The deal that closed fine — and still turned into a dispute
Picture a straightforward enough rental: a two-bedroom in Dubai Marina, AED 130,000 annually. One agency listed it on a shared basis. Another agency’s agent brought the tenant. The tenancy contract was signed, the post-dated cheques were handed over, Ejari was registered, and the tenant moved in. By every measure visible to the landlord, the deal was done.
Six weeks later the two agencies still had not agreed on who owed what. The listing agent argued the commission belonged entirely to the listing side. The co-broke agent argued she had introduced the tenant, done the viewings, negotiated the asking price down, and was entitled to her half. Neither agency had a signed split agreement. The tenant had paid one commission cheque to one brokerage. The other brokerage now had to chase a colleague at a rival firm for money that had already left the client’s hands. The RERA forms were in order. The Ejari was registered. The tenancy law was satisfied in every respect — and yet the agents were still in a dispute.
This is the Dubai tenancy law crossover problem in miniature. The legal framework protecting landlords and tenants is comprehensive and well-enforced. The framework protecting agents from each other in a shared deal is thinner, and the gap between the two is exactly where commission disputes live.
What tenancy law actually governs — and what it does not
RERA oversees the overall relationship between tenants and landlords, including protecting tenant rights and ensuring landlords fulfil their obligations. The landlord-tenant relationship in Dubai is governed by Law No. 26 of 2007, as amended by Law No. 33 of 2008, which sets out the legal framework for tenancy contracts, rent increases, grounds for eviction, and dispute resolution.
Ejari is an online registration system in Dubai introduced by RERA to regulate tenancy contracts. Article 4 of Law (33) of 2008 states that either the tenant or the landlord must use Ejari to register the lease agreement with RERA — this prevents the unit from being leased more than once at the same time.
All of that is designed to protect the parties to the lease — the landlord and the tenant. It is not designed to protect the broker who introduced them. The tenancy law does not define how commission is calculated, does not specify how a split between agencies is divided, and does not provide a direct remedy when one brokerage fails to pay another. The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre has jurisdiction over disputes between landlords and tenants arising from those contracts. The Rental Disputes Centre handles landlord-tenant disputes about the tenancy itself. Broker conduct sits with DLD/RERA — but if a commission mess has spilled into the tenancy, the RDSC may become relevant too.
That distinction matters enormously. An agent who has been stiffed on a co-broke split cannot simply file at the RDSC expecting the same process that resolves a landlord’s rent dispute. The forum, the evidence requirements, and the path to enforcement are all different — and confusing the two costs time, money, and credibility.
The regulatory layer that does apply to agents
While tenancy law sits to one side, broker conduct law sits firmly above every working agent in Dubai. Real estate brokerage in Dubai is a regulated activity. Practising agents must be registered with RERA and hold a broker card with a broker registration number (BRN). The Dubai Land Department regulates registered brokers and handles complaints about broker conduct — this is the route for unregistered practice, double-dipping, misrepresentation, or fee disputes with a brokerage.
The forms that govern a standard secondary-market sales transaction are well-known to every experienced agent: Form A authorises the listing, Form B binds the buyer to an agent, and Form F, also known as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is the official agreement signed by the buyer and seller once the sale price and terms have been agreed. On the sales side, Form I governs the commission split and professional conduct when two brokers collaborate — one representing the buyer, one the seller.
Commission agreements between agents — for instance, when a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent split a fee on a co-broke deal — are governed by RERA Form I, which must be formally signed before any commission is disbursed. This prevents the informal arrangements that create disputes in less regulated markets and gives both parties a documented, enforceable position.
Form I is the document most agents know about and fewest agents bother to sign before the deal closes. That is the single most common source of agent-to-agent disputes in Dubai, and it is entirely self-inflicted.
On the rental side, the equivalent written split agreement is less formalised by a specific RERA form, which makes the discipline of written confirmation even more important. If a commission dispute arises, RERA’s dispute mechanisms handle the case — and having a written agreement is essential to win any dispute.
How the tenancy law creates friction for agents in shared deals
The tenancy framework’s very efficiency is part of the problem. Article 6 of RERA’s tenancy Law (26) of 2007 states that if the tenancy contract expires and the tenant continues to live in the property without objection from the landlord, the term of tenancy will be automatically extended for the same period or one year, whichever is less, on the same terms and conditions. That automatic renewal is good for market stability. But what it means for the agent is this: a deal can effectively re-execute — and the commission question re-opens — without either party necessarily picking up the phone to the broker who originally arranged the lease.
Renewal commissions in Dubai rentals are frequently disputed, not because the law is silent on them, but because the original agency agreement is silent on them. An agent who registers a tenancy, collects commission at signing, and does not put renewal terms into a written agreement with the landlord is doing half the job. When the lease auto-renews or the landlord calls a different agent for the renewal, the original broker has almost nothing enforceable to stand on.
