How do I avoid rental scams in Lebanon?

Also asked as: “How do I avoid fake rental ads and deposit scams in Lebanon?” · “Is this Lebanese rental ad a scam?” · “Should I send a reservation fee for a flat in Lebanon?” · “How do I check a landlord in Lebanon before paying a deposit?”

How the fake-rental scam works#

The ISF Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Bureau describes one pattern. A house or flat is offered for rent in a social-media ad or by direct contact. You are asked to pay in advance through a money-transfer company, and the payment is called a 'deposit' or a 'reservation fee'. Once the money arrives, the other person stops answering^[1].

The ISF notice was written for people displaced in March 2026^[1], but the same pattern can reach anyone who rents from a distance. The warning sign is a request for money before you have seen the flat and before you know who owns it. Being told that other people want the flat today does not change that.

Check that the person renting is the owner#

The ISF tells you to verify the legal owner but does not say how^[1]. The Land Registry (السجل العقاري) is kept by property, not by person, so you search it with the flat's own numbers^[7]. Ask the person letting the flat, in writing, for the governorate, district, real estate zone and property number, plus the section and block where they apply^[2,4]. In a building divided into units, each flat has its own number added to the plot number^[8].

With those numbers you can get the extract (ifadeh aqariyeh) yourself. Legalmondo, a law firm, says certificates are public and anyone may request one without showing a legal interest^[2]. The extract lists the owners, the shares each holds, and any mortgages, seizures or pending court actions^[2,3]. Compare the owner's name with the ID of the person you meet. Even a matching name leaves some risk: in June 2026 the ISF reported a case in Halat (Jbeil) where a property was sold using a fake identity document made out in the real owner's name^[9]. More checks are in how to check that a landlord is the real owner.

Copies from OMT or from the land registry website (lrc.gov.lb), which we could not reach to confirm the service still runs^[2], are unofficial and for reference only. The official certificate is the one needed for any property transaction or for court^[2,3,4,5], and it comes from the Land Registry office for the property's area^[2,10].

Pay safely and keep proof#

We found no official source on a safe way to pay a landlord, or on whether money sent through a transfer company can be recalled. The practical rule follows from the ISF advice. Pay only after the viewing and the owner check, and pay the person named on the extract or someone with written authority from them. Get a signed, dated receipt for every payment.

Put the lease in writing. Adala Law Firm says oral and written leases both bind the parties; writing serves as proof, though receipts and witnesses can also prove a lease^[11]. A written lease makes the rent and the term far easier to prove. A lease signed by the municipality is also one of the documents EDL accepts for moving a meter into a new subscriber's name^[12,13].

Two law firms, Jaber and Choueh, say Lebanon has no specific law protecting tenants' deposits, so refund terms depend on what the lease says^[14,15]. Khatt30 reported in April 2026 that in practice agency commissions are not refunded, a deposit may be, and advance months are deducted from the rent^[16]. Write the refund terms into the lease, and see how much deposit and advance rent a landlord can ask.

If an agent is involved, JSK Real Estate, an agency, described the custom in 2018 as one month's rent from each side^[17] for leases of up to three years. Calling yourself a broker proves little on its own: by our reading, the brokerage articles of the Commercial Code contain no requirement for real-estate brokers to hold a licence^[18].

If you have already paid#

Report it straight away through the ISF Baligh service, the ISF app or the nearest police station^[1]. Baligh is on the ISF website, isf.gov.lb. Contact the transfer company at once as well. We found no source on whether it can stop or return a transfer, so ask it directly. Keep the ad, every message, the phone numbers used and the transfer receipt.

Kallas Law Firm says fraud under Art. 655 of the Penal Code is prosecuted without needing a complaint from the victim^[6]. The same firm lists using an alias or a false capacity to deceive among the acts covered by Art. 655. Whether a particular case counts as fraud is for the prosecutor and the courts. A criminal case does not by itself return your money; a lawyer can tell you how to claim it back.

Kallas Law Firm also says that under case law the limitation period runs from the payment (or the last instalment), not from when you discover the fraud^[6]. The source does not give the length of the period, so report promptly and ask a lawyer. More on this in where to report a property or rental scam.