You discover, when requesting a certificate of ownership or visiting your property, that the land title is no longer in your name: a sale has been registered at the Land Registry on the strength of a power of attorney bearing your name and a signature that is not yours. This article explains, step by step, what to do on the first day and in the following weeks, and the legal texts that govern each step.
First, understand what happened
The forged power of attorney is the most used tool of property spoliation in Morocco. A general or special mandate is drawn up in the owner’s name, sometimes before a notary or adouls who are unaware of the forgery, sometimes by complete fabrication, and used to sell the property to a first, complicit buyer. The property is then resold to a “good-faith” buyer to complicate recovery. The target is not the deed itself but the entry on the land title, because real rights over registered property exist against third parties only through their entry, under Articles 66 and 67 of the Dahir on land registration as amended and supplemented by Law 14-07.
What to do on the first day
- Request a certificate of ownership from the Land Registry that holds your title. It is often issued the same day and lists every entry: in whose name, by which deed, on what date, before which notary or adoul.
- Request copies of the deed and the power of attorney used for the entry. Any interested person may consult the documents filed at the Land Registry.
- Do not sign any document the buyer or an intermediary offers “to regularise the situation”, and do not accept any money: the aim is usually to validate the forgery after the fact.
- Gather proof that you were not in Morocco or did not appear before the notary on the date of the power of attorney: passport, tickets, employment certificate, residence abroad. It is the strongest argument in a forgery case.
Freeze the property with a protective registration
Before any lawsuit, a further transfer must be prevented. The protective registration (prénotation) provided for in Articles 85 and 86 of the land registration Dahir provisionally preserves your right: either on an order of the president of the court of first instance obtained in urgent proceedings, or on the basis of the writ initiating the action. Its practical effect: anyone dealing with the property after its date knows of the dispute and loses any claim to good faith. In spoliation files, every day without a protective registration is a day on which the property can be resold.
The criminal complaint
A complaint is filed with the Prosecutor General at the competent court of appeal (or the Prosecutor, depending on the characterisation) for forgery and use of forged documents (Articles 351 to 367 of the Penal Code) and fraud (Article 540), joining the proceedings as a civil party. The Casablanca prosecution service has set up a unit dedicated to property spoliation. The complaint requests a handwriting expertise of the signature attributed to you, the hearing of the notary or adouls and witnesses, and the tracing of the sale price.
Mind the deadlines: prosecution is time-barred after four years for misdemeanours and fifteen years for felonies (Article 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), and whether a forgery is a misdemeanour or a felony depends on the nature of the document. Do not wait “to see if it can be settled amicably”.
The civil action for restitution
Before the court of first instance of the place where the property is located, an action for nullity of the power of attorney and the sale, and cancellation of the entry is brought against everyone in whose name the property was registered, with restitution of ownership and damages. If the property was resold, the last buyer is joined: the case law is settled, fraud vitiates everything, an entry based on a forgery does not cure the nullity, and good faith is a question of fact to be proved, not presumed against the true owner. Law 39-08 (Code of Real Rights) recalls in Article 4 that deeds transferring real-estate ownership may only be drawn up as authentic instruments or as instruments with a certain date drafted by a lawyer admitted before the Court of Cassation.
The civil action may run alongside the complaint, or the civil court may stay proceedings until the criminal judgment. The choice depends on the facts of each case.
Enforcement
A cancellation judgment does not enforce itself. Once final, it is filed with the land registrar to strike the void entries and restore the title to your name; eviction then follows if the property is occupied.
Documents to bring to the first meeting
- A recent certificate of ownership and a copy of the land title or the original purchase deed.
- Copies of the registered power of attorney and sale deed (or their filing numbers).
- Proof of your absence or non-appearance on the date of the power of attorney.
- National ID and passport (for signature comparison).
- Any correspondence with the spoliator or the intermediary.
Prevention
Subscribe to the Land Registry’s alert service to be notified of any application for entry on your title, request a certificate of ownership once a year, and never leave an open-ended general power of attorney in anyone’s hands.
See also: Deadlines for a property-fraud complaint, How to protect your land title from abroad, and the firm’s page on property spoliation.
Frequently asked questions
Can someone sell my property with a power of attorney without my knowledge?
Yes. It is the most common property-spoliation scenario in Morocco: a power of attorney is drawn up in the owner's name with a forged signature, often while the owner lives abroad, is elderly or has died, and is used to sell the property and register the sale at the Land Registry.
What is the first document to request?
The certificate of ownership from the Land Registry (Conservation foncière) that holds the title. It lists every entry on your property: in whose name, by which deed, on what date. It is the starting point of every step.
Can I recover the property if it was resold to a third party?
In many cases, yes. An entry based on a forged deed is void and fraud vitiates everything. But the good faith of the last buyer is a question of fact argued before the court, which is why the speed of the protective registration is decisive: after it, no new buyer can claim ignorance of the dispute.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every matter has its own facts and calls for its own assessment.