The Ejari registration also creates a trap that agents walk into. Ejari registration issues can also trigger disputes when contracts are not properly registered, affecting legal enforceability. In a co-broke rental, whoever registers the Ejari is typically whoever holds the relationship with the landlord or whoever acted fastest. That agent’s brokerage name is on the contract. When the commission cheque is written, it is often written to the name on the Ejari. If the split was never agreed in writing, the co-broke agent has a problem.
Post-dated cheques and the timing problem
For a residential lease in the secondary market, the tenant conventionally pays 5% of the annual rent as commission, plus 5% VAT on that amount, once at signing. That commission lands as a single payment — usually a cheque — at the moment the tenancy contract is executed. In a co-broke deal where two agencies split the work, that cheque goes to one brokerage. What happens next depends entirely on what was agreed beforehand.
Post-dated rent cheques add another layer. In many Dubai rentals, tenants provide a series of post-dated cheques covering the full lease year. The landlord holds them. The commission is paid separately at signing. This means the commission has typically already been collected before the rent payments actually clear — sometimes weeks or months before. If a deal unravels (a cheque bounces, a tenant vacates early, a landlord invokes an eviction process under RERA’s rules), the question of commission repayment and its split becomes acutely complicated. Most Dubai MOUs specify that commission is refunded if the deal collapses through no fault of either party. But on rental deals, the equivalent clause in the agency agreement is often missing entirely.
Where the crossover actually bites: four real scenarios
1. The unsigned co-broke split
Two agencies share a residential rental listing. No exclusive mandate exists — this is the norm in Dubai’s open listing environment. The tenant is introduced by Agency B. Agency A holds the landlord relationship and registers the Ejari. The commission is paid to Agency A. Agency B chases their half. Agency A disputes the split percentage, or disputes that Agency B introduced the tenant at all. Without a signed agreement, the dispute is a matter of credibility, WhatsApp messages, and whatever DLD complaint process survives the scrutiny of who said what to whom.
If several agents share work on one property, the total commission is split between them according to agreed roles from the start. Clear terms prevent disputes. That sentence is easy to write. The practice of actually doing it — before the client signs anything — is where most agencies fall short.
2. The tenancy renewal nobody claimed
A landlord leases through Agent A in year one. The contract auto-renews. In year two, the landlord calls Agent B for a routine matter — perhaps a Decree 43 rent increase check — and Agent B sees an opportunity, offers to re-register the Ejari, and collects a renewal commission. Agent A never had a written renewal clause with the landlord. Agent B is registered with RERA, acts within the rules as written, and walks away with a commission on work they did not originate. Agent A has limited recourse.
The lesson is not that Agent B did anything wrong. The lesson is that Agent A left a gap, and gaps in Dubai’s efficient tenancy registration system get filled.
3. The off-plan referral versus the sales deal
Off-plan is a different market, with its own commission mechanics. On off-plan purchases direct from a developer, the developer normally pays the commission, so the buyer usually pays no brokerage fee at all. The broker’s commission comes from the developer, and the regulatory mechanism protecting buyer payments is Dubai’s off-plan escrow account regime. Article 6 of Law No. (8) of 2007 requires developers to establish dedicated escrow accounts for each off-plan project. All buyer payments must be deposited into these accounts, which are closely monitored by the DLD and managed by RERA-approved trustee banks. Developers are only permitted to access funds in stages aligned with project completion, thereby protecting buyers and ensuring construction progress.
The broker in an off-plan deal is not paid from that escrow account. The escrow mechanism protects buyer payments; the broker’s commission is paid separately by the developer, typically on a milestone or signing basis defined in the developer’s broker agreement. Where the crossover with tenancy law occurs is in the off-plan handover scenario: a buyer purchases off-plan, it completes, and the buyer now leases the unit out while waiting for capital appreciation. The agent who sold the off-plan unit often assumes they have a continuing relationship with the client. The landlord, now owning a completed unit, may register with a different agency for the rental. The sales agent had no written lettings mandate. Again: a gap, and the tenancy law machine fills it with whoever does have the paperwork.
4. The dual-commission rental dispute
In Dubai’s rental market, the tenant customarily pays the commission on a standard lease. But arrangements vary — sometimes the landlord pays the agent to find a tenant, particularly in a soft market or for harder-to-let units. When the market is moving fast, some agents collect from both sides — not necessarily fraudulently in their own minds, but without adequate disclosure. This is the scenario where tenancy law and broker law genuinely collide. If a tenant discovers they paid commission and the landlord also paid commission, they have grounds to complain to DLD. The tenancy law does not prohibit dual-side commission explicitly, but RERA’s broker conduct rules require transparency. The absence of disclosure is where the exposure sits.
Commission disputes are fact-specific — who introduced whom, what was signed, what was paid. That fact-specificity is exactly why written agreements at every stage are not optional.
The VAT dimension nobody wants to discuss
Do not assume residential rental commission is automatically VAT exempt. The residential lease itself may have a different VAT treatment, but the broker’s agency fee is a separate service. If the brokerage is VAT-registered and the service is taxable in the UAE, 5% VAT may be charged on the commission.
