I lived in an apartment in Abu Halifa from 2009. Once the building was sold to another party, the new landlord neglected even the basic maintenance.

I decided to leave the building after sending a month’s notice. The new landlord’s office address was not given to us, still I managed to reach it. But the landlord refused to accept the key without taking KD 450, which was a month’s rent. I pleaded I had already given a month’s notice but he refused. I pleaded that I sent notice by FAX, phone and letter etc which was acknowledged by his office by phone. At last, I asked him to take the keys from the Sabahiya court, where I deposited the key on Feb 12, 2012. I paid him the rent until the end of January 2012.

I did not know what happened after that and suddenly I received a call from the court in December 2012 that a case had been filed against me by the ex-landlord, who demanded his due rent till date, about thousands of KD.

I suffered severe mental stress and attended the first hearing in December 2012. The judge asked me to deposit the original court receipt of the house keys, which I deposited.

People advised me to hire a lawyer as I do not know Arabic. My hired lawyer assured me that I need not worry. I need to pay only 12 day’s rent as the key was deposited on Feb 12. Another hearing date was this week when my lawyer put the matter before the judge. In April, the verdict is to be announced. I am very stressed.

I wish to know your expert advice in this matter. Will truth and honesty win or lose? If the verdict goes against me, where can I appeal? I have proof of sending a FAX of the notice. I also mention here that the landlord treated another person in the same way and he had to deposit a month’s rent in the same court. His case was settled in 4 months but mine has prolonged more than a year. Surprisingly, many others left the building after a few months but they were not asked to pay any money.

Name withheld
Answer: You should stopped worrying as the court will rule in your favor as you have not only provided proof but also it has the record of the keys being deposited with it on Feb 12, 2012.So there is no way that you can be asked to pay thousands of dinars, and at the maximum you can be asked to pay the rent of February, 2012.

This is also very unlikely because you have provided the court with the notice that your will vacate the flat by the end of January 2012 which was acknowledged by the landlord’s office. You were intimated late by the court of the case against you for two reasons - (1) the case must have been filed late by the landlord after he was informed about the depositing of the keys and (2) also because sometimes there is a very large backlog of the cases.

We would advise you to listen to your lawyer as he seems to know what he is doing. It is very unlikely the case will go against you and just in case it does it can be appealed in the same court with more evidence and also taken to the other civil courts. But you shouldn’t worry, the case will most likely finish here in favor as both the law and the evidence are on your side.