DLD RVS · Regulatory Violations

DLD RVS violation complaints: what the service can and cannot handle.

A Dubai Land Department Real Estate Violation System complaint is for an eligible alleged regulatory violation by a real-estate company. It does not decide contractual disagreements, cancellation or reservation requests, refunds, compensation claims or rental disputes.

The short answer

Use DLD’s RVS complaint route when the issue is conduct that may amount to a real-estate regulatory violation or negative practice and the complaint meets DLD’s current conditions. DLD’s service records the complaint, sends it to the relevant company for a response and allows DLD staff to follow up and take action within the Department’s remit.

Do not use the violation form as a substitute for a court, tribunal or arbitration claim. DLD expressly excludes financial claims, disagreement about contract terms, contract or reservation cancellation, refunds or compensation, and rental complaints from this service. DLD also states that transactions older than six months are not considered; its overview page separately phrases this as disputes or complaints about contracts concluded more than six months ago. Because those two official descriptions are not identical, enter every date accurately and use the live eligibility check rather than calculating eligibility from this guide.

The current official service description and live form terms are available on DLD’s Complaint Against a Real Estate Company overview and RVS eligibility and submission page.

Is RVS the correct route for this issue?

If the table does not produce a clear answer, use the Dubai property dispute route guide before filing. Route selection can turn on facts that an online form cannot determine, including the identity of the parties, the relief sought, an arbitration clause, the project’s official status and where the project is located.

What an RVS violation complaint can do

DLD describes the service as a way to report real-estate violations, improper real-estate advertising and negative practices. Its current process says the complainant enters the required information and supporting documents, submits the complaint, and follows up while DLD deals with the real-estate company. The live terms say the system automatically transfers the complaint to company officials for a response and that a DLD employee follows up, takes action and responds to the complainant.

That is an administrative regulatory process. A company response, DLD follow-up, closure message or other administrative action is not the same thing as a judgment awarding a refund or compensation. The official DLD service page lists the issued communication as a notice by SMS and email.

What the service cannot decide

DLD’s current terms exclude:

• financial claims;
• disagreement over contract terms;
• applications to cancel or revoke contracts;
• reservation cancellation;
• refund requests;
• compensation or indemnity claims; and
• rental complaints.

The form also says complaints outside RERA’s competence will be closed. Filing more documents cannot give RVS a power that DLD says the service does not have.

A contractual inquiry is not a contractual decision

DLD’s separate Inquiries Concerning Contractual Disputes service provides an automated response to an inquiry about a contractual dispute or unwillingness to fulfil a contract. DLD publishes the service time as immediate and describes the output as an automated reply through an official message. It is information, not a judgment on the contract and not an RVS violation decision.

Law No. 19 of 2020 is not an RVS refund formula

Law No. 19 of 2020 replaced Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008. The replacement provision begins with purchaser non-performance under an off-plan sale agreement and a developer notification to DLD. It includes a DLD-issued 30-day notice and, if the statutory process continues, completion-dependent measures that may be available to the developer.

The figures often summarised as “40%” or “25%” are therefore not a general buyer cancellation entitlement, a developer-delay remedy or an amount that RVS awards. They concern potential developer retention following the specified purchaser-breach process. The same Article separately addresses a final reasoned RERA project-cancellation decision and states that all purchaser payments must then be refunded in accordance with the procedures and rules under Law No. 8 of 2007. Read the current official text of Law No. 19 of 2020.

The correct application of Article 11 depends on the facts, dates, official completion status and applicable forum. It cannot be determined from a percentage quoted in isolation.

Unfinished and cancelled projects have a separate jurisdiction check

For a matter that falls within the jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal for Unfinished and Cancelled Real Property Projects in the Emirate of Dubai, Article 10 of Dubai Decree No. 33 of 2020 says courts and judicial entities in Dubai, including the DIFC Courts, may not consider applications, claims or appeals filed after the Decree took effect; qualifying existing matters must be referred to the Tribunal.