In a co-broke split, the VAT question becomes genuinely complicated. If Agency A issues the tax invoice to the client and collects 5% VAT on the full commission, and then pays Agency B their share without issuing a tax invoice, Agency B has received income with no VAT paper trail. Agency A may have collected VAT it did not pass on to the Federal Tax Authority correctly. Neither agency did this maliciously — they just did not think the split through before the deal closed. This is not a hypothetical. It is a regular outcome in shared deals where no one sat down to agree the paperwork first.
Get the commission figure in writing before viewings get serious, and insist that any payment goes to the brokerage’s account with an official receipt and a tax invoice. That advice applies equally when one brokerage is paying another.
The Trakheesi layer: advertising and authority
Trakheesi is the Dubai Land Department’s advertising permit system. Every property advertisement in Dubai must carry a permit number issued against that specific property, and portal listings must show a QR code that resolves to the DLD’s own validation record. A permit means a real property with a real, contracted seller, so a listing without one is the clearest single sign of bait advertising or an agent marketing a property they have no authority to sell.
In a shared listing environment, Trakheesi creates a useful discipline: only the agency with the mandate can hold the permit. Before advertising, the real estate agent will obtain a valid Trakheesi permit issued by the Dubai Land Department. This permit is mandatory for property listings on licensed real estate portals and helps ensure all advertised properties comply with RERA regulations. Where agents run into trouble is when they list a property they have been shown by a co-broke agent, without a formal arrangement in place, and obtain their own permit based on an informal verbal authority from the landlord. Now there are two agencies with permits for the same property, two agents claiming first-mover rights, and a landlord who does not fully understand what they have signed or told to whom.
The Trakheesi permit is one of the clearest indicators of who holds the actual listing authority. In any split negotiation, the question of who holds the permit is an immediate and verifiable fact — not a matter of dispute over memory. Agents who use that to their advantage start co-broke conversations from a position of evidence, not assertion.
What the RDSC actually does — and the limits of going there
The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre was created as a specialised tribunal to handle rental issues under the RERA Tenancy Law, providing landlords and renters an effective and accessible platform through which to address disputes with a prompt and impartial resolution procedure.
A conciliation session is usually scheduled within two to four weeks of filing. If conciliation fails, a primary court hearing is typically held within 30 to 60 days. Simple cases can be resolved in six to ten weeks total; complex appeals may take six to twelve months.
For a landlord-tenant dispute over rent, maintenance obligations, or eviction, that process is clear and appropriate. For an agent-to-agent commission dispute, it is generally not the right forum. The DLD’s broker complaint mechanism is more directly applicable. But here is the honest reality: any complaint process — whether RDSC, DLD complaint, or civil court — requires documentation. Collecting the tenancy contract, Ejari certificate, rent receipts, and any written communication or proof supporting the claim is the foundation of any case under Dubai rent dispute regulations. The agent who shows up to a complaint process with WhatsApp screenshots and a verbal claim will almost always lose to the agent who shows up with a signed agreement.
The RDSC’s jurisdiction matters to agents precisely because of the crossover scenario: a commission dispute that is fundamentally between two brokerages, but which has become entangled in the tenancy itself — for example, because the disputed commission was listed as a condition of the lease, or because a bounced cheque touches both the rent payment stream and the commission recovery. If a commission mess has spilled into a tenancy — for example, disputed payments recorded against the rent — the RDSC may become relevant too. Understanding where the line sits between the two jurisdictions is part of operating professionally in this market.
The principle that removes the friction
Every scenario described in this article has one thing in common: the friction arrived because something that should have been agreed before the client paid was instead left to be sorted out after. The tenancy law is efficient precisely because it creates certainty at the point of contract — registration, written agreement, documented parties. The agent-to-agent layer is where that certainty breaks down, because there is no mandatory parallel process forcing brokers to formalise their split before the client’s cheque is written.
When multiple agents are involved in the same listing, commissions are split according to signed RERA forms. This ensures transparency and avoids disputes. That principle does not enforce itself. It requires agents to act on it before the deal moves.
The practical outcome that eliminates almost every dispute pattern described here is this: the split is agreed in writing, signed by both agencies, before the client pays anything. And every party receives their share at the same moment — not after a cheque clears one brokerage’s account and sits there waiting for someone to approve a bank transfer. When the money moves once, to all parties simultaneously, there is no window for “I’ll send it next week,” no leverage for the receiving brokerage to renegotiate after the fact, and no ambiguity about what was agreed.
This is not a complicated principle. It is the same logic that Dubai’s tenancy law applies to landlords and tenants: put the terms in writing, register them, and let the documentation do the work. Agents who apply that discipline to their own co-broke arrangements spend less time chasing colleagues and more time closing the next deal.
The split agreement, signed up front, before the client pays — that is the professional standard. Everything else is just a dispute waiting to happen.
