What is 租赁押金?
租户在入住前向业主支付的可退还保证金，通常为1-2个月租金（迪拜住宅市场惯例），在租约到期且房产状况完好时须全额退还，是保障业主在租户造成损失时获得赔偿的基本机制。
Description
The deposit is paid at contract signing, alongside the rent cheques, and it is held for the duration of the tenancy. It is not an advance on rent and it is not the landlord's money: it secures the condition of the unit and any outstanding obligations at move-out.
- Unfurnished: 5% of the annual rent, the standard market practice
- Furnished: 10% of the annual rent
- Refundable at the end of the tenancy, less legitimate deductions
- Disputes are filed at the Rental Disputes Centre
On an apartment let at AED 60,000 a year, that is AED 3,000 unfurnished or AED 6,000 furnished. The percentage is convention rather than statute, so it is the tenancy contract that fixes the amount, and the contract should record it as a deposit received.
Legitimate deductions are damage beyond fair wear and tear, unpaid DEWA or chiller accounts, and missing items from a furnished inventory. Normal ageing of paint, flooring and fittings is not damage. Dubai law does not set a refund deadline, so the contract should state one, and in practice settlement follows the final utility bills clearing.
How to interpret
A deposit is only as good as the evidence behind it. Dated photographs, a signed inventory and meter readings at move-in are what convert a landlord's deduction into an enforceable claim. Without them the Rental Disputes Centre has no basis to prefer the landlord's account of the unit's condition over the tenant's.
On the tenant's side the discipline is the same. Get the deposit written into the contract with the amount stated, walk the unit with the landlord or agent at both ends of the tenancy, and log existing defects in writing on day one. A snag list agreed at move-in is the cheapest insurance available on a deposit.
Never apply the deposit to rent arrears without the tenant's written agreement. The deposit is designated for damage and end-of-tenancy obligations, and mixing it with a rent claim weakens the landlord's position in exactly the forum where the claim will be decided.
迪拜市场背景
Deposit disputes go to the Rental Disputes Centre, where filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000, conciliation comes first, and first-instance decisions typically arrive within one to three months. On a AED 3,000 deposit the minimum fee alone changes the arithmetic, which is why most deposit arguments are settled at the conciliation stage rather than litigated.
Managed buildings increasingly hold deposits in a separate account rather than the owner's personal one, which removes the commonest failure at refund time: the money having been spent during the tenancy.
Buyers of tenanted apartments should treat the deposit as a transfer item. The lease passes to the new owner with the obligation to refund at the end of the tenancy, so the deposit needs to be credited on the transfer statement. A buyer who overlooks it refunds, at their own cost, money the seller collected.
Frequently asked questions
A refundable sum a tenant pays the landlord before occupancy, held as protection against damage beyond fair wear and tear and against unpaid obligations such as utility bills. It is returned at the end of the tenancy, less any legitimate deductions.
Market practice is 5% of the annual rent for an unfurnished property and 10% for a furnished one. On a unit let at AED 60,000 a year that is AED 3,000 unfurnished or AED 6,000 furnished. The figure is convention, so confirm the amount stated in the tenancy contract.
Yes, less legitimate deductions for damage beyond fair wear and tear, unpaid DEWA or chiller accounts, and missing inventory items in a furnished let. Normal wear such as faded paint is not deductible.
Repair of damage caused during the tenancy, outstanding utility or cooling accounts, and replacement of missing furnishings in a furnished unit. Each deduction should be evidenced by the move-in record and an invoice or quotation, or it is difficult to sustain at the Rental Disputes Centre.
File at the Rental Disputes Centre. Filing costs 3.5% of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000, and there is a mandatory conciliation stage first, which resolves a large share of deposit cases. Bring the tenancy contract, the Ejari registration, the deposit receipt and move-in and move-out photographs.
The lease transfers to the buyer, and so does the obligation to refund the deposit at the end of the tenancy. The deposit should be credited to the buyer on the transfer statement, otherwise the buyer refunds money the seller kept.
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