Land registration in Morocco, step by step

What land registration is for

Land registration (immatriculation, التحفيظ العقاري) places a plot of land under the regime of the dahir of 12 August 1913, “without it being possible subsequently to remove it” (Article 1). It results in a land title (titre foncier, الرسم العقاري) which cancels earlier titles and extinguishes all rights not mentioned on it.

The title is “final and unchallengeable” (Article 62). Prescription no longer runs against the registered owner (Article 63). Every subsequent sale, mortgage or partition is entered on this title, which allows a buyer or a bank to know the exact situation of the land.

For an owner who holds a melkia (customary ownership deed), for example a plot inherited on the outskirts of Fez, land registration is the way to turn a debatable right into a secure right that is easy to pass on. Our guide melkia, registration application or land title compares the two situations.

Optional in principle, compulsory in certain cases

Article 6 sets out the principle: “Land registration is optional.” But it adds that a registration application, once filed, can no longer be withdrawn. You must therefore commit with full knowledge of the facts.

Land registration becomes compulsory in several cases:

• Cases provided for by specific laws (Article 7).
• Compulsory registration zones opened by order of the minister responsible for the National Agency for Land Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (ANCFCC), on the proposal of its director (Article 7). The order is published in the Official Bulletin and posted at the local authority, the municipality, the court and the land registry (Article 51-2). A local commission oversees a plot-by-plot and legal survey (Articles 51-3 to 51-6), and the enrolment of registration applications there is free of charge (Article 7).
• Seizure of real property: when the court orders it against the debtor whose property is seized (Article 8).
• Zones for the collective registration of rural properties: dahir No. 1-69-174 of 25 July 1969 made it possible to open, outside urban municipalities, zones where land registration follows a collective procedure, with formalities free of charge for registration applications filed within the set time limit.

In a compulsory registration zone, no individual application may be filed outside this procedure from the publication of the order (Article 51-9), and plots whose owner is not identified are enrolled automatically in the name of the State's private domain (Article 51-7). If your land is in such a zone, take part in the survey and present your deeds.

Filing the registration application and its publication

The following may file a registration application: the owner, a co-owner (subject to the right of pre-emption, chefâa, of his fellow joint owners), the holder of certain real rights and, with the owner's consent, the beneficiary of an easement (Article 10). The application is submitted to the land registry (conservation foncière) for the place where the land is located, which issues a receipt for it (Article 13).

It states in particular the applicant's identity and matrimonial property regime, the description of the land (location, area, boundaries, buildings, names and addresses of neighbours), the assertion of possession, the estimated market value, the existing real rights and the origin of ownership (Article 13). The originals or certified copies of the deeds proving the right are filed at the same time (Article 14); the land registrar may require documents in a foreign language to be translated (Article 15).

The exact list of documents and the amount of fees to be paid depend on the file and on the scale in force: check with the relevant land registry before filing (see our guide ANCFCC services).

Next comes publication. Within ten days of filing, the land registrar draws up an extract of the application, which is published in the Official Bulletin; within the two months following this publication, he sets the date and time of the boundary marking by a notice (Article 17). These documents are sent twenty days before the boundary marking to the court of first instance, the local authority and the municipality, which must post them; the local authority also has them announced in the markets (Article 18).

Boundary marking for registration

Boundary marking (bornage, التحديد) is the stage at which the boundaries of the land are fixed on site, in the presence of the parties concerned. It is directed by the land registrar and carried out by a surveying engineer (ingénieur géomètre-topographe) whom he delegates: a sworn engineer from the cadastre service or, since Law No. 57-12, a private-sector surveying engineer listed on the roll of the National Order (Articles 19 and 20, Law No. 57-12).

Those summoned are the applicant, the neighbours named in the application and the holders of rights who have made themselves known (Article 19). On site, the applicant shows the boundaries he claims; the neighbours make their observations and challenges. The delegated engineer records the possession and the condition of the site, places the boundary markers and draws up a boundary marking sketch (Article 20), then a report signed by the parties present (Article 21).

• The boundary markers are supplied, transported and placed at the applicant's expense and by the applicant, as is the clearing of vegetation if necessary (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 20).
• If the applicant is absent without a valid excuse, or if the boundary marking could not take place twice in a row because of a dispute, the registration application is deemed null and void (Article 23).
• After the boundary marking, a topographic survey is used to draw up the plan of the property (Decree No. 2-13-18, Article 4).

