How to get a title extract (إفادة عقارية) in Lebanon, and how to read it

A title extract (إفادة عقارية) is the Land Registry's statement of who owns a property and what is recorded against it: mortgages, seizures, lawsuits, earlier promises to sell. The official one comes from the registry office of the caza where the property is, and you don't have to be the owner to ask for it. The LRC app and website, OMT and Whish show an unofficial copy on the spot, fine for a first look but not for a sale.

Extract or title deed: what's the difference?

The title deed (سند ملكية) is the owner's copy of the property's page in the register, issued only to the owner and to each co-owner (Decision 188/1926, Articles 34 and 35). The extract states what that page says on the day it's printed.

When they disagree, the register wins: a sale or a mortgage only takes effect once it's recorded there. A court seizure can be added without the owner handing in the deed (Article 37), so the deed in a seller's drawer can be out of date. Deed types and shares are in title deeds in Lebanon.

What you need before you ask

Every channel asks for the same references:

1. The governorate (محافظة) and the caza (قضاء).
2. The cadastral zone (المنطقة العقارية).
3. The plot number (رقم العقار).
4. For an apartment, the section number (رقم القسم) and, in some buildings, the block (بلوك).

They're on the title deed and on any old extract, so ask the seller for a photo of either once you're serious about a home or a plot of land. A flat with no section number is in a building that hasn't been divided (فرز) yet: you'd be buying shares of the plot, as how buying a home in Lebanon works explains.

Where to get one in 2026

At the registry. Decision 188/1926 gives every person the right to the information in the register for the set fee (Article 86), and the request goes to the registrar (Article 87). So you or your lawyer can ask without the seller. During the 2026 war, the Ministry of Finance moved the land records of Nabatieh and Marjayoun to Saida and Beirut.

Online and at counters. The LRC app, launched in 2017, was relaunched in October 2026 in Arabic and English, with a property's full page on Android for now. Its free tools track a file, estimate fees and alert you by phone or email when a sale, mortgage or new notice is recorded on your property. OMT says plainly that its copy is unofficial and that any transaction needs the official extract.

In the South. In October 2026, the Directorate General of Urban Planning agreed to accept electronic extracts for three months in Marjayoun, Hasbaya, Nabatieh and Bint Jbeil, where the registry offices are closed. That covers its own files, such as building permits, not sales.

Tip: Once the home is registered in your name, turn on the LRC app's alerts for it. The app then messages you when a sale, mortgage or new notice is recorded on it.

How recent does it need to be?

An extract shows the register at the moment it was printed, and a seizure can be recorded the next morning. Get one when you start, another before the deposit and a last one just before you sign the sale contract.

Other offices set limits of their own. Urban Planning wants a full extract under 3 months old for a planning and easement statement (إفادة تخطيط وارتفاق). Banks, the Housing Bank and embassies may too, so ask which date they accept. The fees for the sale itself are in what buying a home in Lebanon costs.

How to read it, section by section

The extract follows the layout of the property's page set by Decision 189/1926:

1. References: governorate, caza, zone, plot, section and block, and the date of issue. Check they match the property you visited.
2. Description: land, building or flat, the area in m², and what's built or planted on it. On land that isn't fully surveyed, the area can be missing.
3. Easements and usufruct: a right of way, or someone's right to live in or use the property (حق انتفاع). These stay with the property after a sale.
4. Owners: each name with its share out of 2,400 (1200/2400 is half). To buy the whole property, every owner listed has to sign.
5. Charges and notices: mortgages (تأمين), seizures (حجز), lawsuit notices (إشارة دعوى), provisional registrations (قيد احتياطي) and any ban on selling. On a clean property, this part is empty.

Red flags

Don't rely on an extract the seller hands you. In December 2025, State Security arrested a man who sold a property in Marjayoun with a forged extract, using a name he shared with the real owner. Get your own, and match the owner on it to the seller's ID.