Sharjah: Sharjah Municipality has announced its plans to implement an electronic tenancy contract project to simplify the leasing process between landlords and tenants.

The announcement was made during an open meeting which was attended by real estate companies and landlords of Sharjah buildings who were notified about the new services, their contract rights, and the required procedures to provide best services for both parties.

In accordance with the leasing and tenancy laws, the new electronic leasing contract will allow tenants to carry out the attestation process online with the aim of minimising contract disputes with their landlords, said Khalid Al Shamsi, Director of the Tenancy Organising Department.

Also as a part of the project, the municipality will link their database to Sewa’s (Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority) database to ensure that the numbers on the power meters are correct during the attestation process to help ease the process for tenants.

Al Shamsi said that the department urges tenants and landlords to educate themselves about each of the services provided and to strictly follow the laws in order to protect their rights.

Al Shamsi also confirmed that the municipality has recently opened several offices for contract attestation to reduce overcrowding, and is planning to hold a number of meetings with office heads to familiarise them with the new services and to answer any of their queries.

The municipality, in coordination with the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida), will also work together to electronically share the information of tenants, added Al Shamsi, who pointed out that tenants will only need to provide their Emirates ID card when attesting their tenancy contracts.

The Tenancy Organising Department comprises three sections, a lease contract attestation section, a tenancy dispute section and a tenancy court.