What changes for landlords under the new Execution Law from 28 October 2026?

The new law was published in the Official Gazette on 1 May 2026 and takes effect 180 days after publication, on 28 October 2026, replacing the Execution Law issued by Royal Decree M/53 dated 13/8/1433H (Article 65). Judgments, orders and decisions issued before then remain valid under the earlier rules (clause Second of the decree); neither the decree nor the law has a specific rule for execution requests still open on that date.

Its implementing regulation, to which many details are left, applies from the law’s effective date (Article 64). The Ministry of Justice put a draft “Implementing Regulation of the Execution Law” on the Istitlaa platform for public comment until 29 September 2026.

Under the current law, a tenant who neither pays nor discloses enough assets within 5 days of notification is treated as a defaulter, and the judge immediately orders a travel ban, attachment of assets and a credit-bureau report, among other measures, and may also bar government bodies and financial institutions from dealing with the tenant, or order detention (Article 46).

Under the new law, once 5 working days pass after notification without payment, credit bureaus are notified and the tenant’s current and future assets are attached at once, including amounts owed by public bodies, unless the tenant provides a sufficient bank guarantee, which buys 10 more working days. The court may add a fine of up to SAR 5,000 a day, paid to the State Treasury, not to the landlord (Article 18). A travel ban is ordered only at the landlord’s request, for up to 3 years, extendable on a new request to a maximum of 6 years (Article 19). No more than one third of a salary, or one quarter of a pension, can be attached for a rent debt (Article 26). The new law does not provide for barring government bodies and financial institutions from dealing with the debtor, and leaves enforcement tools to the regulation (Article 18).

Under the current law, the enforcement officer goes to the property on the day after 5 days have passed since notification (Article 72), and the start may be postponed when necessary by up to 30 days (regulation 72/1). Under the new law, if the tenant has not left within 5 working days, the court immediately orders the competent force to act; if that cannot be done, it bans travel at the landlord’s request and fines the tenant up to SAR 10,000 a day (Article 36). If 30 working days pass without the eviction, it orders detention at the landlord’s request for up to 180 days, extendable, with exceptions (Article 37). The regulation sets the rules for evictions and for belongings left inside.

The new law does not mention leases by name, so it does not settle whether eviction during the lease term for non-payment goes through a direct enforcement request, as the Ministry of Justice said in January 2020, or a termination claim before the General Court, as Ejar said in July 2025, according to Arrajol magazine.

Provisions with no counterpart in the current law: