Topping up a loan or extending its term is a separate Land Department service, and it is priced differently from registration. The fee is taken on the INCREASE, not on the new balance; a change of term costs a flat AED 1,000 whatever the loan size. The bigger point is two routes with different paperwork: through a centre you need a bank letter and three signed contracts, through the bank online just an Emirates ID.
Checked against the official source on 17 September 2026: the Dubai Land Department service card "Mortgage amendment application". The page was read in its raw form; every figure carries its source link, and the source is listed at the end. Two further cards were read for comparison of the scale — "Lease To Own amendment application" and "Finance lease amendment application".
Mortgage registration and transfer we covered here, release here. Between those points a loan has a life: amounts are topped up, terms are extended. In the register that is a separate service, and its bill is built differently from registration's.
The service covers every kind of charge
Verbatim: "This service allows applying for mortgage amendment of all types (mortgage amendment application / usufruct mortgage amendment application / provisional mortgage amendment application / provisional mortgage registration amendment application / portfolio mortgage amendment application) for a property in favor of the financing entity in order to guarantee the rights entailed on the property."
Five kinds in one service: a regular charge, a usufruct charge, a provisional one, a provisional-registration charge and a portfolio charge. The same set as registration and transfer — the Department keeps it uniform across the whole mortgage cluster.
The bill: two cases, priced on different bases
| What changes | Department's fee | Partner's fee | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amount (increase) | 0.25% of the increase | AED 2,000 + VAT | DLD card |
| Term | AED 1,000 | AED 300 + VAT | DLD card |
| Knowledge fee per drawing | AED 10 | — | DLD card |
| Innovation fee per drawing | AED 10 | — | DLD card |
| Service time | 10–15 minutes | — | DLD card |
The most important word in that table is a preposition. The fee is charged on the increase, not on the new loan balance. The card's wording: "a fee of 0.25% of the increase mortgage amount will be charged".
What follows is our arithmetic, not a line from the Department. The difference between the two readings is practical: topping up from two million to two and a half, a quarter of a per cent on the increase (AED 500,000) is AED 1,250, whereas a quarter of a per cent on the new balance (AED 2,500,000) would be AED 6,250. The Department prints no such comparison; we give both products so a reader can check which base their bank used.
A change of term does not depend on the amount at all. A flat AED 1,000 — the same as a mortgage release, and the same as a change of term on two neighbouring instruments (below).
Two routes, and their paperwork differs fundamentally
There are two channels: the online mortgage system on the Department's website and the registration trustee centres. But the document sets do not match — and the gap is wide.
Through a registration centre (for an individual):
- a letter from the bank amending the mortgage;
- three mortgage contracts certified by the mortgagee bank and signed by both parties;
- the owner's Emirates ID for identification, or a copy of a passport for non-residents;
- a power of attorney where a representative acts.
Through the bank, electronically:
- the owner's Emirates ID — for identification only, no copy submitted; for a non-resident, a copy of the passport.
That is all. The online route asks for neither the letter nor the three contracts — because the bank files the application itself: per the described procedure, the client prepares the requirements with the bank, a bank employee enters the documents into the online system, the bank's auditor checks the transaction, it then goes to the Department for auditing, and the Department's fees are deducted from the bank's account.
The practical takeaway is the same as for a release: on the online route the bank is the initiator, and "why is nothing moving" is a question for them, not for the Department.
For companies the set is wider: a trade licence, a certificate of job title, the memorandum of association with annexes (original and a copy attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translated into Arabic), and a power of attorney or a duly notarised board resolution.
The source's typo, quoted as it stands
In the document list for individuals via the centres, the fourth item is printed like this:
"54 legal power of attorney in case a representative"
The item number has run into the word. We quote the line as printed rather than correcting the source; its meaning is plain enough — a power of attorney where a representative acts, the same line as on every neighbouring card in the cluster.
One amendment scale across three different instruments
Reading the neighbouring cards, we found that the Department's amendment tariff is shared by three dissimilar instruments:
| Instrument | Change of amount | Change of term | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortgage | 0.25% of the increase · partner AED 2,000 | AED 1,000 · partner AED 300 | mortgage amendment |
| Lease-to-own | 0.25% of the increase · partner AED 2,000 | AED 1,000 · partner AED 300 | lease-to-own amendment |
| Finance lease | 0.25% of the increase · partner AED 2,000 | AED 1,000 · partner AED 300 | finance lease amendment |
The figures match line for line. The differences that do exist are not about money:
- applicant status. Mortgage: UAE citizen and resident. Lease-to-own: All, every category.
- channels. A mortgage has two (centre and online through the bank); lease-to-own and the finance lease have registration centres only.
- partners. The mortgage card names banks and financing entities; the lease-to-own card names financial institutions and the Central Bank.
So the choice of instrument changes not the price of an amendment, but who may file it and where they must go.
What you walk away with
The output list for an amendment is wider than usual, because the service covers every kind of charge: a title deed, a usufruct title deed, a statement certificate or a provisional sale registration certificate (Oqoodi), plus the fee balance. A separate line states that all outputs are e-deliverables.
Payment methods: ePay, the Sadad Dubai platform, Noqodi and a manager's cheque in favour of the Land Department.
What we are not claiming here
- That the bank will agree to the amendment. The card describes registering an amendment in the register, not a credit decision.
- What a bank charges for restructuring. The Department's and the partner's fees are named; bank commissions are their own tariffs.
- What happens on a DECREASE of the amount. The card states a fee only for an increase; on a decrease the fee section says nothing, and we do not fill the gap.
- Whether amount and term can be changed in one application. The two cases are stated separately; we will not add their fees together on the Department's behalf.
- The VAT on the partner's fees. "+ VAT" is printed; no total is given.
- Why lease-to-own has a wider status than a mortgage. Both lines are quoted as printed; the source offers no explanation.
Sources
- Mortgage amendment application — Dubai Land Department service card: description covering five kinds of charge, fees (0.25% of the increase, AED 1,000 for a change of term, AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation per drawing, service partner fee AED 2,000 on an increase and AED 300 on a change of term, both + VAT), service time 10–15 minutes, two channels (the online mortgage system and registration trustee centres), two distinct document sets (a bank letter and three certified contracts via a centre against a single Emirates ID via the bank), the procedure with the bank filing and fees deducted from the bank's account, issued documents (title deed, usufruct title deed, statement certificate, Oqoodi), payment methods, applicant status — citizen and resident, partners — banks and financing entities.
- Lease To Own amendment application — service card: the same amendment scale (0.25% of the increase, AED 1,000 for the term, partner AED 2,000 and AED 300 + VAT), service time 10–15 minutes, the single channel of registration centres, applicant status — all categories, partners — financial institutions and the Central Bank.
- Finance lease amendment application — service card: the same amendment scale, service time 10–15 minutes, the single channel of registration centres, applicant status — citizen and resident.
