# #TOPIC: Renting by Nationality Leaves Tenants Floored



## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

*Renting by nationality leaves tenants floored* 

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/NationNF.asp?ArticleID=146115

Dubai: *Arabs and UAE nationals not wanted*. That is the message some hopeful tenants receive as landlords and rental agencies are scared of dealing with UAE nationals because of a lack of industry regulations.

*Some UAE nationals told Gulf News that they were told by real estate agents they will not rent out property to them because of the influence they are believed to wield.*

One example is Fatima Al Nu'aimi, who was searching for accommodation and asked her secretary, Zeina, to find a place for her.

She said a three-bedroom apartment had been found in Bur Dubai, but *as soon as the rental agency discovered it was for a UAE national woman, they withdrew the offer.*

"I liked it and told the real estate agent I wanted to put it in the name of a local woman," Zeina said.

"But when they said they could not do that, I asked why. He said it was company policy." The agent later denied he said that.

Zeina said she found a villa in a residential complex through another company, but the agent there told her: "G*ive me any foreign passport, but not an Arab passport."
*
The real estate agent explained that the owner of the complex did not rent out units to UAE nationals, fearing it would be difficult to evict them if there were problems. The same agent found Zeina a different property she could put in a national's name.

Mohammad, a 25 year-old UAE national, was also turned down because of his nationality. "Many of my friends have experienced the same thing," he said.

The young banker approached a leasing company for a Dh60,000 one-bedroom apartment on Shaikh Zayed Road in December.

He claims the agent told him the company would not rent the apartment to a UAE national. "They said we don't trust them, especially if they are single, because they throw lots of parties and things like that."

One agent, who requested anonymity, said: "Yes, we sometimes get instructions from certain owners and landlords not to rent out to Arabs and nationals. It's not really common. I mean, maybe one out of ten."

The real estate agent who initially turned down Fatima Al Nu'aimi's secretary only to rent her another unit, denied he was instructed by the landlord not to rent units to UAE nationals.

He said his real estate agency had to take care of rented properties and so tried to avoid "cultural differences".

*"If you are renting out a compound and they are mostly European, we don't like to mix them with Arabs. Cultural differences might become a problem, like with the shared pool."*

He said his company tries to point out these issues to customers and tries to win them over. "We don't want to turn anybody down."

Another agent, who has been in the business for more than 15 years, said he knew "at least two" real estate agencies which do not rent units to UAE nationals, fearing they would have no legal recourse if problems occurred.

She said some real estate agencies explain they cannot deal with UAE nationals. "If they don't listen to the watchman, who is normally from India, the watchman can't do anything, right?"

*According to another agent, owners often say what nationalities they "prefer" - usually Europeans.

On occasions, the agent was asked to turn down Indians or single men.*

One UAE national industry watcher cautioned against assuming the issue is one of racism. "I don't want to assume all UAE nationals are victims and all landlords are bad. There is a problem because there's no law defining the relationship between the landlord and the tenant."

This was confirmed by a legal adviser who said: "There's no legal supervision on this issue ... The owner is free to decide the price they want to set, the gender and the nationality of the tenants."

"It is the owner's property and he is free to decide who to rent it to," he said.

The adviser said the owner can also add conditions into a tenancy contract. "A contract is considered a wilful agreement between two parties, so either of them can negotiate its terms."

A member of the rents committee at Dubai Municipality said: "We only deal with issues after the contract is signed between the two parties."

Refusal by chance or policy?

Fatima Al Nu'aimi, a UAE national woman, asks her secretary to find accommodation for her. The secretary manages to find a three-bedroom apartment in Bur Dubai, but when the rental agency discovers that it is meant for a UAE national woman, the offer is promptly withdrawn.

Mohammad, a 25 year-old UAE national banker, approaches a major property leasing company in December. He wants to stay at a Dh60,000 one-bedroom apartment on Shaikh Zayed Road. But a company agent tells Mohammad they will not rent the apartment to a UAE national.


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

HaHa , something similar happened to us , we wanted to move to a bigger house in the capital , so my father phoned the indian guy incharge of the house and he immediatly told my father it was not available in the market anymore , then my mother , bless her , phoned the same guy and he was like Oh yes Mam please your welcome , the price is also not a matter , i`m looking forward to seeing you  (My mum is british btw) anyway , so we go there and he told my father "arbab , i told u it isnt in the market anymore" then when my mum spoke , he turned blue HeHe  and was like "i dont really appreciate ur trick mam" and left


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## Guest (Jan 2, 2005)

What Dubai requires in the near future is an influx of a certain group of Saudis (not the kind who come for the bars).

