Is there an English version of a Lebanese title deed or registry extract, and how do I translate it?

Also asked as: “Is there an English version of a Lebanese title deed?” · “How do I translate a Lebanese ifada for a bank abroad?” · “Lebanese Land Registry extract in English” · “Certified translation of a Lebanese property deed for an embassy”

What the Land Registry gives you#

The register is kept property by property. Each plot has its own folio, and the owners receive a conforming copy of that folio as their title deed^[7]. The extract, or property certificate, describes the plot and its area and lists the owners, the source of their right and each owner's shares. It also shows mortgages, seizures, other charges and pending court actions^[3,4].

Only the certificate issued by the registry office is official. Copies from the registry website or from OMT are unofficial, and an official certificate is needed for any property transaction and for court use^[1,2,3,4]. Since 13 October 2020, OMT outlets have let you view a property's register and take away an unofficial printed copy, with a digital copy by SMS and, on request, by email^[1,2]. Legalmondo said in June 2025 that the registry website offered an unofficial information form for USD 4. We could not reach the site to check that it still runs^[4].

None of the sources we read mentions an English version of the deed or the extract. In April 2026 the Finance Minister said the registry database, which covers surveyed and numbered properties, allows electronic issue of ifadas. The report does not say whether or how the public can request one^[8]. Ask the registry office before you rely on an electronic extract.

Getting the official extract when you live abroad#

The official certificate is requested in person at the registry office that covers the property's area^[4,5]. According to Legalmondo, certificates are public and anyone may request one without showing a legal interest. No certificate is issued while a lien or a registration on the plot is still being processed^[4]. Because anyone may ask, a lawyer or another person you trust in Lebanon can collect it for you. Ask them to send you a scan the same day.

They will need the plot's identifiers: governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[1,4]. Your title deed should carry them. If you do not have them, here is how to find a property's number, zone and section. Legalmondo put the fee at USD 5^[4] in June 2025, and the fee may be collected in Lebanese pounds. Some offices have worked set days only. In April 2025 several Mount Lebanon offices took requests on published weekdays^[9], so have your contact check the office's current days before going. More in how to get a Land Registry extract and what it costs.

Translation and legalisation: what is known and what is not#

We found no source on sworn or certified translators in Lebanon. We also found none on the official chain for making a Lebanese registry document usable abroad, whether through the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a foreign embassy, so we do not describe one here. The bank, embassy or court that asks for the document decides what it accepts, and its written answer is the one to follow.

Apostilles are issued by the parties to the Apostille Convention for their own public documents. Lebanon was not among the parties listed on 30 June 2026^[6]. If an institution asks for an apostille on a Lebanese deed, ask what it accepts instead. The Lebanese embassy in The Hague says Lebanese documents must be legalised by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it charges EUR 18 to legalise a document issued by the Lebanese authorities^[10]. That page is undated, and we found nothing on how it applies to registry extracts or translations. For documents signed abroad for use in Lebanon, see apostille or embassy legalisation.

What a good translation must get right#

A loose translation can change what the document proves. Go through these points with the translator.

• Shares. Ownership is written in shares of 2,400, and 2,400 shares is the whole property^[4,11,12]. A translator must not turn "1,200 shares" into a number of square metres. See what 2,400 shares means in square metres.
• The unit number of an apartment. Each unit gets a number added to the plot number. Common areas are numbered 1 to 3 and private units start from 4^[13]. In a divided building, each unit is itself counted in 2,400 parts.
• Area units. In Lebanon, 1 dunum equals 1,600 m². Use the area in square metres on the certificate where it is shown^[11]. If the plot has not been finally surveyed, the area may not be shown at all^[3,4].
• Land type. On mulk land the registered person holds full ownership. On amiri land the State owns the land and the holder has a right of use and disposal^[14]. We have not seen how the land type is printed on an extract, so ask the translator to keep the Arabic term next to the English.
• Every charge. Mortgages, seizures and notices of litigation should be translated line by line, never summarised.

Never rely on a translation, or a deed, supplied by a seller. The ISF reported in June 2026 that a title deed for a property in Halat was forged using a fake ID in the real owner's name, and ownership passed to the forger and then to a buyer although the owner had never sold. That was an arrest and a confession, not a court ruling^[15]. Work from an extract your own contact collected, and see how to check a title deed before buying.