Who gets 9 years and who gets 12 years under the 2017 rent law?

Also asked as: “Old rent law nine years or twelve years” · “Who are the Fund beneficiaries in the Lebanese rent law?” · “Does my old-rent lease end in 2026 or 2029?” · “Article 15 Law 2/2017 extension”

The two groups in Article 15#

Art. 15 of Law 2/2017 splits old-rent tenants into two groups. Tenants who do not benefit from the Fund got nine years, which ended on 28 February 2026^[1,2,3]. Tenants who do benefit get twelve years, which end on 28 February 2029^[1,3,4]. This applies only to residential leases signed before 23 July 1992^[1,9,10]. If you are unsure which side of that line your lease falls on, see whether your lease is old or new.

The start date was disputed into early 2026. The three single judges of 10 March 2026 and the Metn appeals court settled on counting the years from 28 February 2017^[1,2,7]. The end date still differs by a few days depending on who you ask: Charbel Charfan, a landlords' adviser, puts it at 27 February 2026, Public Works Studio argues it moved to 2 March 2026, and the courts used 28 February. Charfan also puts the twelve-year end at 27 February 2029^[1,3,4].

A beneficiary is meant to be a tenant whose average monthly income is up to five times the official minimum wage^[4,11], and the Fund was to pay all or part of the rent increases the law imposes. The National put the official monthly minimum wage at LBP 28 million in October 2026. During the twelve years, beneficiaries pay the bedel al-mithl (equivalent rent)^[2,4,10]. No source we read gives the formula for that rent or says who sets it. More in how much an old-rent tenant pays now.

Why no tenant can show they are in the twelve-year group#

The Fund is an account at the Ministry of Finance, created on paper by Art. 3. It has never come into operation, and the committees that decide who benefits were never formed^[1,4,5,6]. Only those judicial committees under Art. 7 can decide Fund applications; the ordinary courts cannot^[7]. So there is no body that can confirm a tenant is a beneficiary. See whether the Fund is working.

Applying anyway has not protected tenants in court. The three single judges of 10 March 2026 held that an application does not mean the tenant benefits, because the committee was never formed, and lawyer Salima al-Rassi said courts cannot act on Fund registrations^[4,7,8]. Lawyer Maya Bardawil, quoted by Maharat, treats non-beneficiaries as the nine-year group^[4,11]. Landlords' syndicate head Patrick Rizkallah says Fund benefit is not automatic^[2,12].

Lawyers disagree on Art. 58. Lawyers quoted by Maharat (November 2025) and a Public Works Studio author (March 2026) say it suspends the law, including its deadlines and evictions of Fund-eligible tenants, until the Fund operates. The Metn appeals court held in June 2026 that it does not suspend the tenant's own deadlines, and would suspend eviction proceedings only for a tenant who had met them^[2,4,7]. An earlier Beirut appeals ruling (318/2021) applied the extension to 2029 and suspended the Fund articles^[1,7]. We found no Court of Cassation ruling.

What courts asked of tenants who wanted to stay past nine years#

On 10 June 2026 the Metn rental-disputes chamber of the Mount Lebanon civil appeals court upheld an eviction^[2,12]. It held that a tenant who wants to stay beyond nine years must take two cumulative steps:

• A Fund application to the committee within two months of the start of the ninth extended year^[2,12]. Art. 8 also requires a new application at the start of each later extension year. The committees were never formed, so it is unclear where tenants can file; the Metn tenant filed "with the committee" on 17 February 2026^[2]. Ask a rent lawyer where filings are accepted in your district.
• A written request to the landlord at least three months before the extension ends, for a new lease of up to three years. For a lease ending 28 February 2026 that meant about 28 November 2025, and a tenant who missed it loses the right^[2,4]. Ici Beyrouth cites this deadline as Art. 17 rather than Art. 16. That new lease is also at bedel al-mithl^[2,4,10].

The Metn tenant lost on both counts. They applied only on 17 February 2026, outside the Art. 8 window, and could not prove a written Art. 16 request^[2,12]. The court also said the tenant had to prove a committee decision confirming eligibility, which cannot exist while no committee is formed. The details are in how to request the extra three years.

The Metn court, lawyer Judith Tini and Charfan say that once the extension ends without these steps, the lease falls under the Code of Obligations and Contracts. On that view the tenant must leave or agree new terms, and a tenant who stays on occupies the flat without legal basis. Tenant-side lawyers dispute this using Art. 58^[1,2,8,13]. The end of the period does not by itself remove anyone, and the evictions reported so far all went through the courts^[2,3,7]. See whether a landlord can evict an old-rent tenant now.