RIYADH – A new rent regulatory system will be introduced by the Ministry of Housing from mid 2013, according to Al-Eqtisadiah daily. The Ejar (rent) system will regulate landlord/tenant relations and outline their legal rights. Tenants who default on their rent payments can be easily tracked down, since all their information will be fed into the system. To ensure its effectiveness, seven government authorities will participate in enforcing this new system, which the Housing Ministry said would allow all real estate offices to obtain information about the credit history of prospective tenants. Such information will help offices and landlords to decide whether to sign a rent agreement with a tenant or not. A website will be launched for the system to allow the landlord to post rent advertisements and upload pictures of available property. The landlord will also be able to track rent payments and notify tenants of payment dates. Tenants can access the website and search through a variety of properties available for rent and pay rent every month online. The ministry's director of public relations, Muhammad Al-Ghwainim, confirmed the project is on schedule and that the ministry has almost completed the draft law. The system will be trialed in some regions before it becomes available throughout the Kingdom, Al-Ghwainim noted. Real estate offices will benefit largely from the system, which will allow them to complete rent procedures online while saving a copy of the agreement on the system's website, he added. All real estate offices will be trained on how to use the system, he said. The website consists of many services including an e-portal, a standard electronic rent agreement and payment forms. Citizens who sign up and provide their cell phones online will receive SMS text messages about when rent payments are due and advertisements for available properties. The new system seeks also to put an end to negative practices of some tenants, especially those who default on payments. — SG
