---
title: "Mollak"
canonical: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/mollak
markdown: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/md/glossary/mollak.md
type: glossary-term
description: "Mollak is the Dubai Land Department's system for approving, invoicing and collecting service charges in jointly owned buildings and communities."
publisher: "UAE Property Agents (Omnia)"
language: en-GB
usage: "You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting."
---

# Mollak

> Mollak is the Dubai Land Department's system for approving, invoicing and collecting service charges in jointly owned buildings and communities.

Also known as: Mollak system, Mollak invoice, ملاك.

## What Mollak means for a buyer

Mollak, Arabic for "owners", is the platform through which service charges in Dubai are controlled. It links the [Dubai Land Department](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/dld), [RERA](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/rera), the management companies that run buildings and the banks that hold each building's funds.

The process works in a set order. The management company, which must itself be registered in Mollak, submits a yearly budget for the building. RERA has it audited and approves it. Mollak then generates an invoice for each owner based on the approved rate and the unit's area. Owners pay into a dedicated account for that building, and the management company draws on it only for approved expenditure.

The practical rule for an owner is that a [service charge](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charges) demand is valid only if it is a Mollak invoice. Each carries a reference and can be viewed and paid through [Dubai REST](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/dubai-rest) or the management company's portal. Do not pay service charges against a spreadsheet, an email request or to a personal account, and query any charge that has not come through the system.

Mollak also gives buyers information. Because approved budgets pass through it, the rates feed the DLD's [service charge index](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charge-index), which lets you check what a building really costs before you buy. On a resale, ask the seller for the latest Mollak statement showing the account is clear; arrears must be settled before the developer will issue the [NOC](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/noc).

## Related terms

- [Service charges](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charges): Service charges are the annual fees every owner pays, per square foot, towards running, maintaining and insuring the shared parts of a building or community.
- [Service charge index](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/service-charge-index): The service charge index is the Dubai Land Department's published record of the approved service charge rate, per square foot, for each registered building.
- [Sinking fund](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/sinking-fund): A sinking fund is the reserve a building's owners pay into each year to meet large, infrequent costs such as replacing lifts, chillers or the roof.
- [Owners' association](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/owners-association): An owners' association represents a building's unit owners in its management; in Dubai, formal associations were replaced in 2019 by advisory owners' committees.
- [Dubai REST](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/dubai-rest): Dubai REST is the Dubai Land Department's official app for checking ownership records, brokers and projects and for completing property services online.

## In depth

- [Service charges in Dubai: what they are, what they cost and how to check a building's approved rate](https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/guides/service-charges-in-dubai)


---

Source page: https://www.uaepropertyagents.com/glossary/mollak. Published by UAE Property Agents, Omnia Capital Group. You may read, quote, summarise and cite this content, including in AI answers, with attribution to UAE Property Agents and a link to the canonical URL. Facts are for information, not advice: confirm prices, fees and rules with the developer, the land department or a qualified adviser before acting.