Northern Emirates Tenancy Guide: Ajman, RAK, Fujairah & UAQ

Each of the four northern emirates has its own tenancy rules. For several of them the official text is not published in a form we could read, so this guide says plainly where a figure is confirmed and where it is only reported. A reported figure is a reason to check with the authority — not a basis for acting on its own.

Ajman

• Law: Emiri Decree No. 2 of 2017 on the Lease of Real Estate — in force; Ajman's Official Gazette of February 2026 still cites it.
• Registration (Tasdeeq): the official service card lists 2% of the rental value, minimum AED 400 for expatriates, no fee for UAE citizens, and one business day.
• Rent increases: a three-year freeze and a 20% ceiling are reported in Arabic secondary sources; no article number has been confirmed. Check before relying on them.

Ras Al Khaimah

• No statutory rent cap. RAK Law No. 5 of 2010 abrogated the law that set one and returned lease relations to the federal Civil Transactions Law — since 1 June 2026, Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, which repealed and replaced Federal Law 5/1985. Increases are a matter for the contract. (Secondary-sourced: no gazette text was read.)
• Registration: RAK Municipality, through the SANAD portal — application AED 50 residential / AED 100 commercial or investment, plus attestation of 5% of the annual rent (minimum AED 200 residential / AED 500 commercial). There is no "RAK RERA".
• Leaving early: a tenant may end the lease early with three months' written notice and payment of the rent for the notice period.

Fujairah

• Law: Law No. 1 of 2011 on the Lease of Premises, amended by Law No. 4 of 2017. What the 2017 amendment changed is not known to us.
• Registration: in Fujairah's EJAAR system a contract can be started by the tenant, the owner or a property manager. Registration is free; a transfer carries a fee of AED 105.
• Rent increases: a 5% annual ceiling is reported in secondary sources; the law also sets up a Rental Disputes Settlement Committee.

Umm Al Quwain

• Law: Law No. 1 of 2006 regulating the relationship between landlords and tenants, as amended by Law No. 3 of 2008 and Law No. 2 of 2011.
• Rent increases and notice: a 10% ceiling and a three-month notice are reported in secondary sources; check with the authority before relying on them.

In TenancyDesk

• Choosing the emirate. Each property records its emirate. A new property starts with your company's emirate, and imports read it from an emirate column — TenancyDesk does not guess it from the address.
• Rules. The deal's Compliance tab applies the rules TenancyDesk holds for the property's emirate, and each rule shows how it is sourced. Where a rule is only secondary-sourced, treat its result as a prompt to check, not as a verdict.
• Registration. The deal's registration tab, named after the emirate's system, links to the official portal and records the registration reference. TenancyDesk does not file with the authority.
• Disputes. TenancyDesk's dispute evidence package is built for Dubai's Rental Disputes Centre; it is not formatted for the committees of these emirates.