Checking land before buying it: documents, checks and common scams

The order of the checks

Most land disputes start with a deposit paid too early, on the strength of a copy or a verbal promise. Before any payment, even to “reserve” the plot, follow this order:

1. Identify the legal situation: land title (الرسم العقاري), registration application (مطلب التحفيظ) or unregistered land held under a melkia (الملكية). The guide Melkia, registration application or land title explains what each situation guarantees.
2. Check the right: recent ownership certificate, registrations and charges, or the deeds of origin and the status of the application.
3. Check planning rules: zone, buildability, easements, whether the land may be divided.
4. Check the seller: identity, status as owner or heir, the agent's powers.
5. Check the land itself: boundaries, boundary markers, actual area, access, neighbouring buildings.
6. Only then have the preliminary agreement or the deed drawn up by an authorised professional.

These steps overlap: a measured area different from the title can change what may be built, and joint ownership revealed by the certificate changes the list of people who must sign.

Documents to request from the seller

Ask for legible copies, and note the exact references so that you can check them yourself with the official source.

• Identity document of the seller or sellers (national identity card, or passport for a seller living abroad).
• Titled land: land title number with its index and the land registry concerned, the title plan, the latest acquisition deed.
• Land under a registration application: application number, filing receipt, deeds attached to the application.
• Unregistered land: melkia, successive purchase deeds, deed of inheritance (رسم الإراثة) where applicable, and any existing plan.
• If the seller is not acting for themselves: power of attorney, deed of inheritance, judgment or decision appointing a legal representative.
• Planning: a recent urban planning information note if the seller has one, and any authorisation already obtained (division, subdivision, building).

A serious seller provides these references without difficulty. A refusal to give the title number, or pressure to sign “quickly” before any check, should stop you.

Titled land: reading the certificate and comparing the plan with the ground

The land title rests on a simple rule: a real right exists with regard to third parties only through its registration on the title, and from the day of that registration (Article 66 of the dahir of 12 August 1913, as amended by Law No. 14-07). Sales and other agreements take effect, even between the parties, only from the date of their registration (Article 67). What counts is therefore the up-to-date state of the title.

Order a recent ownership certificate (شهادة الملكية) yourself, online through the ANCFCC E-Certificat service or at the land registry, and check the authenticity of any certificate you are handed on the page the Agency provides for this (see ANCFCC online services and the guide The ownership certificate). Then read:

• The registered owner: a name identical to the seller's identity document; if the title is still in the name of a deceased person, the heirs must first be registered before the sale.
• Joint ownership: several owners with shares (a third, an eighth…). All of them must sell, or you are only buying an undivided share exposed to the co-owners' right of pre-emption (Real Rights Code, Article 292).
• Mortgages: the land remains encumbered until they are cancelled. Provide in the deed for their release before or at the time of payment.
• Seizures: a registered seizure or order to seize the property blocks any new registration during the forced sale procedure (Article 87).
• Provisional registrations (prénotations, التقييد الاحتياطي): temporary entries that reserve the rank of a right claimed by a third party (Article 85). They point to a dispute or a sale in progress.
• Easements and other charges: right of way, specifications of a subdivision, a ban on transfer linked to a special regime.

Then compare the paper with the ground. The plan attached to the title gives the area, the position of the boundary markers and the neighbours. On site, check that the markers exist, that walls and fences follow the boundaries of the plan, that no neighbouring building encroaches and that access really exists. A titled boundary does not move with a wall, and prescription does not run against the registered owner (Article 63). This check is the work of a surveyor-topographer engineer registered with the ONIGT (see the boundary marking guide and Cadastral plan, title plan, topographic survey). For a first area calculation from coordinates, the Area tool can help, without replacing a measurement on site.

The certificate describes the title on its date of issue. Between your check and the signing, a registration may be made. Ask the professional drafting the deed for an updated certificate just before signing, and how to protect your rank until the sale is registered (prompt filing, provisional registration under Article 85). The law sets a three-month time limit to apply for registration of a deed (Article 65 bis). The Mohafadati service then lets the registered owner follow the entries made on their title.

