Minister of Finance Yassine Jaber has issued a new decision regarding deadlines related to real estate matters. The decision states:
Between October 8, 2023, and March 31, 2025, all legal and contractual deadlines are automatically suspended. This applies to both public and private entities, covering procedural, formal, and substantive rights. The suspension includes administrative, civil, and commercial deadlines. The specific deadlines impacted include:
- Deadlines related to property ownership and building permits for non-Lebanese individuals or companies (Law on Real Property Rights for Non-Lebanese).
- Six-month deadlines to report new constructions to the deputy office head (Article 60 of Decision No. 189/1926).
- Priority registration periods in the property registry, which can be lost if fees aren’t paid within three days (Article 68 of Decision No. 188/1926).
- Five-year validity for general agency agreements related to property rights (Article 50 of Decision No. 188/1926).
- Deadlines for provisional restrictions on property records, which expire automatically as per Articles 25, 26, and 29 of Decision No. 188/1926, amended by Law No. 76 dated April 3, 1999.
- Deadlines under Article 26 of Public Housing Law No. 539/1996 regarding issuing housing permits within three years after subdividing a building under construction.
- A three-year deadline under Article 53 of the 2019 Budget, after which double fees are applied if sales contracts or irrevocable agencies aren’t registered.
Deadlines that ended before October 8, 2023, are not affected by the suspension. Deadlines that began before this date and were not completed will pause for the remaining time and resume on April 1, 2025. Any deadlines that begin during the suspension period will start fully from April 1, 2025, once the suspension ends.
