POA · Property
Power of Attorney for Property Management in the UAE
One mandate for leases, Ejari and tenants while you are away.
Updated September 2026 · market data verified methodology
A power of attorney for property management authorizes a representative to run your UAE real estate while you are away or simply prefer not to be involved day to day: place the unit with a tenant, sign and renew tenancy contracts, keep the registrations current, handle service matters and represent you before the offices and companies a landlord deals with.
The instrument is deliberately narrower than a sale mandate: it does not let the attorney dispose of the property. The owner decides how far the authority reaches — one unit or a whole portfolio, leasing only or leasing with rent collection — and every office accepting the document reads it by its written scope, not by trust.
Where it is used
Tenancy registration desks (Ejari in Dubai), utility providers, developers and building management
Typical situation
An overseas landlord needs someone on the ground to lease and run the unit
Language
Executed in Arabic; a bilingual draft is prepared for your review before signing
Term
Runs for the term written into the mandate — the two-year transfer rule does not apply to management
Who uses this POA
- Overseas owners leasing out a Dubai or UAE apartment on a long-term basis
- Landlords who want a property management company to act under a bounded mandate
- Owners delegating to a relative or friend who handles tenants and services locally
- Investors with several units who gather renewals, registrations and servicing into one document
What the attorney can do
- Lease the property: place a tenant and sign tenancy contracts within the limits you set
- Register and renew the tenancy — Ejari in Dubai, or the equivalent procedure in the other emirates
- Receive rent and service payments, where collection is written into the scope
- Issue and receive notices connected with the tenancy, within the wording of the mandate
- Arrange maintenance and repairs and coordinate with service providers
- Represent the principal before utility providers such as DEWA, developers and building management
Limits and practical notes
Check these before drafting — they decide whether an authority accepts your document.
- A management mandate does not authorize the sale, purchase or transfer of the property — those require their own instrument
- Handling the owner's money — collecting rent, paying bills from the owner's funds — belongs in the scope only if stated there explicitly
- Eviction notices are a sensitive, procedurally strict step: give the attorney a separate, precisely worded power rather than a general right to deal with tenants
- Ejari is Dubai's registration system; the other emirates run their own and practice differs, so confirm the requirements where the unit stands
- The attorney's own status can matter — for Ejari purposes a representative without UAE residence may not be accepted, so check before appointing
- As with any UAE mandate, the document ends when the principal passes away and can be revoked at any time; an irrevocable form is not permitted
Documents to prepare
The principal (individual)
- Passport copy of the principal
- Emirates ID and visa page, if the principal is a UAE resident
- Passport, Emirates ID and visa details of the appointed attorney
- Details of the property — title deed or unit identifiers — and of any current tenancy
What a management mandate should spell out
A management mandate runs for years, so its value sits in the boundaries: what the attorney may commit to, up to which amount, and how they account for it. A document that only says 'manage my property' forces every counter and every tenant to guess at the limits — and invites disputes later.
Settle the points below at the drafting stage rather than after the first disagreement with a tenant or a service company. Each of them is written into the text of the mandate itself, where a registration desk, a utility provider or a bank can read and rely on it.
- Term and end conditions — a fixed validity with renewal, or authority until revoked
- Rent ceiling and spending limits — the permitted rent band for new leases and the cap on repairs the attorney may order without asking
- Reporting — how often accounts and payments are rendered to the owner
- Sub-delegation — whether the attorney may pass tasks to third parties or must act personally
- Properties covered — one identified unit or the whole portfolio, named in the text
Frequently asked questions
Can the attorney sell my property with a management POA?
No. A management mandate covers running the property — leasing, registrations, servicing. Disposing of it requires a separate sale instrument, and a management document will not be accepted at a transfer counter. This separation is deliberate: it protects owners who hand broad day-to-day control to a manager or broker.
Can the attorney collect the rent?
Yes, if collection is written into the scope, ideally with the account the money goes to. Without that clause the attorney has no authority over your funds. Owners who keep collection out of the mandate usually pair the document with a standing instruction to tenants to pay the owner's account directly.
Does Dubai's two-year rule apply to management mandates?
No. The two-year usage window is a transfer rule that applies to sale mandates. A management POA runs for the term stated in it, which can be longer — one more reason to put a clear term and end conditions into the text.
Can a non-resident attorney register Ejari?
Possibly not. For Ejari registration in Dubai, an attorney without UAE residence may not be accepted, which surfaces only when the tenancy needs to be registered. Choose an attorney with resident status or verify the current practice before issuing the document.
Can I cancel the mandate later?
Yes. Revocation at any time is part of the design — an irrevocable POA is not permitted in the UAE, and the document lapses automatically when the principal passes away. Revocation is its own short procedure with the notary, and it is worth doing formally so third parties stop relying on the old mandate.
Need this POA arranged?
Describe the task — you get a recommendation on wording, the document checklist and an itemized estimate.