Untitled land: melkia and pending registration application

Under a melkia, there is no public register listing sales or charges. Possession gives a right to ownership “until proven otherwise” (Real Rights Code, Article 3), and deeds of transfer are not enough on their own: they must rest on the origin of the ownership. Have the whole chain of deeds read by the adoul, notary or lawyer who will draw up the sale: who held the land, since when, how it was passed on, and whether the current seller really stands at the end of that chain.

The boundaries in a melkia are often described by the names of the neighbours, without measurements. Have the land surveyed and compare its area and shape with the deeds; ask the neighbours which boundaries they recognise.

Under a registration application, ask for the number and consult the ANCFCC land publicity service: published extract, boundary marking done or not, closing notice. After publication of the notice closing the boundary marking, objections may be lodged for two months (Articles 23 and 24 of the dahir). Ask the land registry whether objections have been recorded: an objection that is not withdrawn can send the file to court. If you buy anyway, have your deed filed at the registry to take rank (Article 84); your right will then be taken into account on the day of registration, if the procedure allows it.

In both cases, remember that registration remains the only route to a title that is “final and unassailable” (Article 62). The guide Melkia, registration application or land title details the process.

Planning rules and the legal status of the land

A perfect title says nothing about what you will be able to build. Start by consulting the development plan on the Taamir geoportal, then request an urban planning information note (مذكرة المعلومات التعميرية) from the urban agency. Provided for by the general building regulations (Decree No. 2-18-577), it states the applicable document, the zoning, the land-use possibilities, the height and access conditions; it is not an authorisation. Urban agencies are gradually being replaced by regional urban planning and housing agencies (Law No. 64-23). Details are in the urban planning guide, and the Buildability tool helps estimate a buildable area.

• Zoning and buildability: residential, agricultural, public-facility or non-building zone; sites reserved by the development plan, which counts as a declaration of public utility for the roads and facilities it provides for (Law No. 12-90, Article 28).
• Building line: a planned or widened road can cut into the frontage; no new construction is allowed within the defined right-of-way (Law No. 12-90, Articles 32 to 34).
• Land outside any plan: area, height and setback conditions are set by regulation (Article 46); have your case confirmed by the urban agency.
• Division: in communes, delimited centres, peripheral zones and areas covered by an approved planning document, a sale that divides a plot requires a division authorisation (Law No. 25-90, Article 58, as amended by Law No. 34-21). Adouls, notaries and registrars may not draw up or register the deed without this authorisation or a certificate that the operation falls outside the law (Article 61). For building plots, the subdivision regime applies.
• Agricultural land: Law No. 34-94 (1995) limits the division of agricultural property located within irrigation perimeters and rain-fed development perimeters; the acquisition of agricultural land outside urban perimeters is reserved by law to Moroccan natural persons and certain legal entities (see Agricultural and rural land).
• Status of the land: property in the public and private domain of the State, habous property, collective land (soulaliyates) and property of local authorities cannot be acquired through possession (Real Rights Code, Article 261). The forest domain is declared inalienable by the dahir of 10 October 1917. Guich land is not sold like private land.

If a building already stands on the land, check that it was authorised: see Building without a permit.

Does the seller have the power to sell?

The right plot sold by the wrong person is still a bad deal. Check three points.

• Identity: the name on the identity document must match the certificate or the deeds exactly. Be wary of a seller who can only show a copy.
• Heirs: inherited land belongs jointly to all the heirs named in the deed of inheritance. For titled land, the heirs must first be registered (Article 82 of the dahir). Each heir may sell their own share, but no one may sell the others' shares alone. See Inheritance and division.
• Power of attorney: since Law No. 69-16 (2017), Article 4 of the Real Rights Code subjects powers of attorney relating to real rights to the same formal requirement as the deed itself, on pain of nullity: an authentic deed or a deed with a certain date drawn up by a lawyer admitted to the Court of Cassation. A private power of attorney with a certified signature is not enough. Have the drafter of the deed check the authenticity of the power of attorney, its date and the extent of the powers (to sell this specific plot, to receive the price).

