot
Filing at the wrong forum is an expensive way to lose several weeks. Article 6 of the Decree draws the boundary in both directions, and three categories sit firmly outside it.
Article 6(a) gives the Centre exclusive jurisdiction over all rent disputes between landlords and tenants of property situated in Dubai. The wording is deliberately broad, and it expressly reaches into the free zones rather than stopping at their boundaries.
The same article extends to counterclaims, provisional and summary actions, appeals against the Centre’s own decisions, and enforcement of its judgments. A landlord does not need to go elsewhere to have an award enforced.
Law No. 6 of 2019 concerning the ownership of jointly owned real property widened the Centre’s remit, bringing a set of owners association and community-level disputes into the same forum rather than the general courts.
Article 6(b) carves out disputes arising in free zones that operate their own rental dispute tribunals. Where a zone has its own forum, that forum takes precedence and a filing at the Centre is misdirected.
Disputes arising out of lease finance contracts fall outside Article 6(b). These are financing arrangements dressed in the language of a lease, and the Decree treats them as a different animal from a tenancy.
Long-term lease contracts governed by Law No. 7 of 2006 are also excluded. Long leases behave far more like an interest in the property itself — the kind of interest recorded on a title deed — than like an annual tenancy.
Letting a property in Dubai and want it done properly?
TruHauz manages tenancies end to end — registration, renewals, notices and arrears — so disputes are prevented rather than litigated.
Three Things That Sink a Case Before It Is Heard
None of these are arguments about the merits. They are procedural, they are entirely avoidable, and between them they account for most of the frustration people report with the process.
The File Is Not in Arabic
Arabic is the working language of the Centre, and its own document list specifies that the lease must be submitted with an Arabic translation. A case bundle assembled in English alone is the most common reason a first attempt stalls. Translation is a real cost and a real lead time, and it applies to more than the contract: notices, correspondence and payment records all end up in front of a conciliator who will read them in Arabic.
There Is No Registered Tenancy
The Centre’s document list opens with the latest copy of the lease registered through Ejari. The registered contract is what fixes the parties, the rent, the term and the property in a form the Centre recognises. An unregistered tenancy is not automatically fatal, but it removes the single document the entire process is built around and forces you to prove from scratch what registration would have established on its own.
Notice Cannot Be Proved
On eviction claims the Centre requires proof that the legal notice was actually delivered, not merely that it was written. Landlords routinely discover at the filing desk that a notice sent by email or handed over informally leaves no evidence that will satisfy a registry. The method of service is not a technicality here; it is a document you have to produce.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions landlords and tenants ask most often about taking a rent dispute to the Rental Disputes Centre in Dubai.
Renting, Letting or Buying in Dubai?
TruHauz is a RERA-licensed Dubai brokerage. We manage tenancies, handle registrations and renewals, and advise owners on letting property in the emirate — and we tell you what it costs before you commit.
Join The Discussion