How to vet a Dubai property agent before you introduce a client

Start with the company, then the person, then the advertisement. Ask for the firm’s Office Registration Number (ORN), its current trade licence and the individual’s Broker Registration Number (BRN). In DLD’s verification services or Dubai REST, match the agent’s identity, photograph, brokerage and card expiry against the person who will actually handle your client. A colleague’s valid card does not establish that the person contacting you is authorised.

Confirm the company’s trade licence includes brokerage activity through the Department of Economy and Tourism licence lookup. Check the registered legal name, not only the trading brand on the brochure. DLD’s 2024 brokerage guide requires a Trakheesi permit for real estate advertising and the permit number on the advertisement. Verify that number or the advertisement’s QR code against the exact property being discussed.

Read our full licence chain and nine criteria at our licence chain and nine assessment criteria. The checks below focus on your client’s mandate, money and compliance.

DLD’s unified-contract announcement states that the contracts became mandatory from 1 May 2014, with formal completion after recording and documentation at DLD. It identifies seller-to-broker A, buyer-to-broker B and seller-to-buyer F. The DLD brokerage guide describes the same relationships.

Ask: “Which form will you sign with my client?” Form A is the seller’s marketing agreement. Form B is the buyer’s agreement with the broker. Form F is the sale agreement between buyer and seller, settling transaction terms before transfer. A seller’s Form A is not a mandate to represent your buyer. If the agent also holds the seller’s mandate, ask for that arrangement, the conflicts and the scope of buyer representation in writing.

Where two brokerages cooperate, agree responsibilities and client-contact protections in a written agent-to-agent agreement. It does not replace your client’s Form B or the sale contract. We do not publish private agreement terms. Read our guide to Dubai broker commission for commission questions.

For off-plan purchases, check the project record and escrow account in Dubai REST. Match the beneficiary and account details digit by digit before payment. A forwarded screenshot or an agent’s personal account is not a substitute. Read our Dubai project escrow guide.

For standard completed-property resale, DLD directs parties to a Real Estate Registration Trustee office. Its schedule lists 2% of sale value for the seller and 2% for the buyer. In market practice the buyer often agrees to cover the combined 4%; record that allocation in Form F instead of treating it as the statutory split. Trustee partner charges are AED 4,000 plus VAT for prices of AED 500,000 or more, and AED 2,000 plus VAT below. At 5% VAT these are AED 4,200 and AED 2,100.

The service lists AED 250 for title-deed certificate issuance, applicable map charges, and AED 10 each for knowledge and innovation. It requires a developer e-NOC in freehold areas and lists ePay, Dubai Pay, Noqodi Wallet and manager’s cheque. Confirm the payee and final fee statement with the trustee. A 10% security-deposit cheque is common contractual practice, not a universal legal percentage or an extra fee. Its holding and release terms belong in Form F. Read our AED 100 million transfer guide.

Assume a price of AED 30,000,000 and a Form F under which the buyer pays all 4% registration. Registration is AED 1,200,000. The trustee partner charge is AED 4,200 including VAT. Price plus these two items is AED 31,204,200. This is illustrative arithmetic, not a real property’s asking price or transaction.

The buyer’s statutory 2% share alone is AED 600,000, with the seller’s 2% also AED 600,000. Agree that allocation before signing. Add title-deed issuance, applicable map, knowledge and innovation charges, any agreed brokerage fee, developer NOC charges and finance-related costs to the actual completion statement. This subtotal is not an all-in quote.

If the contract uses a 10% deposit, the cheque is AED 3,000,000. Do not add it again to the purchase price if it is credited at completion. Record its holder, when it can be deposited, return conditions and completion reconciliation. Our verdict: obtain a line-by-line completion statement before authorising cheques or transfers.

Ministry of Economy Circular No. 5/2022, dated 24 June 2022 and effective 1 July 2022, requires licensed brokers and agents to submit a Real Estate Transaction Report through the FIU’s goAML platform for specified freehold purchases and sales. The cash trigger is AED 55,000 or more in a single or several physical-cash transactions, for all or part of the property value. Separate triggers cover virtual assets and funds converted from virtual assets.

The circular requires identity records and transaction documents. For legal persons it lists the trade licence, articles of association, beneficial-owner register and identification for beneficial owners and shareholders or partners. Records must be kept for at least five years. REAR submission does not replace suspicious-transaction reporting duties. The AED 55,000 trigger is not permission to avoid checks below it.

A good agent asks who ultimately owns the buyer entity, where the funds originated and how they arrive. AED 30,000 and AED 25,000 in physical cash total AED 55,000; splitting payments does not remove the trigger. Prepare documented funding evidence. Read our companies and foundations freehold guide and let counsel confirm the ownership structure. We handle property, not tax or legal advice.

Share the anonymous brief first. Before disclosing names, sign an NDA and introduction agreement, record the handling person’s BRN and agree consent-based updates. Ask for a forwardable evidence sheet rather than sales calls to your principal.

Pause if payment goes to a personal or unverified non-project account, a listing has no Trakheesi permit, the person cannot give a BRN, or buyer representation is promised without a written mandate. Refusal to explain Form B is a reason to stop. Pressure to bypass agreed DLD registration or verified payees is another. A permitted digital registration route is not the same as skipping registration.

Keep the advertisement, permit, payment instructions and correspondence. Report property-regulation concerns through DLD complaints. For suspected fraud, contact Dubai Police on 901 or use ecrime.ae. Read our Dubai property fraud checklist. Protect the relationship before the name moves; verify the legal and payment chain before money moves.

Use these ten checks in your internal approval note. Each needs a document or verification result, not a yes from the agent. A missing buyer mandate, unresolved payee or unidentified handling broker is a stop, not a detail to settle after introducing the principal.

We work alongside private bankers, family offices and lawyers. Start with an anonymous brief and one senior contact. How we work with advisors: how we work with advisors. The one-page download includes this checklist for your client or compliance team.