Trakheesi Permit Check: How to Verify a Dubai Property Listing

Trakheesi Permit Check: The Short Answer

You find a Dubai apartment online. The photos are good and the price looks fair. Before you send a deposit or even a passport copy, you need to know whether the advert is real. A Trakheesi permit check is the fastest way to start.

In short: every real estate advert in Dubai should carry a permit number issued through the Trakheesi system of the Dubai Land Department (DLD). The advert should also show a QR code that opens the official permit record. Scanning that code and comparing the record with the listing is the Trakheesi permit check. It takes about two minutes.

This guide is written for foreign founders and investors who buy at a distance and cannot walk into an office to ask questions. It explains what the permit is, where to find the number, how to run the Trakheesi permit check and what a mismatch should make you do. It is general information, not legal advice.

What Is a Trakheesi Permit and Who Needs One?

Trakheesi is the DLD system through which real estate advertising permits are issued. According to the DLD news release on its 2020 inspection campaigns, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) launched a real estate ad permits service on the Trakheesi system, and all real estate companies and establishments that wish to publish any real estate advertisement in Dubai must apply for a permit there.

The same release says the advertiser bears the legal consequences if the permit number is not placed in the advert. It also says companies must show their advertisements according to the conditions approved in the permit. So the permit is not decoration. It is the regulator’s record that this advert was approved, for this company, on these terms.

Why should a buyer care? Because a Trakheesi permit check turns a vague feeling (“this seems fine”) into a record you can compare. The DLD itself says RERA regularly warns about fake and unlicensed adverts on electronic platforms and social media channels. Those are exactly the places where overseas buyers first meet a property.

Where the Permit Number and QR Code Appear

The DLD introduced the Madmoun service to make the Trakheesi permit check easier. Per the DLD news release of 18 April 2023, Madmoun is accessible through the Trakheesi system and is represented by a QR code issued for any real estate advertisement permit. From 24 April 2023, real estate companies were expected to feature the QR code on their print and audiovisual advertisements.

In practice, you will meet the permit in three places:

• Property portals. The Bayut explainer describes a “Regulatory Information” section on a listing. It shows the DED number, the RERA number and the Trakheesi permit with its Madmoun QR code. Other portals use their own layout, so look near the agent details.
• Print and outdoor adverts. Brochures, billboards and newspaper adverts should carry the QR code.
• Video and social adverts. The DLD release covers audiovisual adverts too, so a video advert should show the code or the permit number on screen.

If you cannot find a permit number or a QR code on an advert, do not assume the page layout hides it. Ask the agent for the permit number in writing. A Trakheesi permit check cannot start without it.

How to Run a Trakheesi Permit Check, Step by Step

Here is the sequence I would follow from abroad. Each step uses only channels the DLD describes in its releases.

1. Capture the advert. Save a screenshot of the listing, including the price, the agent name and the regulatory block. Adverts change or vanish.
2. Find the permit number and QR code. Use the portal’s regulatory section or the printed advert.
3. Scan the QR code. A phone camera is enough. The Trakheesi permit check opens on the DLD’s own permit record. Notice the web address and confirm it belongs to the DLD.
4. Compare the record with the listing. Check the company, the property details and the status against what the advert claims.
5. Check the agent. The DLD says customers can verify licensed brokers and the validity of property data through the Dubai REST smart application, on its Dubai Brokers page.
6. Write down the result. Keep a dated note with the permit number, so you can show what you saw if a dispute starts.

The DLD strongly advises customers and investors to engage only with adverts that feature the QR code, to protect their rights and avoid fraudulent or unreliable transactions. I would go one step further for a remote buyer: no QR code and no permit number means no deposit, until the agent resolves it.

What the DLD Permit Page Tells You

The official wording is brief. The DLD news release of 18 April 2023 says that customers can view the complete advertisement information on the DLD website, including details about the advertising company, the property’s condition and its specifications. The Gulf News report adds that scanning the code lets you establish whether the property has been sold or rented. The same release says the link is secured to prevent changes to the data.

The Bayut explainer describes the permit page as a Real Estate Permit Card with listing, authority and property details. I could not open the Trakheesi portal itself from my own checks, so I rely on those descriptions rather than on a live screenshot. When you run your own Trakheesi permit check, the page you see is the authority.

Use the page like this:

• Company. Does the advertising company match the agency on the listing and the one you are talking to?
• Property. Do the location, type and specifications match the photos and the description?
• Status. Is the property shown as available, or as sold or rented?
• Validity. Is the permit current? The DLD lists the use of expired permits as a violation.

Trakheesi Permit Check Red Flags and What a Mismatch Means

A mismatch is the whole point of the exercise. The DLD news release on its 2020 inspection campaigns groups the violations it found into three types: companies that did not obtain advertising permits, manipulation of the use of permit numbers, and the use of expired permits. Those three give you a useful checklist for your own Trakheesi permit check.

None of these proves fraud on its own. An honest agent can make a clerical error. Still, a mismatch means you cannot rely on the advert as shown, and the cost of pausing is small compared with the cost of a lost deposit.

What about penalties? The DLD news release on its 2020 inspection campaigns reports that RERA fined 10 real estate companies and warned 30 others after its campaigns. It says each fine was valued at a progressive AED 50,000 and could reach cancellation of the company’s licence. That describes a 2020 campaign, not a current tariff, so I do not quote it as today’s fine. For you as a buyer, the useful point is that the regulator treats permit misuse seriously.