For Moroccans living abroad, whether buying or selling, a power of attorney is often essential. Have its wording approved by the notary or adoul before having it drawn up at the consulate or abroad, and have what you cannot see yourself checked on site by a professional independent of the seller.

Common scams and the check that protects you

The situations below come up regularly in land disputes. They do not always involve deliberate fraud, but each has its safeguard.

• The double sale. The same plot is sold to two buyers. On titled land, it is registration that creates the right with regard to third parties (Articles 66 and 67): the buyer who has not registered their deed is left with a claim against the seller. Safeguard: an updated certificate before signing, a deed drawn up by an authorised professional, registration requested without delay.
• Forged documents. A fake certificate, fake deed, fake power of attorney. Safeguard: order the certificate yourself on the ANCFCC website and check the authenticity of any document with its code; have the power of attorney checked by the drafter. The law gives an owner who is the victim of fraud or forgery a right of action within four years from the contested registration (Real Rights Code, Article 2): a purchase obtained with a forged document is therefore not safe.
• Sale of jointly owned property by a single heir. One heir presents the land as their own. Safeguard: ownership certificate or full deed of inheritance, signature of all the co-owners; otherwise, you are only buying a share, exposed to pre-emption.
• The unauthorised subdivision. “Plots” are sold on a large piece of land, without roads or utilities. Plots may only be transferred after provisional acceptance of the works (Law No. 25-90, Article 33), and deeds contrary to the law are null and void (Article 72). Safeguard: ask for the subdivision authorisation and the provisional acceptance report, and check that the plot has its own title.
• Land outside the buildable perimeter. A cheap plot sold “for building” turns out to be agricultural, non-buildable or reserved for a road. Safeguard: Taamir, then an urban planning information note before any deposit.
• Encroachment. The plot shown is not the one on the title, or a neighbour has built on part of it. Safeguard: find the boundary markers and overlay the title plan on the ground before signing.

Who does what

• Notary, adoul or lawyer admitted to the Court of Cassation: legal check of the documents and drafting of the deed in the form required by Article 4 of the Real Rights Code, then filing for registration.
• Land registry (ANCFCC): issuing certificates and plans, registering rights, publishing registration applications.
• Surveyor-topographer engineer registered with the ONIGT: checking boundaries and markers, measuring the area, overlaying the title plan and the planning document, technical files for divisions.
• Urban agency and commune: urban planning information note, division, subdivision and building authorisations.

The costs of a purchase (registration duties, land registry fees, professional fees) depend on the price and the scales in force; the Costs tool gives an estimate, to be confirmed by the drafter of the deed.

Ellipsoide, a surveyor-topographer engineer in Fez, carries out boundary checks and area measurement before a purchase; the legal check and the deed are the work of the notary, adoul or authorised lawyer (buying land).

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Dahir of 12 August 1913 on land registration, amended and supplemented in particular by Law No. 14-07 (consolidated version, in French) — Ministry of Justice (Adala)
• Law No. 39-08 on the Real Rights Code (Official Bulletin No. 7158, French translation) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• E-Certificat service: requesting, tracking and verifying the ownership certificate — ANCFCC
• Law No. 12-90 on urban planning (consolidated version) — General Secretariat of the Government
• Decree No. 2-18-577 of 12 June 2019 approving the general building regulations, and joint orders (Official Bulletin No. 6874 of 16 April 2020) — Urban agency, reproduction of the Official Bulletin
• Law No. 25-90 on subdivisions, housing groups and plot divisions (original 1992 text) — Ministry of Justice (Adala)
• Law No. 34-21 amending and supplementing Law No. 25-90, and Law No. 64-23 creating the regional urban planning and housing agencies (Official Bulletin No. 7533 of 10 August 2026, Arabic edition) — General Secretariat of the Government (Official Bulletin)
• Dahir of 10 October 1917 on the conservation and exploitation of forests — Urban agency of Essaouira, reproduction of the text

This guide provides general information, up to date as of the date shown. It does not replace the official texts or a professional review of your file. Ask us about your situation.