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ORN and BRN: the two numbers that matter
Two separate registrations sit behind a legitimate transaction, and they are often confused.
| ORN — Office Registration Number | BRN — Broker Registration Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Belongs to | The brokerage company | The individual agent |
| Issued by | RERA, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department | RERA, to a named person |
| What it certifies | The company is registered to conduct real estate brokerage in Dubai | The person has completed the required training, passed the RERA examination and holds a current broker card |
| Where you see it | On the company's advertisements, contracts and Form A / Form F | On the agent's broker card, which shows their name, photograph and BRN |
A brokerage also holds a commercial licence from Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, the DED licence, which is what makes it a legal company at all. A real firm has both: an economic licence and a RERA registration. One without the other is a problem.
Our own numbers, as an example to check against: Bonum Realty L.L.C, RERA ORN 34799, DED licence 1168323, registered at 5th Floor, Rasis Business Centre Building, Al Barsha 1, Dubai. Every individual agent you deal with here has their own BRN, which they will give you on request — and which you should ask for.
Where to check: the Dubai REST app and DLD services
The Dubai Land Department publishes the register. You do not need the broker's cooperation to search it.
- Dubai REST is the DLD's official app, free on iOS and Android. Its broker and brokerage search returns the agent's name, BRN, the brokerage they are attached to, the brokerage's ORN and the status of the registration — active, expired, suspended or cancelled. A cancelled or expired status is the end of the conversation.
- The DLD website at dubailand.gov.ae carries the same lookups, plus the services that matter on the property itself: Verify Title Deed, which confirms a title document is genuine, and the property status enquiry, which shows the registered owner, the classification of the property, any registered mortgage and any legal block.
- The DED licence can be checked through Dubai's economic-licensing channels. Confirm that the trade name on the licence is the company you are contracting with, and that the licence is current.
- The advertisement permit is checked on the listing itself — see the next section.
Check the agent and the company separately. An agent with a valid BRN who has since moved firms, or a brokerage whose registration has lapsed, will both look plausible in conversation and neither will survive a search.
Trakheesi permits and the Madhmoun QR code
In Dubai it is not lawful to advertise a property without a permit. Trakheesi is the DLD's permit system: before a listing is published, the brokerage obtains a permit for that specific property, with the owner's authority documented, and the permit number must appear in the advertisement — on the portal listing, on the brochure, in the social media post, on the billboard.
Madhmoun is the verification layer on top of it. Introduced by the DLD in April 2023, it is a QR code issued with the advertising permit through Trakheesi. Scanning it opens the DLD's own page for that advertisement, showing the advertising company and the details of the property as permitted. Since 2024 compliant Dubai listings display it as a matter of course.
What this gives a buyer is unusually strong: an independent confirmation, from the regulator, that this specific advertisement for this specific property was authorised. A listing that carries a valid permit number and a QR code resolving to the DLD's page is not a fabricated property. A listing without them may be an oversight, but on a high-value villa it is more often a sign that the advertiser has no mandate on the property at all.
Our own listing for Villa Amalfi on Jumeirah Bay Island carries permit number 69262881317 and the Madhmoun QR code, in the same way every property we advertise does.
What a legitimate listing looks like
Set a compliant listing next to a suspect one and the differences are not subtle.
| A legitimate listing | A listing to walk away from |
|---|---|
| Shows a Trakheesi permit number and a Madhmoun QR code that resolves to the DLD | No permit number, or a number that does not resolve |
| Names the brokerage and shows its ORN | Only a mobile number and a first name |
| The agent gives a BRN on request | Evasion, or a photograph of a card that will not verify |
| Photographs are of the actual unit, with the specific plot, tower or community identified | Generic renders or images reused across several listings, with the location vague |
| Price is stated, with the unit size and the terms | “Price on application” plus urgency, on a property being marketed publicly |
| The seller's ownership can be evidenced by title deed, and the broker holds Form A | The “owner is abroad” and cannot be reached, but a deposit is needed today |
| Off-plan: the project is RERA-registered with an escrow account, and the developer is named | An unnamed “pre-launch” with payment requested to secure a unit |
A price meaningfully below anything comparable in the same community is not a find; in prime Dubai it is a warning. More on that in the mistakes buyers make in Dubai.
Payment red flags
Most losses in Dubai property happen at the payment stage, and almost all of them break one rule: money in a regulated Dubai transaction does not go into a personal account.
Where money legitimately goes:
- The purchase price of a ready property is paid by manager's cheque to the seller at the registration trustee office, at the moment of transfer, in exchange for the title deed. Not before, and not elsewhere.
- Off-plan payments go to the project's escrow account, held at a bank under Law No. 8 of 2007 and released to the developer against construction milestones. The account is in the project's name, not the developer's general account and never an individual's.
- DLD fees are paid at the trustee office, to the trustee, against a receipt.
- Brokerage commission is invoiced by the licensed company to its own corporate account, with VAT shown, and falls due on completion of the transfer.
- The deposit on Form F is customarily a cheque held by the broker as security for performance, not banked and spent.
Treat the following as reasons to stop:
- A request to transfer to a personal account, a third party, an overseas account with no connection to the transaction, or in cryptocurrency.
- Bank details that change mid-transaction, or arrive by email or messaging app without being confirmed by voice with a number you already had. Invoice-interception fraud is the single most common way large sums are lost.
- Commission demanded in advance of transfer, or a “registration”, “reservation” or “unlocking” fee to view a property.
- Pressure to pay before you have seen the title deed, the permit and the Form A mandate.
- An agent who resists the involvement of a trustee office or a conveyancer.
A short checklist
Before you send money to anyone in a Dubai property transaction, confirm all seven. It takes less than half an hour.
- The brokerage. ORN searched in Dubai REST or on the DLD site, status active. DED trade licence current and in the same name.
- The agent. BRN given without hesitation, name matching the broker card, registration active, attached to the brokerage you are dealing with.
- The advertisement. Trakheesi permit number present; Madhmoun QR code scans to the DLD page for that property.
- The property. Title deed verified through the DLD, registered owner matching the person selling, no undisclosed mortgage or legal block. See freehold areas of Dubai for what the tenure should say.
- The mandate. The broker holds a signed Form A from the owner for a ready property, or a confirmed agreement with the developer for off-plan.
- The money. Manager's cheque at the trustee office, or the project's escrow account for off-plan. Corporate account for the commission invoice. Nothing to an individual.
- The paperwork. Form F signed by both parties, and every figure and deadline written down. Terminology explained in our Dubai real estate glossary.
Run the same checks on us. Bonum Realty L.L.C, ORN 34799, DED licence 1168323, 5th Floor, Rasis Business Centre Building, Al Barsha 1, Dubai. Ask for the BRN of whoever you speak to, scan the QR code on any listing we publish, and verify the title deed of anything you intend to buy. A broker who welcomes that is the only kind worth using. If you would like us to check a listing or a counterparty you have been approached by, send it over — and see how to buy property in Dubai as a foreigner for the transaction in full.