On the 31st of July 2007 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a decree to establish a Real Estate Regulatory Agency in Dubai. The agency, is to be a part of the Dubai Land Department and will have financial and administrative independence, with full legal authority, to ensure all real estate transactions comply with the guidelines. It has four main areas of operation consisting of:

• policies and strategies.
• regulation and registration.
• research and studies.
• Programmes and projects.

The Agency's responsibilities fall under the following:

•  Licensing all real estate activities.
•  Managing developers trust account.
•  Licensing and organizing real estate agents.
•  Regulating and authenticating Rental Agreements.
•  Regulating and supervising the owners associations.
•  Regulating real estate advertisements in the media.
•  Regulating and licensing Real estate exhibitions.
•  Publishing and circulating official research and studies for the sector.
•  Enhancing national participation in the real estate sector.
•  Increasing real estate awareness.