Article 4 must be read at the same time. The Decree applies to Dubai projects proven to be unfinished or for which a cancellation decision has been issued under the applicable real-estate legislation, but it does not apply to projects located within the boundaries of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Project status, physical location and the subject matter of the claim must therefore be checked together. See the official text of Dubai Decree No. 33 of 2020.

RVS does not become a refund or cancellation forum merely because the underlying property was sold off plan.

Prepare the administrative record before filing

DLD does not publish a closed, universal document list for every violation category. Its stated requirement is to attach supporting documents and proof of the alleged violation. The checklist below is an editorial preparation tool: include only records that are accurate, relevant and permitted to be shared.

1. Confirm the filing party

Record the complainant’s correct name, mobile number, email address and claimant type. DLD’s live terms say the complaint must be registered by the person concerned or by a person authorised under a power of attorney. If authority is relevant, keep the authority record ready and make sure the names match the submission.

2. Identify the correct company

Use the legal or licensed identity shown in official records, not only a trading nickname, project brand or salesperson’s first name. The current form asks the complainant to search for and select the company by company name or licence number, then choose the defendant type, company activity and complaint category.

If the intended respondent cannot be matched to DLD’s company search, do not select a different entity merely to submit the form. Preserve the search result and recheck the route.

3. Record all relevant dates

Create a short chronology showing:

• the transaction or interaction date;
• the contract, form, advertisement, call or communication date;
• when the alleged conduct occurred or was discovered;
• when the company was asked to respond; and
• the date and substance of any response.

This matters because DLD’s live form says transactions older than six months are not considered, while its overview refers to contracts concluded more than six months ago. Do not omit or adjust a date to fit the form. Let DLD apply its current eligibility terms to the accurate record.

4. Separate the conduct from the remedy sought

Write down the specific act, omission, advertisement or practice being reported. Then write down what you ultimately want to happen. If the requested outcome is cancellation, a refund, payment or compensation, recognise that DLD excludes that private remedy from the RVS violation service even if the same facts may also raise a regulatory concern.

This separation prevents a mixed complaint from obscuring the part DLD can assess.

5. Build a source-to-fact evidence index

Keep originals unchanged. Use working copies for highlighting or redaction, label them clearly, and do not crop away dates, sender details, URLs or context needed to understand the record.

6. Draft the complaint description within the form limit

DLD’s current form allows a maximum of 1,000 characters for the complaint description. Lead with verifiable facts, not a long history or an assumed legal conclusion.

Use this factual structure and replace every bracketed item with accurate information:

Do not state that a regulator, court or tribunal has found a violation unless that has actually occurred. Do not insert a refund or contract-cancellation demand into the RVS description and assume the form can decide it.

7. Prepare readable attachments

• Give each file a short descriptive name and date, such as 01_company-record_2026-08-12.pdf.
• Put the most direct proof first and cross-reference the filenames in the description where useful.
• Make scans legible and correctly oriented.
• Include complete communications when context changes the meaning.
• Remove irrelevant duplicates and unrelated personal data, but do not alter the substance of evidence.
• Confirm that each upload opens before submission.

How to submit through the current DLD process

1. Open DLD’s Complaint Against a Real Estate Company service through the DLD website or Dubai REST app.
2. Start the live eligibility check and answer it accurately. If DLD directs the issue to another channel, preserve that route information rather than forcing the complaint into RVS.
3. Log in, select the complaint type and enter the complainant details requested by the current form.
4. Search for and select the correct company. Complete the defendant type, company activity and complaint category fields.
5. Add the available project, community, plot, building and unit information where the form asks for it and it is relevant.
6. Paste the checked factual description, keeping within the 1,000-character limit.
7. Attach the supporting documents and proof of the alleged violation. Confirm that the information, company selection, category and files are correct.
8. Complete any one-time-password verification shown by the service and submit.
9. Save the submission receipt, complaint number, exact description and every attachment as one dated record. DLD provides a separate RVS complaint tracking page that searches by complaint number in the displayed number/year format.