That will guarantee abandoned apartments by Europeans.


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

BulldozerGirl said:


> What Dubai requires in the near future is an influx of a certain group of Saudis (not the kind who come for the bars).
> 
> That will guarantee abandoned apartments by Europeans.


Well Saudis might be turned down too.


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

> Some UAE nationals told Gulf News that they were told by real estate agents they will not rent out property to them because of the influence they are believed to wield


either i don't understand or the reason for this problem is nonsense
i guess both :sly:


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

Dubai-Lover said:


> either i don't understand or the reason for this problem is nonsense
> i guess both :sly:



Woooooooooo locals are scary Zombies :cheers:


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

so now in uae an emiritie has to call and indain to get a place to rent and an indian gets to approve or disapprove.. ya salam.. although am not emirite.. im still very sad to hear this.. whats sadder is dozers solution to the problem...


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## ulb (Mar 1, 2003)

Dubai_Boy said:


> Well Saudis might be turned down too.


شكلك ما فهمت قصد بلدوزر غيرل.

لكن ممكن تستعين بصديق :jk:


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## fahed (Nov 10, 2004)

We should carry them on a lawsuit. Americans are not better than us - in that point :gunz:


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

this happens everywhere, not just in dubai. there is a part of manchester where there are people who refuse to rent houses to Non-Muslims.


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

just look at the classified ads in gulf news. there are a lot of age/race/religion/gender/nationality specific ads in there. this issiue goes a lot deeper than i ever realised.


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## ahmedr (Feb 1, 2004)

Beware, the expats are taking over.


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

beware the expats are taking over.. taking over... man they took over a long time ago what u talking about.. unfortunalty slowly qatar is taking the same road :<


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## Dubai-Lover (Jul 4, 2004)

i'm sure the government will do something about this soon
i mean, the reasons are ridiculous



> The real estate agent explained that the *owner of the complex* did not rent out units to UAE nationals, fearing it would be difficult to evict them if there were problems.


as far as i understand the owner, who is very likely to be a uae national, doesn't sell apartments,... to other uae nationals

arent't most of the owners uae nationals as well?? and isn't it the owner who decides who will live in his house?? i've never seen a real-estate company making the decisions for the owner!

and what does "fearing it would be difficult to evict them if there were problems" mean? are they too loud,... or whatever?
as if expats were the best tenats ever :doh: so, expats don't party at all in their apartments? :sly:

and, why is it more difficult to get uae nationals out of apartments than expats?


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

i think the eviction concerns are more about people who default on their rents. 



> and, why is it more difficult to get uae nationals out of apartments than expats?


Come on! its the way dubai works!


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

mooooooooooooooooooooooot min il 7araaaaaaaaaaaaah...


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Dubai-Lover said:


> and, why is it more difficult to get uae nationals out of apartments than expats?


connections...wasta, if you will


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

what does wasta have to do with it...


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Why do some people fear they can lose their residence permits if they get on the wrong side of a uae national?


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

juiced said:


> Why do some people fear they can lose their residence permits if they get on the wrong side of a uae national?


That might happen 20 years ago. Now its much more difficult and u would need a big wasta to kick someone.


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## AlMillion (Oct 17, 2004)

Its similar in Monaco - 'residents' far outnumber the Monegasque (Monaco nationals) however no-one in their right mind would pick any kind of disagreement with a Monegasque person inside Monaco as the government looks after them.

Monaco actually has building specifically allocated for Monegasque people to buy/rent in (at about 30% of the price 'residents' pay!) ... is this not the case in Dubai?


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

AlMillion said:


> Its similar in Monaco - 'residents' far outnumber the Monegasque (Monaco nationals) however no-one in their right mind would pick any kind of disagreement with a Monegasque person inside Monaco as the government looks after them.
> 
> Monaco actually has building specifically allocated for Monegasque people to buy/rent in (at about 30% of the price 'residents' pay!) ... is this not the case in Dubai?


