Need your feedback
​
As a Dubai landlord, I had one of the worst handover situations ever — looking for feedback from tenants and realtors
I’m a property owner in Dubai and currently rent out around 11 properties. I usually deal with my tenants personally because I genuinely enjoy the hospitality side of it — making people comfortable, solving problems quickly, and trying to handle things properly when something goes wrong.
But this one situation turned into a complete nightmare.
Long story short: it was a fully furnished unit. The previous tenant cut his tenancy short after around 3 months and was extremely difficult with viewings and handover. He had confirmed he would vacate on 15 May 2026, so I lined up a new tenant to move in on the morning of 18 May.
Then, surprise surprise, he refused to leave on time. He kept delaying, and eventually I had to tell him that if he continued staying, I would deposit the next cheque and treat the tenancy as continuing. He finally vacated very late at night, around 11 PM, and sent a video showing the unit was clean and that cleaning had been done.
My property manager and I took it at face value, which in hindsight was a mistake.
At the same time, the new tenant’s agent was constantly pushing us to complete the Ejari because the tenant had to move in the next morning. I explained that we had not physically inspected the unit yet and had not even received final handover items like DEWA cancellation. But the pressure was basically: “I don’t care, just make it happen.”
Ejari was created, the agent disappeared as usual, gave my number directly to the tenant, and that’s where the saga began.
The new tenant first complained that the flat was dirty. We immediately dispatched a deep-cleaning crew. Then a few minor issues came up back-to-back, all of which were resolved within a few hours. At that point, I could already tell she had turned sour, and honestly, I don’t blame her.
Then came the real problem.
She found a bed bug.
I panicked, because that is every landlord’s nightmare. We called pest control, and initially they said the issue was resolved. I arranged a new mattress and sent another deep-cleaning team.
But when the bed was lifted, it turned out there was a serious bedbug infestation underneath. At that point, I felt genuinely terrible for the tenant. Nobody deserves to move into a new home and experience that, especially within the first 48 hours.
The same day the bedbug issue was properly discovered, I gave her the option to exit immediately. No penalty, no drama, no nonsense. Clean refund, plus extra reimbursements for the costs and inconvenience she had already incurred. I made sure every reasonable cost was returned because, in my opinion, it was simply the right thing to do.
Then came the agency fee issue.
She had paid close to 10% of the rent as agency commission. Personally, I don’t understand why tenants are charged that much, but that’s a separate discussion. The agent refused to refund even one dirham.
I tried reasoning with him, but he wouldn’t budge. So I took the tenant and went directly to the brokerage office to meet their leasing manager. I explained the whole situation and asked them, on a human level, to return at least part of the agency fee. I told them this is not my first rental situation and definitely won’t be my last, but sometimes people need to be practical and kind.
They made big promises during the meeting.
Three hours later, they called and said that after looking at it from a “holistic point of view,” they would not refund anything.
They even told me that as a landlord, I shouldn’t involve myself in the agency-fee matter.
But honestly, I couldn’t ignore it. If I didn’t do something, I wouldn’t have felt right about it. So I paid the tenant’s agency fee myself on the agent’s behalf.
The tenant was genuinely shocked and happy. She said this restored her trust in Dubai because this was her first major financial commitment here. That actually made me smile.
This isn’t meant to be a moral science post, but I genuinely want feedback:
As a tenant in Dubai, are you actually protected in situations like this?
If you move into a furnished apartment and immediately discover a serious issue like bedbugs, dirt, and habitability problems, what should happen legally and practically?
And for realtors here — do you think it’s fair for an agent to keep the full commission when the tenant cannot even properly stay in the unit immediately after move-in?
Curious to hear opinions from both landlords and tenants.