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Sharjah residents fume over delay in resolving rent cases

According to the 2005 statistics released by the Sharjah Municipality, the number of disputes awaiting resolution is 2,432. Most of these disputes are over increase of rents or evacuation orders by landlords. Over 40 per cent of the disputes are on evacuation orders to tenants by the landlords or real estate companies for non-payment of rent.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Hassan, representative at a lawyer's office, said that he had been following up on several rent cases for a year and was still awaiting their review by the section.

Leila Ahmed, a resident who has filed a complaint, said that instead of solving the dispute, the rent committee had complicated the issue further. The number of rent cases is increasing due to the landlords, she added.

Abdullah Al Hilow, another complainant, said: “I fail to understand why there is so much delay in the committee. These cases should be resolved immediately as they are connected to human feelings of settlement and security.”

Mahdi Al Alawi, a resident, questioned the credibility of the tenancy rule and said, “I fail to understand the delay in resolving disputes.”

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Abdullah Al Amri, Director-General of Sharjah Municipality, said that “if we look at the number of the cases during 2001, in the last four years there has not been a big number of pending cases awaiting review by the rent dispute committee. The first year after the issuance of the new law, the number of cases rose to 6,540, but it was reduced in the second year to 620 cases. The number of cases went up this year to 2,520.”

He attributed the rise to the recent hike in rents. As tenants complain about rent-hike, landlords explain that they are forced to raise rents of old tenants to cope with the prevailing market price in the area where the building is located.

Speaking about the procedures followed to dispense with the cases, Al Amri said that once the complaint was lodged, the committee would review the case and try to find a solution acceptable to both the parties.

Delays are caused at times wmmittee has to refer the case to the real estate company seeking explanation for the rent hike. Until all the relevant details are available with the committee, it cannot jump into a decision, he explained.

He said that the dispute committee comprised a judge, head of the committee and two to four members appointed by his Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

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