The practice of so-called “cold calling” is prohibited in Dubai. It is defined as the act of making an unsolicited visit or telephone call to someone in an attempt to sell goods or services.
Dubai Land Department (‘DLD’) has recently released the following statement: “Real Estate Regulatory Agency (‘RERA’), the regulatory arm of DLD, has fined four real estate brokers and stopped them from work for three months for the reason of not obeying the recent circular of not contacting and text messaging the property owners without a prior authorization from their side”.
According to a circular dated 11/08/2013 issued by the RERA, all real estate brokers are not allowed to text or call property owners if their properties are not listed by the owner for sale or rent as per used templates by the real estate offices. No sanction is expressly specified within the circular. However, according to DLD, real estate agents making “cold-calls” could face fines up to AED 50,000. Suspension from working is also a sanction which can be taken by DLD.