The interface and fields can change. The live DLD page controls at the time of filing.

Timing, channels and published fee information

Five working days is not a promise that DLD will establish a violation, obtain a company concession, secure payment or conclude a private dispute. It is the expected response period published for an eligible administrative complaint, subject to DLD’s stated exception.

What to keep after submission

Maintain one folder containing:

• the submitted description and attachments;
• the submission date, complaint number and receipt;
• every DLD SMS, email and tracking result;
• the company’s complete response and attachments;
• a dated note of calls or follow-up; and
• any closure or route message showing why DLD accepted, redirected or closed the complaint.

If DLD closes the matter as outside its competence, treat the reason as route information. Do not assume that closure determines the underlying private rights. The RVS service page does not state that an RVS submission changes any deadline that may apply in another forum; obtain licensed advice promptly if a court, arbitration or Tribunal deadline may matter.

Frequently asked questions

Is a DLD RVS complaint the same as a court case?

No. RVS is DLD’s administrative channel for eligible real-estate violation complaints. DLD’s own terms exclude financial claims, contractual disagreement, cancellation, refunds, compensation and rental complaints. The service can record and follow up a regulatory complaint; it does not issue a money judgment or decide private contractual rights.

Can RVS cancel my sale or reservation agreement?

No. DLD’s current RVS terms expressly exclude cancellation of contracts and reservations. A cancellation route depends on the agreement, facts, project status and any applicable court, arbitration or Special Tribunal jurisdiction.

Can I obtain a refund or compensation through the RVS violation form?

RVS does not consider refund, financial-compensation or indemnity claims. A reported fact may be relevant to both a regulatory complaint and a separate private claim, but the two routes have different powers. Do not treat an RVS response as a refund order.

Does Law No. 19 of 2020 give every off-plan buyer a 40% or 25% refund rule?

No. Those figures are commonly taken out of context. Article 11, as replaced by Law No. 19 of 2020, sets completion-dependent measures available to a developer after a defined DLD process where a purchaser has failed to perform contractual obligations. It is not a universal buyer cancellation or developer-delay formula, and RVS does not award those percentages.

Can RVS handle a rental complaint?

No. DLD directs complaints concerning lease agreements to the Rental Disputes Center. Use the correct rental route rather than selecting a real-estate-company category that does not match the dispute.

Can I file if the transaction or contract is more than six months old?

DLD’s live form says disputes or complaints about transactions older than six months are not considered. The overview page phrases the restriction as contracts concluded more than six months ago. Because the official wording differs, provide the real contract, transaction and event dates and use DLD’s live eligibility check. This guide cannot determine how DLD will apply the condition to a particular chronology.

Does DLD guarantee a result within five working days?

No. DLD publishes five business or working days as the service time or expected response. The live terms exclude transactions with legal obstacles from completion within that period. The figure is not a guarantee of a finding, settlement, refund or payment.

What should I attach?

DLD requires supporting documents and proof of the alleged violation but does not publish one closed list for every complaint category. Attach the records that directly support the factual conduct reported, identify the correct company and transaction, and preserve the dates and context. Relevance and legibility matter more than volume.

What if my issue is really a contractual dispute?

Do not force it into the violation form. DLD provides a separate automated contractual-dispute inquiry, but that response is informational rather than an adjudication. Use the Dubai property dispute route guide and obtain licensed review where contract rights, remedies or forum selection must be assessed.

What if the project is officially unfinished or cancelled?

That status can engage the Special Tribunal for Unfinished and Cancelled Real Property Projects in the Emirate of Dubai. Decree No. 33 of 2020 must be applied with both its scope rule and its forum rule: Article 4 excludes projects located within DIFC boundaries, while Article 10 restricts Dubai courts and judicial entities, including the DIFC Courts, from hearing matters that fall within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction and requires qualifying existing matters to be referred. Verify the official status, location and subject of the claim before drawing a forum conclusion.