The single most useful habit a buyer or tenant can build in Dubai takes about forty seconds, and almost nobody does it: check the advert's permit.
What the rules actually require
Any property advertisement published in Dubai must be covered by a Trakheesi permit issued by the Dubai Land Department, and the permit number must be displayed on the advert itself. Since April 2023, the DLD's Madmoun service has also put a QR code on property advertising — scanning it takes you to the Land Department's own verified record for that advert.
The important detail, and the one that catches people out: a permit belongs to a specific advertisement. It is not a badge the agent carries around. The same unit advertised on two portals and a website needs its own permit for each — which is precisely why a permit number copied from somewhere else is a red flag rather than reassurance.
The forty-second check
- Find the permit number on the listing. A compliant advert shows it plainly.
- Scan the QR code and confirm the record that opens matches what you are looking at — the property, the type, the party advertising it.
- Check the broker. A RERA-registered broker has a card with a number you can verify.
- Be suspicious of the gap. If the price is well under everything comparable and the permit is missing, those two facts are usually the same fact.
What a missing permit actually means
Sometimes it means sloppiness. Sometimes it means the advertiser does not hold the mandate for that property — which is the situation where a "viewing" turns into a bait-and-switch onto something else entirely. Either way, it tells you something true about who you are dealing with before any money moves.
Why we publish ours
Every listing on this site carries its permit number and its QR, on the listing page, where you can check it without asking anyone. That is not generosity — it is the minimum, and the fact that it reads as a feature says more about the market than about us.
If you are looking at something elsewhere and are not sure how to read it, send it over. Telling you an advert looks wrong costs me nothing and saves you a great deal.