Practical tip: let your neighbours know, find the old boundaries (walls, hedges, small ditches) and settle known disagreements before the day of the boundary marking. Our boundary marking guide explains this operation in detail.

Objections and referral to the court

Once the boundary marking is complete, the land registrar publishes a notice of completion of boundary marking in the Official Bulletin, within a maximum of four months (Article 23). For two months from this publication, anyone claiming a right over the land may lodge an objection (opposition, التعرض): challenging the ownership or the boundaries, or claiming a real right (Article 24). Once this period has passed, no objection is admissible (Article 27), except by way of exception at the land registrar's discretion as long as the file is not before the court (Article 29).

Before the end of the month following the objection period, the objector must file his titles and pay the court fee and pleading fees, or prove that he has legal aid; failing this, his objection is null and void (Articles 25 and 32).

The applicant may obtain the withdrawal of the objection or accept it, and the land registrar may reconcile the parties (Article 31). He may also establish a title for the uncontested part. If objections remain, the land registrar sends the file to the court of first instance for the place where the land is located within the three months following the expiry of the objection period (Article 32).

The court appoints a reporting judge, who may visit the site, hear witnesses and be assisted by a surveying engineer (Article 34). The judgment may be appealed (Articles 40 and 41). The court rules on the existence and extent of the objectors' rights, then the file returns to the land registrar.

Establishing the title and the land plan

If there is no objection, the land registrar registers the land within the three months following the end of the objection period, after checking that the procedure was regular and the documents sufficient (Article 30). If he rejects the registration application, his decision must state its reasons and may be challenged before the court of first instance (Article 37 bis).

The land title contains the description of the land (boundaries, neighbours, nature, area), the owner's identity and the existing real rights; it bears a number and a name, and the plan remains annexed to it (Article 52). The land plan is tied to the geodetic network, checked and signed by the cadastre service, then transferred onto the cadastral map (Decree No. 2-13-18, Articles 21 and 22). The owner may obtain a duplicate of the title and of the plan (Article 58).

What makes a file take longer

The law sets time limits for each step, but the actual duration of a land registration varies greatly from one file to another. The most common causes of delay are well known:

• Objections, especially when they go to court, with a possible appeal.
• Insufficient deeds: poorly established origin of ownership, unidentified heirs, an area very different from that of the melkia.
• A postponed boundary marking: applicant absent, neighbours in conflict, boundary markers not supplied.
• Overlaps with a neighbouring registration application, an existing title or the public domain.
• Inaction by the applicant: if, after a formal notice from the land registrar, he takes no step for three months, the registration application and the operations are deemed null and void (Article 50).

A file prepared in advance progresses better: complete deeds, a reconnaissance plan of the land, neighbours informed, known disputes settled before filing. During the procedure, a buyer can protect his right by making a deposit at the land registry (Article 84).

What the surveyor does, and what he does not do

The surveying engineer is a regulated professional, listed on the roll of the National Order of Surveying Engineers (ONIGT). In a land registration, his role is technical:

• Surveying the land before filing to compare its boundaries and area with the deeds.
• Carrying out the boundary marking when delegated by the land registrar, placing the boundary markers, drawing up the sketch and the report.
• Producing the survey and the land plan according to ANCFCC standards.
• Assisting the reporting judge or the judge of the court of appeal when appointed (Articles 34 and 43).

He does not do the rest. He does not draw up the melkia or the deed of sale: that is the role of the adouls (notaries under Islamic law), the notary or the authorised lawyer. He does not decide on the land registration: that is the land registrar. He does not rule on objections: that is the court. And he can guarantee neither the duration of the procedure nor its outcome.

Ellipsoide, a firm of surveying engineers in Fez, prepares the surveys and the technical file for land registrations; you can describe your situation to us.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Dahir of 12 August 1913 on land registration, as amended and supplemented in particular by Law No. 14-07 (consolidated version) — Ministry of Justice (Adala)
• Collection of legal texts on the land registration regime (dahir of 1913 as amended, Law No. 57-12) — ANCFCC, collection reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Decree No. 2-13-18 of 14 July 2014 on land registration formalities — ANCFCC
• Dahir No. 1-69-174 of 25 July 1969 on the collective registration of rural properties (Official Bulletin No. 2960 bis) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Law No. 39-08 (Real Rights Code) (Official Bulletin No. 7158, French translation) — Official Bulletin, reproduced by FAOLEX (FAO)
• Roll of registered surveying engineers — ONIGT

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.