DLD vs RERA vs Dubai REST vs Mollak: who does what

Buy property in Dubai and four official names start appearing in every document, portal and forum thread — DLD, RERA, Dubai REST, Mollak. They are related but not interchangeable, and knowing which one owns your problem saves weeks of being bounced between the wrong counters. Here is the untangled version.

DLD — the land department itself

The Dubai Land Department is the government body that owns the emirate's real estate record. It keeps the land registry — who owns which plot and unit — issues title deeds, records every sale transaction, and registers every development project. When you hear that a project is "registered with DLD" or that a sale was "recorded", this is the institution doing the recording.

DLD also publishes much of that record as open data: project registrations, certified construction progress, sale prices, rental contracts. That public registry is the raw material this site is built on — we snapshot it daily across 695 projects and turn the changes into alerts. If you want to see what the registry says about a specific project right now, our guide to checking any project's DLD status walks through it.

RERA — the regulator inside DLD

The Real Estate Regulatory Agency is the regulatory arm that operates within DLD. Where DLD records, RERA regulates: it licenses developers and brokers, approves and oversees off-plan project registration, supervises the escrow accounts that hold buyers' installments, and handles complaints against developers and agents. RERA is also the body with the power to audit a troubled project and, ultimately, to cancel one.

The practical distinction: if your question is "what does the record say?", that is DLD territory. If your question is "someone is not following the rules — who makes them?", that is RERA. Our stalled-project guide covers the RERA escalation path in detail, because that is where worried off-plan buyers most often need it.

Dubai REST — the official app

Dubai REST is DLD's official app (iOS and Android) — the self-service front door to the registry. Signed in with UAE Pass, you can see the properties registered in your name, view and download your title deed (or off-plan registration), look up projects and brokers, and use a growing set of owner services. It is not a separate authority — it is the same DLD record with an app on top of it. If a document exists in the registry, Dubai REST is usually the fastest legitimate way to get your hands on it.

Mollak — the service-charge system

Mollak is the system that governs service charges — the annual fees owners pay for maintaining a building's common areas. Through it, service-charge budgets are reviewed and approved before owners are billed, and payments flow through dedicated accounts rather than straight to a management company's pocket. As an off-plan buyer you will meet Mollak only after handover, when your first service-charge invoice arrives; it exists so the bill is one an approved budget stands behind, not an arbitrary number.

Where Oqood fits

Oqood is not a fifth authority — it is DLD's interim register for off-plan sales. Until a project is finished there is no title deed to issue, so your purchase is recorded in Oqood and you receive an Oqood certificate as proof of your claim; at handover the entry converts into a permanent registration and a title deed. It sits squarely inside DLD, and we cover the certificate, the fees and how to verify yours in the Oqood guide.

Which one do I need?

• I want to check a project's construction progress. That is DLD registry data — see how to check any project's status, or find it in our tracker, which watches the same registry daily and emails you when it changes.
• I have a complaint about a developer or broker. That is RERA — the licensing and complaints body. Put your issue in writing to the developer first, then escalate; the stalled-project guide describes the path.
• I need my title deed (or my off-plan registration). Dubai REST — sign in with UAE Pass and your registered properties and documents are there to view and download.
• My service-charge bill looks wrong. Start with your building's owners' management — the budget behind the bill goes through Mollak, so ask for the approved breakdown. If the answers do not add up, the escalation route is through RERA.

Related: Oqood — the off-plan register explained · how to check any project's DLD status · how our numbers are made
General information, not legal advice — for a dispute, speak to a UAE-licensed property lawyer.