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When you buy a home in a Dubai community, you buy a unit. You also join a small system of rules, bodies and recurring bills that most buyers only discover after handover.
Three names come up again and again: the master developer, the owners association, and Mollak. They're easy to confuse, and the confusion is expensive, owners miss invoices, assume a charge is optional, or sign for a unit without asking what the community actually costs to run. This guide sets out who does what, and what to check before you commit.
The Law Behind It
Shared property in Dubai is governed by Law No. 6 of 2019 on the Ownership of Jointly Owned Real Property, which replaced the earlier Law No. 27 of 2007. It covers apartment towers, townhouse and villa communities, and mixed-use developments with shared common areas, in short, most of the places people buy.
The law does three things that matter to an owner. It creates a regulated way to run shared areas. It makes service charges a legal obligation. And it puts the money behind those charges under regulatory supervision, which is where Mollak comes in.
Who's Who in a Dubai Community
What Mollak Actually Is
Mollak is the Arabic word for "owners". It is the electronic system, run by RERA and the Dubai Land Department, that governs service charges in jointly owned properties. Management companies, owners associations, approved auditors and banks are all registered on it.
In practice, Mollak does three jobs. It records the approved budget for each property. It issues the invoices owners receive. And it monitors the dedicated bank account into which those payments go.
From Budget to Bill: How a Service Charge Is Set
The route from a management company's costs to the invoice on your desk follows a fixed order:
— The management entity prepares an annual budget for running and maintaining the shared areas.
— The budget is audited and submitted for RERA approval through Mollak.
— Only once it is approved can charges be imposed and collected from owners.
— Owners are invoiced through Mollak, and pay into a dedicated service charge account held with a bank licensed in Dubai and recognised by RERA.
— The money can only be spent within the approved budget.
This is why a service charge isn't a number a management company can simply change. It has a paper trail, an auditor, and a regulator behind it.
Why Some Owners Get Two Invoices
In a large master community, you may be billed twice, and both bills are legitimate.
— The service charge covers your own building or cluster, and is billed by its management entity.
— The master community usage charge covers the shared parts of the wider community, and is collected on behalf of the master developer.
Each owner's share of the master community charge is worked out from the size of the unit relative to the whole master project. Treating it as optional is a common mistake, approved charges are a legal obligation, not a courtesy.
Taraf's Dubai projects sit within master communities such as Jumeirah Golf Estates, Meydan and Jumeirah Village Circle. Before you buy anywhere in a master community, ask which charges apply to your specific unit and who bills each one.
Checking and Paying Your Charges
Owners can see their approved charges and invoices on the Mollak portal. The Dubai REST app, covered in our owner's guide to the app, is the other official channel for managing a property.
One limit worth knowing: Mollak covers shared, communal charges. It does not handle your individual utility bills, such as DEWA or district cooling.
The owner, not the tenant, is the party legally responsible for the service charge, so landlords should build it into their numbers. The consequences of non-payment are set out in our guide to service charges and DLD fees, in short, penalties, restricted services, and a blocked sale or rental.
If You're Buying: What to Ask
Service charges are the one cost you carry for as long as you own the property. A few questions up front save surprises later:
— What were the service charges for this property over the last few years, not just the current one?
— Does a master community usage charge apply in addition to the building or cluster charge?
— Who is the management company, and what exactly does the charge cover?
— Is the unit clear of arrears? Any outstanding balance will have to be settled before a transfer can proceed.
— How does the approved rate compare with the DLD's published service charge index for similar properties?
These charges sit alongside the other ongoing costs we cover in our guide to the hidden costs of buying property in the UAE. If you're buying off-plan, note that the developer's escrow account protects your instalments during construction and is separate from the service charge accounts described here, which only begin to matter once the community is operating.
If You're Selling: Clear the Balance First
Unpaid service charges are one of the most common reasons a sale stalls. The developer's No Objection Certificate confirms there are no outstanding charges, so any arrears have to be cleared first. Our step-by-step guide to selling property in Dubai covers where this fits in the wider process.
Mollak is a Dubai system. Abu Dhabi has its own framework for shared property, administered by ADREC, so the rules above do not carry across to Taraf's Abu Dhabi projects.
The Bottom Line
A Dubai community looks simple from the sales gallery. Behind it sits a master developer, an owners association, a management company, two regulators and one system tying them together. Understanding who does what turns the service charge from a surprise into a line in your budget, and gives you the right questions to ask before you sign.
For the full list of costs that come with owning a property, start with our guide to service charges and DLD fees and the difference between freehold and leasehold ownership.
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