"Complain to RERA" sounds like universal advice, but the agency's powers are a closed list of fifteen items. They cover developer escrow accounts, licensing of real property activities, registers and identification cards, complaints against market participants, the accounts of jointly owned property, approval of projects and monitoring of completion percentages — and even approval of the content of property advertising, free zones and the DIFC included. Worked through the official text on the Dubai Legislation Portal.
Verified on 15 September 2026 against official sources: the text of Law No. 4 of 2019 comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae). Source links sit next to every article and again at the end. This is not legal advice: whether a particular complaint falls within the agency's remit is for the agency to determine.
"Take it to RERA" is offered as advice for everything from a leaking pipe to an argument with a broker. It is more useful to know what the agency is actually empowered to do — the list is closed, and it is published.
The document is Law No. (4) of 2019 Concerning the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, issued on 4 September 2019.
What RERA is, on paper
Article 2 sets the status:
«The Real Estate Regulatory Agency established pursuant to the above-mentioned Law No. (16) of 2007 as a public corporation, which has legal personality and the legal capacity required to undertake all acts and dispositions that ensure the achievement of its objectives, and which is affiliated to the DLD.» — Law No. (4) of 2019, Article 2
Two details clear up common misconceptions right away: RERA is not a court, and it is not a body separate from the Land Department — it is a public corporation affiliated to it. Under Article 7 the agency's chief executive reports to the Department's Director General.
The fifteen powers, in full
Article 5 opens with "For the purpose of achieving its objectives, RERA will have the duties and powers to", and then enumerates. Here is the list as printed:
«1. regulate, audit, and monitor Escrow Accounts for Real Property Development, and approve the banking and financial institutions qualified to manage these accounts; 2. approve the rules regulating the Real Property development, sale, leasing, and brokerage professions; the Real Property Valuation Profession; the management of Jointly Owned Real Property; and other Real Property Activities; 3. regulate and license Real Property Activities, and audit and monitor the persons conducting these activities to ensure their compliance with the legislation regulating the Real Property sector; 4. regulate and audit the accounts related to managing and operating Jointly Owned Real Property in accordance with the relevant applicable legislation; 5. propose the legislation required for regulating the work of persons conducting Real Property Activities; 6. issue the bylaws required for regulating training and qualifying the staff of establishments authorised to conduct Real Property Activities; 7. register the persons conducting Real Property Activities in the relevant registers it maintains for this purpose, and issue identification cards for individuals engaged in Real Property Activities; 8. consider and investigate complaints filed against the persons conducting Real Property Activities, and take the necessary actions and decisions in respect thereof; 9. audit; monitor; and inspect the operation, management, and maintenance of Jointly Owned Real Property, Common Parts, and Common Facilities to ensure their sustainability, and audit relevant accounts and books, in accordance with the relevant applicable legislation; 10. approve Real Property Development Projects in the Emirate, monitor their percentages of completion, and issue the relevant resolutions and recommendations, in accordance with the relevant applicable legislation; 11. issue the required approvals of the content of Real Property advertisements in the Emirate, including in Special Development Zones and free zones such as the Dubai International Financial Centre; and monitor and censor that content in coordination with the Competent Entities in the Emirate; 12. develop and implement programmes and projects that promote the role of UAE nationals in the Real Property sector and encourage them to engage in this sector; 13. develop and implement informative and awareness-raising programmes on the rights and obligations of the parties engaged in the Real Property sector, in coordination with the Dubai Real Estate Institute; 14. develop and update policies and studies aimed at striking a balance between supply and demand in the Real Property market, and submit the same to the Director General for approval in preparation for final approval by the Executive Council; and 15. exercise any other duties or powers required for the achievement of the objectives of RERA, as assigned to it by the Executive Council.»
Where you meet these powers in practice
The list reads administratively, but every other item is already a concrete mechanism:
| Power | What it is in practice | covered in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — escrow accounts | an off-plan buyer's money sits in the project account | escrow |
| 10 — project approval and completion percentage | without approval a sale is void; the completion percentage decides a default | conditions for selling · Article 11 |
| 3 and 7 — licensing and registers | a broker's permit takes a minute to verify | Trakheesi |
| 4 and 9 — accounts and upkeep of common property | the service-charge rate is approved by the regulator | service charges and Mollak |
| 8 — complaints against market participants | the channel for claims against licensed participants | — |
| 2 — rules on managing jointly owned property | building categories and the owners committee's powers | owners committee |
That right-hand column is the real answer to "where do I go": the route almost always leads to a specific mechanism rather than to a general inbox.
What is NOT on the list — and that matters more
Reading the fifteen items carefully tells you as much by omission.
There is no resolution of tenancy disputes. No item empowers the agency to decide a landlord–tenant dispute on the merits: that has its own body and its own procedure — the Rental Disputes Centre. Rent increases, eviction and deposits go there, not here.
There is no voiding of transactions or award of money. The powers are framed as regulating, auditing, licensing, approving and considering complaints. Declaring a deal void and awarding payment belong to the law and the courts: why only the register proves a right.
There is no price-setting. Item 14 speaks of policies and studies aimed at balancing supply and demand, not of fixing a price per square metre. The ceiling on rent increases comes from a separate decree and index: Decree 43 and the 90-day rule.
One detail people rarely remember
Item 11 extends approval of property advertising content to Special Development Zones and free zones, including the DIFC, and names them expressly. A listing for a property in a free zone does not escape advertising requirements merely because the property sits in a free zone. It is the same drafting move as in Law No. 3 of 2026 on building quality, where free zones and the DIFC are named by name: the quality and safety certificate.
The objectives behind all of it
Article 4 names five aims: developing the sector through an integrated set of regulatory and supervisory procedures, providing a safe and supportive environment for development projects, keeping pace with the emirate's growth, promoting the role of UAE nationals in the sector, and establishing the principles and code of conduct of real property activities. The wording is broad, but it explains how Article 5 is organised: the powers split into oversight of money (escrow, accounts), oversight of people (licences, registers, complaints) and oversight of projects (approval, completion percentage, advertising).
What we are NOT claiming here
- How to file a complaint or how long it takes. The law names the power; the procedure comes from separate instruments we do not quote.
- Fees for the agency's services. This law contains no rates, and we do not supply any.
- That a particular approach will be accepted. Whether a power applies to your case is for the agency to determine.
- A list of licensed persons. RERA maintains the registers; we neither copy nor paraphrase them.
Sources
- Law No. (4) of 2019 Concerning the Real Estate Regulatory Agency — Dubai Legislation Portal: Article 2 (status as a public corporation affiliated to the Land Department, referring back to Law No. 16 of 2007), Article 4 (five objectives), Article 5 (the fifteen powers), Article 7 (the chief executive reports to the Department's Director General). Issued 4 September 2019.
