The renewal arrives with a fee you were not expecting. Or the keys have been returned, the apartment photographed, and the security deposit has gone mysteriously quiet. Perhaps a repair argument has reached the point where another WhatsApp message is unlikely to achieve much.
For an ordinary rental dispute in mainland Abu Dhabi, the place to file is the Rental Dispute Settlement Committees at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD). It is not Dubai's Rental Dispute Centre, and Ejari is Dubai's registration system rather than anything an Abu Dhabi tenancy uses.
You do not have to complete ADJD's general reconciliation and mediation process before bringing a rental case to these committees. Currently, as of 2026, Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre (ADREC) has also held mainland rent increases at 0% for Tawtheeq tenancies since 3 June 2026, until further notice, which has made renewal disagreements particularly relevant. Confirm the current rent position with ADREC and the terms that apply to your own contract before acting.
This is general information, not legal advice, and for a specific dispute a lawyer or the court's own service desk is a better guide than any article.
Start with the right forum
Mainland landlord and tenant disputes are handled by the Rental Dispute Settlement Committees at ADJD under Abu Dhabi Law No. 20 of 2006. The committees can also deal with urgent and interim applications where the type of dispute calls for one.
That mainland distinction matters. Abu Dhabi does not use the same rental dispute machinery as Dubai, so copying a Dubai checklist from a search result can send you towards the wrong authority before you have even assembled the paperwork. For the broader mechanics of an Abu Dhabi tenancy, see our tenant's guide to renting in Abu Dhabi.
Mediation is optional, not a gate
A surprisingly persistent piece of online advice says every Abu Dhabi rental dispute must first pass through an amicable settlement or mediation stage. Rental cases before the Rental Dispute Settlement Committees are excluded from ADJD's mandatory referral to its reconciliation and mediation centres.
That does not make negotiation pointless. Trying to resolve a deposit, repair or renewal disagreement in writing before filing is often sensible because it creates a record and may save both sides the trouble of proceedings. It simply is not a mandatory legal checkpoint for these rental committee cases.
ADREC separately operates the Taswea amicable settlement centre. Its published scope includes matters such as long-term real-estate leasing, brokerage, development and construction disputes, with jurisdiction checked before referral. Taswea can therefore be relevant to some property disputes, but it is a separate route rather than a compulsory waiting room outside the rental committee.
Prepare the file before you file
For a rental dispute, the core documents are identification, the rental-dispute claim form, the registered Tawtheeq tenancy contract and the evidence supporting what you say happened. That evidence might include payment records, written correspondence, notices, photographs or a handover report, depending on the dispute.
Any exhibit that is not in Arabic needs certified Arabic legal translation. Documents issued outside the UAE must also be duly attested under ADJD's filing requirements, so this is worth arranging before submission rather than discovering it after the case is already moving.
Good record keeping is less glamorous than arguing the principle of the thing, but courts generally have more use for documents than indignation. Keep receipts, dated photographs, messages and anything signed by both parties in a form you can actually retrieve.
If the disagreement concerns what a separate building charge covers rather than the rental dispute procedure itself, our service charges guide explains that topic separately.
What filing can cost
The published ADJD service guide lists the rental case fee as 5% of the annual rent, with a minimum of AED 100 and a maximum of AED 40,000. It also lists an AED 300 service fee for each defendant.
Treat those figures as the published schedule, not as a guaranteed checkout total. ADJD's live information says fees depend on the type of claim and are calculated through the filing system. Published figures can also drift from live services, for example the rental legal-notice service appears as AED 400 in the guide and AED 500 in the live service.
The practical rule is simple: use the published guide to understand the likely structure, then rely on the amount calculated in ADJD's live filing system when you actually submit the case. Confirm the current fee there before paying.
What happens after filing
A case can be filed through ADJD's digital services using UAE Pass, through a licensed law firm or through a registered typing centre. Which route makes sense mostly comes down to the complexity of the dispute and how comfortable you are preparing the documents yourself.
Most hearings are remote. Keep the phone number and email address recorded in the system current because notices and hearing links are sent through those contact details. A beautifully prepared case file is less useful if the hearing invitation is disappearing into an old inbox.
There is no honest fixed promise for how long a rental dispute will take. The process can include registration and payment of fees, case preparation, judicial consideration, judgment, a possible appeal and, if the winning party still needs to compel payment or another outcome, a separate enforcement file.
Two special routes people miss
If a landlord refuses to accept the rent, or does not nominate a place where the tenant can pay it, the tenant may deposit the rent in the committee's name with a national bank. That is materially different from simply keeping the money and assuming the dispute excuses payment.
A withheld security deposit can also have a more specific route. First follow the return period in the tenancy contract. If the deposit remains unpaid, serve a formal legal notice. If payment has still not been made 5 days after that notice, a documentary payment-order application may be available.
For that payment-order route, the supporting file includes the Tawtheeq tenancy contract, proof that the security deposit was paid, the legal notice and evidence of the property's condition, such as photographs or a handover report. An older guide quotes a 3% fee and says a decision can be possible within about three days, but those figures should be checked against the live service when filing rather than treated as current guarantees.
Al Reem and Al Maryah are different
Al Reem Island and Al Maryah Island sit under Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) jurisdiction. For ADGM-registered leases, ADGM Courts are the usual forum unless the parties have validly agreed to arbitration or another court, while some legacy Al Reem contracts that remain municipality-registered may still point towards the mainland Rental Dispute Settlement Committees. Our guide to Al Reem and Al Maryah under ADGM explains that jurisdictional split in more detail.
Most rental disputes become easier to assess when the paperwork is boringly complete: rent receipts, dated photographs, written requests, formal notices and a countersigned handover report where possible. If you are unsure which Abu Dhabi route applies to your tenancy, Ask us and we can help you identify the right starting point.