Roughly half the properties we transfer have a mortgage on at least one side. When it is the seller's mortgage, the deal cannot complete until the bank is repaid and releases its charge — and the buyer, understandably, will not pay off someone else's loan without protection. Dubai's "blocking" mechanism solves this, provided every step happens in the right order.
The nine steps (cash buyer, mortgaged seller)
- Sign the Agreement of Sale (Form F) with a completion date that allows for the bank's timelines.
- Seller applies to their bank for a liability letter — addressed to the Dubai Land Department, in Arabic, stating the exact settlement figure and validity period.
- Liability letter received (typically within one to two weeks depending on the bank).
- Apply for the developer NOC; service charges must be cleared first.
- NOC received.
- Property blocking at the DLD trustee office: the property is blocked in the buyer's name so it cannot be sold to anyone else once the buyer settles the seller's loan.
- Buyer pays the seller's liability directly to the bank by manager's cheque.
- Clearance documents released from the seller's bank — the original title deed, the mortgage release letter and the no-liability confirmation.
- Transfer at the DLD trustee office; the balance of the price is paid to the seller and the new title deed is issued.
Where it goes wrong
Liability letters expire. NOCs expire. Banks take longer to release clearance than anyone expects. If the NOC is applied for too early it can lapse before the bank is ready; if too late, the buyer's funds sit idle. Our job is to run these validity windows against each other so that the blocking, settlement and transfer land inside all of them.
When the buyer also has a mortgage
In a double-mortgage transfer the buyer's bank must first approve the buyer, survey the property and issue a final offer letter — and in most cases the buyer's bank, not the buyer, settles the seller's liability. That adds two more parties to coordinate and is the route where a conveyancer earns their fee most visibly.