How must an old-rent tenant request the extra three-year lease?

Also asked as: “Old rent tenant request new lease three years Lebanon” · “Article 16 rent law written request deadline” · “Reservation of rights letter old rent Lebanon” · “How to get the extra three years under the 2017 rent law”

Who this request is for#

Old residential leases signed before 23 July 1992^[5,7,8] are governed by the 2014 rent law, as amended by Law 2/2017^[5,8,9]. If you are not sure yours is one of them, start with whether your lease is old or new. Tenants who do not benefit from the Fund got a nine-year extension ending 28 February 2026^[2,5,6], and Fund beneficiaries get twelve years, to 28 February 2029^[1,5,6]. The difference is explained in who gets 9 years and who gets 12.

The Art. 16 request is how a tenant asks to stay beyond the nine years^[2,3]. The Fund is meant for tenants whose average monthly income is up to five times the official minimum wage^[1,10]. It has never come into operation, and the committees that decide who benefits were never formed^[1,5,9,11]. More on that in whether the old-rent Fund is working, and for the wider picture see what happens to old-rent tenants after February 2026.

The two steps the Metn court required#

The Metn appeals court held that a tenant who wants to stay beyond nine years must meet two cumulative steps^[2,3]. The first is a Fund application to the committee within two months of the start of the ninth extended year. The second is the written request to the landlord, three months before the ninth year ends, for a new lease of up to three years. Under Art. 8, as the court quoted it, the Fund application must be made again at the start of each extension year, or the right is lost^[2].

The court also said the tenant must prove, within the same period, a committee decision confirming eligibility, and no such decision can exist while no committee is formed^[2,3]. We found no guidance on how a tenant could prove it. According to Public Works Studio, some first-instance judges in March 2026 gave further reasons for denying the extra three years: the tenant had not renewed the Fund application every year, or had not sent a reservation-of-rights letter three months before the nine years ended^[4]. An application on its own has not protected tenants in court^[1,4,12].

What the Metn ruling shows about proof#

On 10 June 2026^[2,3] the Metn chamber upheld an eviction on two grounds. The tenant had applied to the committee only on 17 February 2026, 11 days before the end and outside the Art. 8 window, and gave no proof of a written Art. 16 request to the landlord. The court looked for proof of a written request; the tenant had none.

Public Works Studio (July 2026) and a tenants' lawyer quoted by Maharat (November 2025) recommend a written reservation-of-rights letter to the landlord, preferably sent through a notary (kateb adel) with acknowledgment of receipt. The letter declares the wish to benefit from the extra three years under Art. 16 and invokes Art. 58^[1,13]. This advice comes from the tenants' side. Whether a letter sent after the deadline helps is disputed.

If the deadline has already passed#

In July 2026 Parliament paused legal and contractual deadlines from 1 March to 31 July 2026^[13,14,15]. Whether that pause changes anything for old-rent tenants is disputed^{[13,14,15,16]}:

• A landlords' adviser says the nine years ended before 1 March.
• The head of the Lebanese Real Estate Association says the pause only stops the clock and does not amend or extend the rent law.
• Public Works Studio argues it may help tenants.
• A tenants' lawyer argues there has been force majeure since October 2023, so tenants can again send the Art. 16 request and re-file Art. 8 applications.

Public Works Studio has also argued that the ninth year moved to 2 March 2026, inside the pause, which would have left tenants until 31 July 2026 to act. No court has endorsed this reading, and that window has passed too^[13]. See the 2026 deadline-suspension law.

The Metn court, one lawyer and a landlords' adviser say that once the extension ends without both steps, the lease falls under ordinary law and a tenant who stays on occupies the flat without legal basis. Tenant-side lawyers dispute this, relying on Art. 58^[2,5,12,14]. The end of the extension does not remove a tenant by itself, and landlords have gone to court for eviction orders^[2,4,6]. More in whether a landlord can evict an old-rent tenant now.