RDC service · Provisional & Summary Orders
Landlord Refuses to Accept Your Rent? Use Offer and Deposit
A landlord who will not take your rent is not doing you a favour — in many cases they are building a non-payment file against you. The RDC lets you deposit the rent into the Centre's treasury, which closes that argument down completely.
Direct answer
If your landlord refuses to accept the rent, deposit it into the Rental Disputes Centre's treasury using the Offer and Deposit service. This is an official RDC service listed under Provisional and Summary Orders. It creates a formal record that you tendered the rent on time and preserves your position if the landlord later claims non-payment.
Do not simply hold the money. Article 31 requires you to keep paying rent throughout any dispute, and Article 25(1)(a) makes non-payment thirty days after a Notice a ground for eviction — regardless of why you did not pay.
When landlords refuse rent
They want you out
Refusing payment and then serving a non-payment Notice is a route to eviction. Depositing the rent removes the foundation.
A renewal dispute is running
The landlord wants a higher rent than the cap permits and refuses the old amount to force the issue.
Ownership is unclear
The property has been sold, or heirs are in dispute, and nobody will accept payment.
The cheque is not banked
Cheques handed over but never presented can later be characterised as unpaid rent.
What to do
- 1
Document the refusal
Keep the messages, the returned transfer, the unbanked cheque, the refused envelope. This is what shows you tendered payment.
- 2
Register an Offer and Deposit
Through the RDC's services, under Provisional and Summary Orders.
- 3
Deposit the rent into the treasury
Payment channels include Noqodi, debit and credit cards and net banking; cash at trustee centres.
- 4
Keep depositing as instalments fall due
One deposit protects one instalment. The obligation continues.
The mistake that costs tenants their case
Holding the rent "until the landlord fixes it" feels like leverage. In front of the RDC it is simply non-payment, and it converts you from claimant to defendant. Deposit, then dispute.
Deposit it, then argue
We prepare and file the Offer and Deposit and translate what needs translating, so the record shows you paid on time.
Frequently asked questions
My landlord will not take the rent. Am I in default?
Not if you deposit it properly. The RDC's Offer and Deposit service exists precisely so a tenant can pay into the Centre's treasury when the landlord refuses to accept payment.
Can I just keep the money in my account?
It is risky. Article 31 requires you to keep paying throughout a dispute, and Article 25(1)(a) makes non-payment 30 days after a Notice a ground for eviction. Holding the money privately does not show you tendered it.
What if the landlord never banks my cheques?
Preserve the evidence that the cheques were delivered, and deposit the rent through the Centre so there is an official record of payment on the due dates.
Does depositing mean I accept the landlord's position?
No. Paying the rent that is due and disputing something else — a rent increase, a repair, a notice — are separate matters, and the Law expects you to do both.
What if the property has been sold and nobody will take the rent?
Deposit it. Under Article 28 your tenancy survives the sale, so the obligation to pay continues even while it is unclear who should receive the money.
Do I need Ejari to use this service?
The latest tenancy contract is part of the standard document set. Where there is no registered contract, a claim can still be registered by adding a request to prove the leasehold relationship, for which the Centre charges AED 500.
Related
Disclaimer. General information, not legal advice. Procedure and fees are as published by the Rental Disputes Centre at the date of writing. Taw-Theeq Corporate Services and Legal Translation LLC is a legal support services provider — not a law firm and not a government authority.