Registered Real Estate Mortgage Law

Purpose and scope

• Governs the registered real estate mortgage by which a debtor or another secures a debt on property, giving the mortgagee priority over others in recovering the debt from the property's price.
• It applies to mortgages of registered property, including real estate finance mortgages.

Key rules, rights and obligations

• A registered real estate mortgage is a contract by which the creditor acquires, over property allocated to pay his debt, a real right giving him priority over ordinary creditors and those ranked after him (Article 1).
• The mortgagor must own the mortgaged property and have capacity to dispose of it (Article 2).
• The mortgagor must preserve the mortgaged property, and the mortgagee may object to any act that reduces its value (Article 13).
• Any clause allowing the mortgagee to take ownership of the property on non-payment, or to use it without compensation, is void (Article 19).
• The mortgage is effective against third parties only from its registration (Article 21), and its rank is set by the date of registration (Article 24).
• The mortgagee may follow the property into the hands of whoever acquires it to recover his debt (Article 26).
• The mortgage does not end on the death of the mortgagor or mortgagee (Article 44).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• If the debtor does not pay on time, the mortgagee may request sale of the property and recover the debt from the price ahead of others (Article 18).
• Enforcement against the mortgaged property follows a warning to the debtor under the Enforcement Law (Article 28), and any surplus after payment is returned to the owner (Article 34).
• Leases of mortgaged property have special rules on their effect against the mortgagee (Article 20).
• Common problems: not releasing the mortgage after payment, and buying mortgaged property without checking the register.

Procedures and key deadlines

• The mortgage is notarised and registered through a licensed notary or notary office and the competent register.
• The mortgagor may pay the debt before it falls due as set by the law (Article 38).
• The mortgage ends when the secured debt ends, by waiver or for other reasons set by the law, and is then removed from the register (Articles 39 to 43).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.