Land title or “moulkia”? Registered and unregistered property in Morocco, and the risks when buying

In Morocco two property regimes coexist: registered property, which has a land title at the Land Registry, and unregistered property, whose ownership is established by adoulaire deeds, the best known being the “moulkia”. The difference is not one of form; it is the difference between a right guaranteed by the State and a right based on testimony and possession. Understanding it is the first thing any buyer, heir or investor should do.

Registered property: the land title

Registration is the system created by the Dahir of 12 August 1913, as amended and supplemented by Law 14-07. After a procedure of application, boundary survey, publication and adjudication of oppositions, a numbered land title is established, defining the property, its area, boundaries, owner and charges. Its effects:

• The title is final and unassailable as to its establishment (Article 2), and real rights exist against third parties only through their entry (Articles 66 and 67).
• Prescription neither creates nor extinguishes a real right over registered property (Article 63).
• Every later act (sale, mortgage, inheritance) is entered on the title, so a certificate of ownership shows anyone the true position of the property.

The price of this guarantee is that the title is the target of spoliators: whoever manages to register a forged right temporarily enjoys the strength of the system itself. Hence the rules for protecting a land title, to be read with this article.

Unregistered property: the moulkia and possession

Unregistered property has no land title. Its ownership is established by adoulaire deeds, first among them the moulkia: a deed received by two adouls on the testimony of witnesses who state that a person has possessed the property peacefully, openly and continuously as owner for a period meeting the required conditions. It is governed by the possession rules of the Code of Real Rights (Law 39-08) and, for the rest, by Maliki law.

Its risks are well known to the courts:

• Several deeds for the same property: two moulkias in two names, decided by seniority, possession and witnesses.
• Imprecise boundaries: a moulkia describes boundaries by the neighbours’ names, not by coordinates.
• Ease of forgery and false testimony, and difficulty verifying earlier transactions.
• Letting, partition and inheritance complicated by the absence of a public register.

The intermediate stage: property in the course of registration

From the filing of an application, the property is “in the course of registration” until the title is established. The procedure includes the boundary survey, publication of the closing notice and an opposition period during which anyone claiming a right may lodge an opposition with the registrar (within the legal time limit set by the Dahir). Buying at this stage is possible but requires examining the application, the filings and the registered oppositions.

When buying: questions before signing

1. Does the property have a land title? Request a recent certificate of ownership in the seller’s name.
2. If held on a moulkia: who are the witnesses? Since when the possession? Are there deeds, applications or disputes on the same or the neighbouring property?
3. Is the seller the registered owner or an agent? Under what power of attorney?
4. Is the deed drawn up in the form required by Article 4 of Law 39-08?
5. What will registration cost and how long will it take if the property is unregistered? Build it into the price.

The firm’s advice

The price gap between registered and unregistered property is not a gain; it is the price of risk. Whoever buys on a moulkia starts registration as soon as possible; whoever inherits unregistered property registers it before partition, not after. And whoever holds a land title protects it like a bank account.