Operations
Everything written here about operations.
Owner statements: what a landlord should be able to verify
A managing agent collects rent for an owner, deducts a fee and the owner's share of the building's upkeep, and remits what remains. The statement that records it is what makes the fee defensible — and it has to reconcile, not just look complete.
8 min readRent arrears: grace periods, late fees, and when to escalate
Most late rent is not a bounced cheque or a dispute — it is simply late. What happens next is usually decided by whoever notices first, when the grace period and the late fee should be contract terms enforced the same way every time.
8 min readTenant data: what to keep, for how long, and where
A letting agency holds identity documents, salary certificates and cheque images for thousands of people, and every market in the region now has a law about that. What you can justify collecting, and when it has to go.
8 min readRent by bank transfer: matching money to the right invoice
A transfer is easy to receive and hard to identify. Why the sender is rarely the tenant, what a payment reference must look like to survive the banking system, and how part payments should be allocated.
7 min readHow rent increases are capped, and the notice that decides it
In Dubai the permitted increase is a function of how far below market the current rent sits, and the notice period is ninety days whatever the number turns out to be. The mechanics, the notice, and why most refused increases are refused on procedure rather than on amount.
8 min readChoosing property management software for an Arab portfolio
Most property software is built for markets where rent arrives monthly by direct debit. The questions that separate a system that fits this region from one that has been translated — and the ones worth asking in any demo, including ours.
9 min readHow post-dated cheques actually work in Arab rental markets
Annual rent settled in four cheques handed over at signing is the norm from Casablanca to Muscat — and the reason most property software does not fit. What a PDC register has to track, and what happens when one bounces.
7 min read