Non UAE nationals cannot buy lands in the UAE except in some places and freezones. The government have to give a plot of land (100 * 150 feet) to each emarati citizen for free. If the salary is less than $2800 a month the fediral government give $136,000 as a gift (after waiting for couple of years or more) to build a house. Dubai government give $204,000 free intrest loan if we want also. The UAE government gives also $19,000 for every emarati male citizen to help him getting married.


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## Taufiq (Oct 14, 2004)

What's a wasta?


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

influence, power and respect


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2005)

smussuw said:


> Non UAE nationals cannot buy lands in the UAE except in some places and freezones. The government have to give a plot of land (100 * 150 feet) to each emarati citizen for free. If the salary is less than $2800 a month the fediral government give $136,000 as a gift (after waiting for couple of years or more) to build a house. Dubai government give $204,000 free intrest loan if we want also. The UAE government gives also $19,000 for every emarati male citizen to help him getting married.


nice benefits uae nationals have :eek2:


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2005)

Many expats in the UAE talk about the Emirati "wasta", when it never even affects them (at least not Europeans).

Anyway, the number of UAE nationals who rent apartments or homes is very few. Most own their own homes, or else, live in the home of their closest living relative, even if it means having 50 people in the same house.

Talking about wasta, if you haven't noticed, whenever a Briton is arrested for any crime in the UAE (like drug trafficking.. etc), the British Embassy always gets him out of it (the same as the two nurses in Saudi Arabia who murdered another nurse). The only time a real punishment is given is when the victim was also a Briton.

The British Embassy says it would send them to Britain to be punished there, or they would send them to Britain to have another trial there.. etc, and in the end they get away with it.


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## ws74sa (Aug 8, 2004)

In Saudi, you see many instances where Saudi landlords(apartment owner) refuse to give apartments to Saudi tenants on rent. 

An expat would not even imagine of not paying the rent on time, or not vacating the apartment when the landlord asks him to, however great the inconvenience it may be to move at short moments notice. But this is not case of a Saudi(at least some of them), who will pay the rent when he wants to or can afford to and will refuse to vacate when requested. It is rare a police action is taken in such a case, as the Saudi may say he has no means to pay the rent or means to take another apartment for rent, in which case the court normally asks the landlord to be patient till the tenant finds the means. This is not so with an expat.

There was an instance last year of a Saudi landowner forfeiting 1 years rent(which the Saudi tenant had not paid) and paying the tenant an additional 1 year's rent to have him vacate the apartment.


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## SkylineTurbo (Dec 22, 2004)

This is disgust, how can they weild an influence, Islam is a great religion about peace and harmony, so many westerners over look Islams history post 9/11. There are Christian terrorists, remember the IRA...


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## SkylineTurbo (Dec 22, 2004)

smussuw said:


> Non UAE nationals cannot buy lands in the UAE except in some places and freezones. The government have to give a plot of land (100 * 150 feet) to each emarati citizen for free. If the salary is less than $2800 a month the fediral government give $136,000 as a gift (after waiting for couple of years or more) to build a house. Dubai government give $204,000 free intrest loan if we want also. The UAE government gives also $19,000 for every emarati male citizen to help him getting married.


Now that is the good life.


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

blackadder said:


> Now that is the good life.


But then again , not for every local , i`m a local and my whole family are local , but my father has been living in rented houses for over 30 years now !!! i guess this is life , but it is also WASTA 

hopefullly things will become better
:sleepy:


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2005)

It's not just about the passport. You need _khulast el qayd_ also. They key to such "perks" is in this document.

The children of UAE national women who marry non-locals, may eventually obtain UAE citizenship after some struggle, but they will never obtain _khulast el qayd_.


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

Dubai_Boy said:


> But then again , not for every local , i`m a local and my whole family are local , but my father has been living in rented houses for over 30 years now !!! i guess this is life , but it is also WASTA
> 
> hopefullly things will become better
> :sleepy:


I cannot understand why some people in Abu Dhabi get 2 or 3 houses for free while others strugel to get one house. Mohammed Bin Zayed need to burn the wasta like Mohammed Bin Rashid did.


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## Qatar4Ever (Feb 3, 2004)

> This is disgust, how can they weild an influence, Islam is a great religion about peace and harmony, so many westerners over look Islams history post 9/11. There are Christian terrorists, remember the IRA...
> __________________


huh ?!?

