Mortgage power of attorney
Mortgage Power of Attorney in the UAE
UAE law treats mortgaging as an act that has to be stated in the instrument, so a general power of attorney will not carry it. We draft the wording around your property and attend the notary public with you.
- Mortgage named, not implied
- The property identified exactly
- Drafted, translated, attended
Mortgage power of attorney in the UAE, in short
It is a special agency, ratified before a notary public, that lets a person you name charge a specific property on your behalf. UAE law puts mortgaging in the group of acts that has to be spelled out in the instrument, so a document written in general terms will not reach it.
The governing law
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 870
Wording needed
A special agency naming the mortgage
Federal notary fee
AED 100 per party to it
Why the law names mortgaging on its own
The Civil Transactions Law in force is Federal Decree-Law 25/2025. The 1985 Civil Code is repealed, so the Article 955 citation still copied across provider sites points at a statute that no longer exists. Agency now sits at Articles 866 to 903. Article 871 says an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only, and Article 870 is the provision that decides whether a document can be used to mortgage anything at all. Note where mortgage appears.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 870(1)
Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.
What a power of attorney for mortgage actually covers
A mortgage is not a piece of housekeeping. It puts a charge on one specific property, and it holds for as long as the facility runs, so the instrument has to say which property, which act and how far the person you appoint may go. People ask for it when work keeps them abroad while a purchase completes, when a co-owner cannot travel, or when the signing has to happen in one country and the owner is in another.
Our lawyers and legal consultants draft the text, arrange the Arabic through a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice, check the wording against what you are actually being asked to sign, and attend the appointment with you. The ratification itself is done before a notary public, who verifies identity and capacity and reads the content out before anything is signed.
Granting a charge and clearing one are separate acts
The word mortgage covers two jobs that pull in opposite directions, and an instrument drafted for one of them does not carry the other. Decide which one you mean, say it about a named property, and if both may be needed before the authority runs out, write both of them in rather than coming back for a second document later.
Granting
Placing a mortgage on the property
The agent signs security over a named property in favour of the lender you name. This is the heavier of the two powers, because it burdens an asset you own.
Clearing
Lifting a mortgage already in place
The agent signs to have an existing charge removed once the debt is settled, and collects the paperwork that follows. Name the facility and the property, not only the act.
What the instrument has to name
This is the part that decides whether the document does its job on the day. Name the act, name the property, and put the limits in the text instead of leaving them to be argued about at a counter. Each line below is a separate decision, and each one is easier to make now than after the appointment.
- The act itself, written as mortgaging the property rather than as dealing with it
- The property, by title deed reference and by plot, unit and building
- The lender, or the fact that the agent may deal with a lender not yet chosen
- The ceiling on the amount that may be borrowed against the property
- Whether the agent may sign the loan documents as well as the security
- Whether the agent may also clear the mortgage and collect the release paperwork
How the document is put together
Four steps, in this order. The wording is agreed with the lender before the appointment is booked, because lenders set their own requirements for the documents they will act on, and a text that has already been through the notary is slow and awkward to change.
1
We agree the wording with your lender
Lenders set their own requirements. We put the draft in front of yours before anything is booked, so the text is settled while it can still be altered on a screen.
2
We draft in Arabic with the English alongside
The notarial instrument is in Arabic. A foreign language document needs a translation by a legal translator registered with the Ministry of Justice, and both versions are signed.
3
You sign before a notary public
You sign before a notary public, who checks identity from an ID card or passport, confirms capacity and consent, and reads the content out. We attend with you.
4
We hand the signed instrument over
The ratified document and its translation go to the lender, together with whatever else was asked for. If a point comes back, we deal with it rather than sending you round again.
What we need before drafting
The identity side is short, because a notary verifies identity from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State. The property side and the lending side are what we add on top of that, and they are the parts that take the thinking.
From you, the owner
The person giving the power
- Passport copy, and Emirates ID if you hold one
- The title deed, or the reference that identifies the property
- Whether anyone else owns a share of the same property
- The date you want the authority to end, if you want one
The person who will deal with the lender
The person you are appointing
- Full name spelled as it appears in the passport
- Emirates ID number, or a copy of the Emirates ID or passport
- Whether the agent may appoint a substitute to act instead
- A second name, if you want someone held in reserve
On the lending side
What the wording has to fit
- The lender, if one has already been chosen
- Any wording the lender has asked to see in the text
- The ceiling you want written in on the amount
- Whether clearing an existing charge is also needed
Where a mortgage power of attorney comes undone
Almost all of the trouble is written into the document long before anyone reaches the appointment. These are the faults we look for first in a draft somebody else prepared, and the way we handle the same three points instead.
- The text authorises dealing with the property and never says mortgaging
- The property is described loosely, so which asset is charged is left open
- The wording was never put to the lender, who sets its own requirements
- We name the act in the terms Article 870 calls for
- We identify the property by its deed reference, not by description
- We agree the text with the lender before the appointment is booked
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Will a general power of attorney cover a mortgage?
Not on its own. Article 871 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 says an agency written in general terms grants acts of management only. Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act for anything beyond management and preservation, and it names mortgage among those acts. So the mortgage has to be written in by name.
Does the document have to name the exact property?
Name it, by title deed reference and by plot, unit and building. A mortgage is a charge over one specific asset, so an instrument that refers to your property without identifying it leaves the person you appointed holding a power that cannot be matched to anything in particular. Vagueness here is expensive.
Can one instrument cover the purchase and the mortgage together?
It can, as long as both acts are named. Buying and mortgaging are separate acts under Article 870, and a text drafted for one of them does not carry the other. If the same person is to complete the purchase and then charge the property, write both acts in and identify the property in each.
Can my agent decide the loan amount and the terms?
Only as far as you allow. You can write a ceiling into the text, name a particular facility, or leave the figure open. Leaving it open hands a wide discretion over an asset you own, so most people set a limit. Whatever you decide belongs in the wording, not in a side conversation.
What if the lender wants its own wording?
Then it goes in before the appointment. Lenders set their own requirements for the documents they will act on, and those requirements come from the lender rather than from the notary or from statute. We put the draft to the lender first and settle the text, because altering a ratified instrument afterwards means signing again.
What are the official fees on a mortgage power of attorney?
Cabinet Resolution 19/2024 sets AED 100 per party for executing or notarising a general or special power of attorney, and AED 50 for each page of a translation included in the instrument. A private notary charges that plus 30 percent as professional fees. Dubai Courts runs its own schedule, separate from the federal one.
I am overseas while the mortgage is being arranged. What do I sign?
Sign before a notary in the country you are in, then have the document attested by that country’s ministry of foreign affairs, then by the UAE embassy or consulate there, then by MOFAIC in the UAE. The UAE is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so an apostille does not replace that chain.
Can I revoke the power once the mortgage is in place?
Read Article 898 carefully here. A principal may revoke or restrict an agent’s authority at any time, unless the agency involves the right of a third party or was issued in the agent’s own interest, in which case it cannot be ended without that person’s consent. A mortgage brings a lender in, so take advice first.
Start here
Send us the deed and the name of the lender
Tell us which property is involved, who you want to appoint, and whether the job is to place a mortgage, to clear one, or both. We will agree the wording with your lender, draft it in Arabic with the English alongside, and attend the notary public with you. If a limit on the amount belongs in the text, it goes in before you sign rather than after.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.