Sales, Transfers & DLD Fees (ECR 30/2013, Law 14/2008)
A Dubai resale ends at a real estate registration trustee office, where the DLD fee is paid, any mortgage is cleared and the title deed is issued. The exam tests who pays which fee by law and by agreement, the fee table in ECR No. 30 of 2013, fee evasion, and how mortgages are created, ranked and enforced under Law No. 14 of 2008.
Sales and transactions·7 min read·7 sections
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Must-know for the exam
✓Sale registration fee: 4% of the sale value, shared equally by seller and buyer unless agreed otherwise (ECR 30/2013 Art. 3(1), Table item 1; in force 12 Oct 2026).
✓Market practice: the buyer usually agrees in Contract F to pay the full 4%; that is a contractual choice, not the legal default.
✓Mortgage: registration 0.25% of the debt, transfer 0.25%, variation AED 1,000, discharge AED 1,000; title deed AED 250 (ECR 30/2013 Table items 10-13, 22; in force 12 Oct 2026).
✓Trustee office fee: AED 4,000 + VAT from AED 500,000, AED 2,000 + VAT below; plus AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees (DLD card, as at 12 Oct 2026).
✓Under-declaring the price is fee evasion: fine of double the prescribed fee, and a broker or developer who assists faces the same fine (ECR 30/2013 Arts. 5-6).
✓A mortgage takes effect only when registered with the DLD; any contrary agreement is void. Rank follows the registration date and serial number (Law 14/2008 Arts. 7, 8, 17).
✓Mortgagees must be banks or finance companies licensed and registered with the Central Bank (Law 14/2008 Art. 4).
✓Mortgaged property may be sold only with the mortgagee's approval and the buyer's assumption of the obligations; the mortgage follows the property into anyone's hands (Arts. 10, 18).
✓Enforcement: 30 days' notice through the Notary Public, attachment by the execution judge, one postponement of up to 60 days, auction within 30 days (Arts. 25-28).
✓Proceeds are paid by mortgage rank; any shortfall stays owed by the debtor. A clause handing the property to the lender on default is void (Arts. 11, 30).
▸On this page · 7 sections
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Traps that cost marks
→Thinking the seller must clear the loan from her own funds before she can sign, when the payoff is made from the price at the trustee office.
→Charging only the new mortgage and forgetting that the old one must be discharged for AED 1,000.
→Assuming an unlawful clause voids the whole mortgage, when Article 11 strikes out only the clause.
→Sharing auction proceeds pro rata between mortgagees, when they are paid in order of rank.
→Applying the 2%/2% default even though the contract sets a different split.
→Assuming any lender can register a mortgage if the DLD form is signed, when Article 4 limits mortgagees to Central Bank-licensed financiers.
→Forgetting that the trustee office fee carries VAT, or using the AED 4,000 tier for a sale under AED 500,000.
→Thinking a transfer of the property frees it from the mortgage, when the mortgage follows the property into anyone's hands.
Why it matters on the exam
Brokers are judged on getting a sale to transfer day: the right documents, the right cheques and the right fee split. Expect short calculations on the DLD fee, the trustee fee with VAT and the mortgage fees, and applied questions on mortgage law, which few candidates read in full.
•Know the default rule and the market practice separately: 2% + 2% by law, often 4% on the buyer by agreement.
•Fee bases differ: the sale price for the 4% fee, the debt for the 0.25% mortgage fee, the property value for lease finance.
•Law No. 14 of 2008 is short; every article is examinable.
How a ready resale completes
1
Contract A — Seller appoints the brokerage to market the unit (RERA Practice Guide, Nov 2024)
2
Contract F — Seller and buyer sign the agreement to sell, stating price, transfer date and who pays the fees; brokers must use RERA's electronic contracts
3
Developer e-NOC — Required for units in freehold areas, obtained through Dubai REST
4
Mortgage clearance — Bank liability letter; manager's cheques to the bank for the debt, to the seller for the balance, and for the DLD fees
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Transfer at a trustee office — Real estate registration trustee offices register all sales for the DLD; Emirates ID, or a passport for non-residents
6
Title deed — Electronic title deed issued from the register (AED 250); the mortgage release letter completes a mortgaged sale
Registration is what transfers title: dispositions are not effective until recorded in the Real Property Register (Law No. 7 of 2006, Art. 9, as substituted by Law No. 7 of 2019). A buyer who registers first takes the property; an earlier unregistered buyer has only an indemnity claim (Art. 10). Off-plan resales are void unless entered in the Interim Property Register (Law No. 13 of 2008, Art. 3).