Why a Clean Trakheesi Permit Check Is Not Enough

A clean Trakheesi permit check tells you one thing: the DLD has an approved advert record that matches the listing. It does not tell you that the seller owns the unit, that the price is fair, that the developer will deliver or that the agent is the right person to represent you.

Treat it as the first gate in a longer path:

• Ownership. The DLD offers a Verify Title Deed service for title deeds. I covered the logic of that check in our guide on Oqood vs title deed, and the same caution applies to resales.
• The agent. Check the broker through the Dubai REST application, and keep the permit number next to the broker card in your notes.
• The developer. For off-plan projects, our developer due diligence guide covers the checks that a permit does not.
• The money. Understand the agent commission and the full cost of buying property in Dubai before you agree a price.
• Representation. If you will sign through someone else, read how a power of attorney for Dubai property works first.

A permit shows the advert was approved. It does not make the deal safe. That is why I place the Trakheesi permit check at the start of due diligence, not at the end.

7 Checks to Run Before You Pay a Deposit

For a buyer who is far from Dubai, here is the short list I would work through every time. A Trakheesi permit check is the first item, not the only one.

1. Run the Trakheesi permit check. Scan the QR code or open the permit record, and match company, property and status.
2. Verify the agent. Confirm the broker’s licence through the DLD’s channels.
3. Verify ownership. Ask for the title deed and verify it with the DLD service.
4. Compare the advert with the contract. Price, size, unit number and payment terms must match what you saw.
5. Read what you sign. Do not accept a form you have not read, and ask for an English copy.
6. Pay through traceable channels. Avoid cash and personal accounts. Ask how the money is held and by whom.
7. Keep a file. Store screenshots, the permit number, the date of your check and every message.

My View: Treat the Permit as a Receipt for the Advert

Most foreign buyers I speak to treat a listing as a promise. I read it differently. A listing is a marketing message, and the permit is the receipt that shows the regulator saw it. The Trakheesi permit check is worth doing because it is cheap and it is early.

An engineer asks whether a system has a single point of failure. A buyer’s due diligence has one too: trusting the first document you are shown. The permit record is a second source, held by the regulator, and it lets you test the first source against it. When the two disagree, you have learned something before you paid for the lesson.

The habit matters more than the tool. Make the Trakheesi permit check a fixed first step on every advert, even those sent by a friend or forwarded in a chat group. Social proof is not a permit.

Limits of This Article

Limits of this article. This guide rests on pages I opened in October 2026: two DLD news releases, a Gulf News report and a Bayut explainer, plus the DLD title deed verification page. It covers Dubai only. Other emirates run their own regulators and systems, and I did not research them.

I could not open the Trakheesi portal itself, so my description of the permit page comes from the DLD releases and the portal explainer, not from a live screenshot. Screens, menu names and requirements change. I found no official page that sets a fee for a buyer to view a permit, and I did not find a current official fine schedule, so I quote none. Check the DLD website or call its support line before you rely on any detail here. No outcome is guaranteed.

FAQ

What is a Trakheesi permit?

A Trakheesi permit is the advertising permit that Dubai Land Department (DLD) issues through its Trakheesi system. According to the DLD, real estate companies that want to publish any property advertisement in Dubai must apply for one there. The permit number belongs on the advert. A Trakheesi permit check lets you confirm that the advert was approved by RERA.

Where do I find the Trakheesi permit number on a listing?

On property portals the permit number sits in a regulatory information block near the agent details, usually next to the DED licence and RERA numbers. Print and video ads should carry the permit QR code instead. If you cannot find a permit number or a QR code anywhere on the advert, treat that as your first warning sign.

How do I do a Trakheesi permit check with the QR code?

Scan the Madmoun QR code with your phone camera. It opens the DLD permit page for that advert. Compare the advertising company, the property details and the status shown there with what the listing says. If anything differs, or the code does not open a permit page, stop and ask the agent to explain in writing.

Does a valid Trakheesi permit mean the property is safe to buy?

No. The permit shows that an advert was approved. It is not a title deed check, a price check or a developer check. After a clean Trakheesi permit check, verify the seller’s title deed with the DLD, confirm the agent’s broker card, and read the contract before you pay any money.

What does a Trakheesi permit mismatch mean?

A mismatch means the advert and the DLD record disagree: a different company, a different property, an expired permit or no permit page at all. The DLD names unpermitted adverts, misused permit numbers and expired permits as violations. A mismatch does not prove fraud, but it justifies stopping until the agent explains it.

Is the Trakheesi permit check free?

Scanning the QR code or opening the permit page does not require you to apply for anything. I found no DLD page that lists a fee for viewing a permit as a buyer, and the DLD pages I opened mention none. Fees apply to advertisers who apply for permits, so check the DLD site for the current tariff.

Your Next Step

Take the listing you are considering and run a Trakheesi permit check on it tonight. Save the permit number, scan the code and write down whether company, property and status match. Then read our developer due diligence guide for the checks that come after it.

If you are buying from abroad and want a second pair of eyes on a listing, an agent or a contract, use our contact page. We can talk through what to verify before you commit any money.