Is the old-rent Fund working, and can an old-rent tenant apply?

Also asked as: “Tenants' Support Fund Lebanon” · “صندوق مساعدة المستأجرين” · “Can I apply to the old rent fund?” · “Old rent fund Law 2/2017”

What the Fund is and why it never started#

Old residential leases, signed before 23 July 1992, are governed by the 2014 rent law as amended by Law 2/2017^{[3,11,12] [2,3,11]}. Article 3 of Law 2/2017 created an account at the Ministry of Finance, which the law calls "the Fund". People also call it the "Tenants' Support Fund" or صندوق مساعدة المستأجرين, but those names are informal. It has never come into operation^[1,2,3,4]. For the wider picture, see what happens to old-rent tenants after February 2026.

Two sources explain the failure differently. Ici Beyrouth reports that decree 5700/2019^[1,6] set the Fund up as a Ministry of Finance account to be fed each year from the state budget, but its committees were never formed. Lawyer Salima al-Rassi told Maharat in November 2025 that decree 8836, in the 2022 budget, suspended work on the Fund. We have not read the text of either decree.

The money never arrived either. Patrick Rizk Allah, head of the landlords' syndicate, told An-Nahar in January 2026 that the Fund was meant to receive about USD 50 million a year^[3,8]. As of February 2026 it had never been funded.

Who the Fund was meant for#

The Fund is for old-rent tenants whose average monthly income does not exceed five times the official minimum wage, and it was to pay all or part of the rent increases under the law^[1,9]. The National put the monthly minimum wage at LBP 28 million in October 2026. No source explains how a tenant proves income while no committee exists.

Being a beneficiary decides how long your extension lasts. Tenants who do not benefit from the Fund got nine years, ending 28 February 2026^[3,7,10]. Beneficiaries get twelve years, ending 28 February 2029^[1,3,10]. With no Fund in operation, who counts as a beneficiary is unsettled. More in who gets 9 years and who gets 12.

Does applying to the Fund protect you in court?#

Article 8, as the Metn appeals court quotes it, says a tenant who wants a Fund contribution must apply to the committee within two months, every extension year^[7]. The deadline counts from when the equivalent rent is fixed, and a tenant who misses it loses the right. Only the committees under Article 7 can decide these applications, and earlier case law dismissed such claims in the ordinary courts for lack of jurisdiction^[5].

The 2026 rulings went against tenants who relied on an application. On 10 March 2026 three single judges held that an application does not mean the tenant benefits from the Fund, because the reviewing committee was never formed^[1,5,6]. Some of them also faulted tenants for not renewing the application every year^[5]. On 10 June 2026 the Metn appeals court upheld an eviction: the tenant had applied to the committee only on 17 February 2026, outside the Article 8 window, and could not prove a written Article 16 request to the landlord^[7,13].

Earlier appeals rulings went the other way. In Beirut, ruling 318/2021 applied the extension to 2029 and suspended the Fund articles^[3,5]. On Article 58 the sides still disagree. Lawyers quoted by Maharat in November 2025, and a Public Works Studio author in March 2026, say Article 58 suspends the law, 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^[1,5,7]. We found no Court of Cassation ruling. The second step a tenant had to take is explained in how to request the extra three years.

What nobody has published#

No source we found says where a tenant can file a Fund application while no committee exists, or what a tenant who already applied gains from it now. We also found no ruling that kept a tenant in place on the strength of an application alone^[1,5,6]. For both questions, ask a rent lawyer, or the Ministry of Finance, which holds the account.

A law passed in July 2026 paused legal and contractual deadlines from 1 March to 31 July 2026^[14,15,16]. Its effect on old rents is disputed. A landlords' adviser says the nine years ended before 1 March, and the head of the Lebanese Real Estate Association says the pause does not amend the rent law. Public Works Studio argues it may help, and a tenants' lawyer argues tenants can re-file Article 8 applications on grounds of force majeure^{[14,15,16,17]}. See the 2026 deadline-suspension law.