As for some UAE nationals not getting houses and having to rent, its true in Qatar just as it is in UAE. If you or your father wasn't born an emiritie and has recently (as much as 25 years) got the passport, the process of getting such stuff is very tuff. You'd probably need a wasta to speed up things!


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

BulldozerGirl said:


> It's not just about the passport. You need _khulast el qayd_ also. They key to such "perks" is in this document.
> 
> The children of UAE national women who marry non-locals, may eventually obtain UAE citizenship after some struggle, but they will never obtain _khulast el qayd_.



Bulldozergirl , we do have Khulasat the qayd (family paper) !!! Do you think i would be able to study at the HCT in abu dhabi is i didnt have those useless papers .. my aunties daughter graduated last year with an average of 95% , she has the UAE passport , but not the family papers , now she is at home chopping onions in the kitchen !!! such potential gone to watse , now here brother graduating this year too with flying colours will also face the same thing !!! The UAE is fantastic with a lot of things , but sometimes , it sucks big time where it really counts


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Dubai Boy, about your aunt's daughter, if she's graduated with very good results, shouldn't that get her a very decent job? Why would she need this "family paper" thing for one?


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

juiced said:


> Dubai Boy, about your aunt's daughter, if she's graduated with very good results, shouldn't that get her a very decent job? Why would she need this "family paper" thing for one?


Well she is a highschool graduate , yes she could work somewhere for 3 maybe 4000 per month , but thats it

She wants to enter one of the free GOV colleges to get a BH degree and get more money and a better life , but thats not possible coz she doesnt have the family papers !!! its funny i know


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## Dubai_Boy (May 21, 2003)

Oh yeah and another thing , she cant pay to enter any of the private college in the UAE let alone going abroad, they just cant afford it


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Dubai_Boy said:


> Well she is a highschool graduate , yes she could work somewhere for 3 maybe 4000 per month , but thats it
> 
> She wants to enter one of the free GOV colleges to get a BH degree and get more money and a better life , but thats not possible coz she doesnt have the family papers !!! its funny i know



But if the GOV college is free why can't she get in? She is a UAE national isn't she? Is this family paper thing really that important to get in?

What is the family paper thing exactly?


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

juiced said:


> But if the GOV college is free why can't she get in? She is a UAE national isn't she? Is this family paper thing really that important to get in?
> 
> What is the family paper thing exactly?


The family paper is actually the "Emirates citizenship". I think he said that she has emirates passport only.


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Oh, I understand now. That must be really frustrating for your cousin, Dubai Boy


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## fahed (Nov 10, 2004)

ما فهمت شو اللي ما عندها !

كيف شي جواز وماشي مادري شو!


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## smussuw (Feb 1, 2004)

fahed said:


> ما فهمت شو اللي ما عندها !
> 
> كيف شي جواز وماشي مادري شو!


عندها جواز بدون جنسية


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

I heard that also for Chinese nationals is very difficult to rent homes nowdays. The landlords think they might turn them into massagee parlours so they want to avoid any possible problems with the Police. 

I've heard that you have to bribes the real estate agents but often they'll still ask for the yearly rent to be paid in advance.


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## DubaiDream (Jan 5, 2005)

BulldozerGirl said:


> What Dubai requires in the near future is an influx of a certain group of Saudis (not the kind who come for the bars).
> 
> That will guarantee abandoned apartments by Europeans.


This would be problematic and hamper the dubai development effort. Instead, dubai should welcome the europeans and saudis and emiratees on just terms


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## DUBAI (Aug 24, 2004)

am i taking this the wrong way? or could she mean somthing more sinister?


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## AltinD (Jul 15, 2004)

dxb_raptor said:


> am i taking this the wrong way? or could she mean somthing more sinister?


Yes, she does...


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## juiced (Aug 18, 2004)

Altind_Carnut said:


> Yes, she does...


As per usual..


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2005)

Kaz said:


> what's a wasta?





dxb_raptor said:


> influence, power and respect


The word _wasta_ comes from the word _wasat_ which means "middle". Many derivations of this word are used to mean "via" "interference" "by way of".. etc. And in this case, it is meant that someone can obtain something he wants by way of interference of an influential middle man, who can make this possible. Eg.: A boy gets a scholarship despite having bad grades, because his uncle is the minister of education's friend.

*dxb_raptor*, *Altind_Carnut*, and *juiced* - You have no sense of humour. And as per usual, *juiced* thinks much of his maturity.


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