How can I sell my apartment in Lebanon from abroad with a power of attorney?

Also asked as: “Sell apartment in Lebanon from abroad with a power of attorney” · “How do I sell my property in Lebanon while living abroad?” · “Power of attorney to sell property in Lebanon” · “Wakala to sell an apartment in Lebanon”

Why the power of attorney has to be specific#

The power of attorney itself does not transfer your apartment. Kallas Law Firm explains that ownership moves through the authentic sale deed signed before a notary (kateb adel) and inscribed at the Land Registry, not through the POA^[9]. The POA lets the person you name, your agent, sign that deed and handle the paperwork for you.

Kallas also says that selling is an act of disposition, so a general POA is not enough and you need an express special mandate to sell^[5]. Missions issue both types at different fees without saying which one a sale needs. See general and special powers of attorney.

Name the apartment exactly. Missions ask for the property number and location, plus a copy of the deed or a Land Registry extract^[1,3,6], and the POA must give each party's full names, parents' names, date of birth and registry number^[4,6]. An apartment in a divided building carries a unit number added to its plot's property number^[16]. Copy the plot number, real estate zone and unit number from a recent extract, not from an old deed.

Kallas says a POA does not lapse with time unless a term is written into it, so you can set an end date if you want the authority to stop^[5]. Kallas Law Firm also says the Land Registry accepts an ordinary POA for registration only if it is no more than 5 years old^[5,17]. JSK Real Estate, a Lebanese agency, describes expats giving a POA to a local lawyer or a trusted person to finalise a purchase^[18]. In a sale the agent signs in your name and may handle money, so have a lawyer in Lebanon read the wording before you sign.

Where to sign: a Lebanese mission or a local notary#

You sign in person at a Lebanese embassy or consulate, or before a notary where you live, then have the signature authenticated locally and legalised by the Lebanese mission^[1,2,3,4]. An apostille does not replace these steps, because Lebanon is not a member of the Apostille Convention^[14]. The chain depends on the country:

• United States: notary, county clerk where required, Secretary of State, then the Lebanese mission^[1,2]. For a POA signed before a US notary, the New York and Detroit consulates want two witnesses who are not relatives^[2,6], and US missions take fees only by money order or cashier's cheque^[1,2,6].
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK's generic guidance for countries outside the Apostille Convention gives FCDO Legalisation Office, the Lebanese embassy in London, then Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs^[19].
• Belgium and Luxembourg: local notary, then Belgian/Luxembourg MFA, then embassy by registered mail^[4], with a stated processing time of 10 working days.
• Australia: the Sydney consulate wants you in person with paper documents and, for a sale, a copy of the deeds^[20].
• United Arab Emirates: the Dubai consulate issues POAs for Lebanese nationals and Palestinians with Lebanese travel documents. Other nationals go through a UAE notary, the UAE foreign ministry and then the consulate^[15].

The undated mission pages we read in October 2026 list USD 50 special, USD 100 general^[1,2,6] per signature at US missions, EUR 44 special, EUR 88 general^[3] in the Netherlands, AED 184 special, AED 368 general^[15] in Dubai and $145 general, $72.50 specific (cash)^[20] in Sydney. Sydney's page writes "$" without naming the currency, so confirm the amount with the consulate. Older applicants need a medical certificate, from 70 (Washington, Dubai) or 80 (Netherlands)^[1,3,15]. Sydney asks anyone over 70 for a doctor's letter no more than 7 days old.

It is not settled whether the POA must also be stamped at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beirut. Kallas Law Firm says documents made abroad generally pass through the Lebanese mission and then the ministry, but the US, UAE and Belgian mission pages stop at consular legalisation^[21,22]. Ask the notary in Lebanon who will use the POA before you send it. We did not read the mission pages for Canada, France, Brazil or the Lebanese embassy in London. More on signing is in giving a power of attorney from abroad.

Taxes and clearances before the sale can be registered#

The sale cannot be registered without the rental-value statement (بيان القيمة التأجيرية) from the Ministry of Finance^[23]. Where there is no Treasury seizure on the apartment, the statement is issued after built-property tax and capital-gains tax are paid^[7,8], and other taxes you owe are not required for it. Art. 66 names only these two taxes; Kallas Law Firm also lists annual municipal fees as a third clearance, so ask the municipality whether it will want its own clearance. More in which taxes a seller must clear.

Two cases change this. If a Treasury lien was entered on the folio before the sale contract, the statement is not issued, except with the Director of Revenue's approval in narrow cases^[23]. If this is your last property in Lebanon and no lien predates the contract, the buyer can ask for the statement and the file goes as a request to the Director General of Finance. No source says how long that takes.

As of October 2026 the gains tax rate is 1% until 31/12/2026^[8,13], and the base rate is 15%^[13]. The law's text applies the cut to the whole item. Kallas Law Firm says the rate returns to 15% from 1 January 2027 unless a later budget law extends it, PwC reads the 1% as covering only non-residential property, and no source settles whether the contract date or the registration date counts. See whether the rate is 15% or 1%.

Gains on a person's primary residences are excluded, up to two dwellings^[8,13], but no source says how an owner who lives abroad proves that a flat is a primary residence. The law also deducts 8% of the gain for each full year you held the apartment and exempts it after 12 full years. It adds a proviso about paying "the difference" in the year of transfer that no source explains. Ask the regional finance office or a tax lawyer how these apply to you.

The seller must declare the sale and pay the tax within two months of the transfer^[8,13]. No source gives the office or the form, or says whether your agent can file under the POA. Give the agent power to deal with the Ministry of Finance, and ask the finance office for the apartment's area what it accepts.

If a bank mortgage is still on the apartment, Art. 40 of Law 10/2022 says releasing a mortgage that secures an interest-bearing debt needs prior approval of the tax departments^[7,8]. The article excludes some releases, including residential units owned by individuals under loans whose interest is taxed in the lender's own profits, and no source we read checked whether an ordinary bank home loan falls under that exclusion. Ask the bank and the regional finance office. Any charge left on the folio passes to the buyer^[9].

Getting paid, and guarding against forgery#

No source we read explains how a buyer should pay a seller who lives abroad, or which banks and transfer channels allow it. JSK Real Estate wrote in 2023 that some sellers want payment to an account outside Lebanon while buyers hold cash in Lebanon, or the reverse^[24]. It added that withdrawing a full sale price in cash from a Lebanese fresh-dollar account carried very high commissions. Decide in the POA whether your agent may receive the price, and get every payment in writing.

IDAL, the state investment agency, says in an undated investor FAQ that foreigners may import and export capital freely in any form^[25]. Banks have limited old dollar deposits, though: AGBI reported in October 2023 that since 2021 holders of pre-crisis dollar accounts could withdraw only small amounts, often at a haircut that peaked at about 80% at the peak^[26]. Law 42/2015 requires a written declaration to customs for cash above USD 15,000 crossing the border^[27]. For cash leaving Lebanon, it says disclosure on request may suffice, under procedures we could not find. Ask your bank and Lebanese Customs before you move any sale money, and read taking sale proceeds out of Lebanon.

Fraudsters target owners who live abroad. In a case the ISF reported in June 2026, a deed in Halat was forged with a fake ID in the real owner's name, and the property passed to a buyer although the owner had never sold^[28]. In August 2026 the ISF reported that two notaries' offices, in Jounieh and the Bekaa, had flagged suspected forged POAs and deeds^[29]. Keep a record of every POA you sign and cancel the ones you no longer need. Have someone pull an extract from time to time: it shows the owner, mortgages and other charges^[9,30]. More in protecting your property from a forged power of attorney.