Commercial Lease Disputes: Landlord and Tenant Rights in Saudi Arabia

Commercial tenancies are among the most frequent sources of dispute between businesses in the Kingdom, and most arise from a hastily drafted contract or reliance on a verbal understanding. The governing principle is simple: **the contract is the law of the parties** unless it contravenes a mandatory provision — what you wrote is what you will be judged by.

Registering the Contract on "Ejar"

The "Ejar" network is the approved system for registering lease contracts in the Kingdom. A registered contract gives you a decisive practical advantage: it is treated as an enforceable instrument, letting you pursue unpaid rent or eviction directly through the enforcement judge instead of filing a full lawsuit. An unregistered contract weakens your position and lengthens your path.

The Most Common Flashpoints — and How to Avoid Them

• Rent increases on renewal: fix the mechanism and a maximum percentage in the contract itself; do not leave it to later negotiation.
• Automatic renewal: define the notice window for non-renewal clearly — most disputes arise from missing it.
• Maintenance: separate structural (landlord) from operational (tenant) instead of a blanket "maintenance is on the tenant".
• Alterations to the premises: require prior written consent and state what happens to alterations when the lease ends.
• Assignment and subletting: prohibit or restrict it expressly — silence invites surprises.

Eviction: When Is It Permitted?

A landlord cannot unilaterally evict a tenant before the term ends except as agreed in the contract or on a lawful ground — such as non-payment or using the premises for a purpose other than agreed. Actual eviction goes through the competent authority, not self-help; cutting utilities or changing locks can turn the law against you.

Our Practical Advice

Document everything in writing: notices, maintenance requests, handover records with photographs and dates. In tenancy disputes, whoever holds the documentation holds the case — we have seen files decided by a dated photograph more often than by oral argument.