How do I check who really owns a property in Lebanon?

Also asked as: “How do I check who owns a property in Lebanon?” · “التحقق من ملكية عقار” · “How do I verify the owner of a plot or flat in Lebanon?” · “Land Registry certificate to check the owner in Lebanon”

How Lebanon records who owns a property#

The Land Registry is kept by property, not by person. Each plot has its own real folio under its number, holding all its rights and charges, and an owner's title deed is a copy of that folio^[10]. The register is run by the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, Ministry of Finance^[3,7].

What counts is what is written on the folio. Rights, limits on selling, seizures and property lawsuits bind third parties only from the date they are inscribed there^[10]. So the deed a seller hands you is only a copy, and the folio at the registry is what you check.

Ownership is counted in 2,400 shares^[2,8,9], which together make the whole property. Someone listed with fewer shares owns only an undivided part of it, alongside the other people named^[9,10,11].

Each plot is handled by the registry office for its area^[1,2]. We found no published list of which office covers which area. In April 2025, for example, the Mount Lebanon offices working on set days included Baabda, Chouf, Aley, Metn and Keserwan-Jbeil^[12]. Ask the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, or a lawyer, which office holds your property's real estate zone.

Official certificate or unofficial copy#

Since 13 October 2020, OMT outlets can show you a property's title register and print an unofficial copy, with a digital copy by SMS or email^[3,5]. OMT does not publish a fee for this, so ask at the outlet. According to Legalmondo, a law firm, the registry's website also gave an unofficial information form for USD 4^[2] in June 2025. We could not reach that site to confirm the service still runs, and a similar service through Whish is not confirmed. More on getting an extract online or through OMT.

These copies are for a first look. Any sale needs an official certificate from the registry^[2,3,4,5]. The same law firm says the official certificate is issued only to someone who comes in person to the competent office, and that it costs USD 5^[2]. We could not reach the official fee table, and the fee may be collected in Lebanese pounds, so ask the office for the current amount before you go.

The Finance Minister said in April 2026 that the registry's database can issue certificates electronically. He did not say whether the public can ask for one that way^[13].

What the certificate shows, and what it does not#

A certificate describes the plot and its area. It lists the owners, the source of their right and the shares each holds, plus mortgages, pledges, provisional and executive seizures, other charges and pending court actions^[2,4]. The area is left out if the plot has not been finally surveyed, and ownership can be split between a right of use and bare ownership.

According to Legalmondo, anyone may request a certificate without showing a legal interest, but none is issued while a lien or a registration on the plot is still in process^[2]. If the office refuses to issue one, ask what is pending before you pay anything.

A building violation is recorded on the real folio until settled or removed^[14], but only if the municipality or the technical administration asked for it to be recorded. A clean certificate therefore does not prove the building has no violation. Ask the municipality too, and see how to find out about building violations before you buy.

You can also search by person. Kallas Law Firm describes a general search using the person's full name, birth year and mother's name^[4,13], helped by an ID copy, that lists every property registered to them with its number, district and shares. No source says who may request this search or at which office, so ask the registry office or a Lebanese lawyer. Older entries may lack the mother's name, because they were never fully entered in the electronic system^[13].

The certificate names the registered owner. It cannot tell you whether the person in front of you is that owner, and in the Halat case a fake ID filled exactly that gap^[6]. See whether someone can sell with a forged deed or a fake owner ID.

Where the plot is on the ground#

On paper, a plot is identified by its property number and real estate zone^[2,3]. Where the boundaries on the cadastral plan differ from those on the ground, the plan prevails^[8,10]. The Cadastre oversees the sworn surveyors linked to the registry^[7], but our sources do not say how to order a plan or a surveyor, or what either costs. Before you rely on a fence or a neighbour's word, ask the registry office and a sworn surveyor to show you the plot on the cadastral map or a survey.