Land title vs melkia: understanding the legal status of your plot

The question of land status almost always comes too late: after the purchase, when the commune asks for the certificate of ownership, or when an heir turns up. It should come first. This guide explains what a land title is, what a melkia is, why the difference weighs on a building project, and how to move from one to the other, following the dahir of 12 August 1913 on land registration as amended by Law 14-07. It belongs to the Building in Morocco pillar and extends the guide on the legal framework.

Why do two regimes coexist?

Morocco adopted in 1913 a land register system inspired by the Torrens model: every property that enters it receives a title and a number, and from then on a real right exists against third parties only through its inscription on that title. But entry into the system was never imposed on everyone. Article 6 of the dahir states that registration is optional, with one constraint: once filed, an application cannot be withdrawn. Registration becomes compulsory in two cases only: where a specific law so provides or the minister supervising ANCFCC opens a compulsory registration zone by order (article 7), and where a court orders it in the course of a property seizure (article 8).

Everything that has not entered the land register therefore falls under the traditional ways of proving ownership, first among them the melkia, also spelled moulkia: a deed drawn up by two adouls, on the basis of witness statements, recording that a person has possessed a property peacefully, openly and continuously for a sufficient period. It is a recognised proof of possession, not a title that purges the past.

What exactly does a land title guarantee?

The first article of the dahir describes the effect of registration: it produces a land title “which cancels all titles and purges all earlier rights not mentioned in it”. Article 62 draws the consequence: the title is final and unassailable, and forms the single starting point of the real rights existing on the property. Article 63 adds that no real right can be acquired by prescription against the registered owner. Article 64 closes the door to actions against the property itself: a person harmed by a registration may sue only for damages, and only in case of fraud, with an insurance fund of one hundred million dirhams provided in article 100 to guarantee such compensation.

Once the title exists, the legal life of the property is read on it. Article 65 requires the inscription of all deeds that create, transfer, modify or extinguish a real right, as well as leases of more than three years; article 66 states that any real right exists against third parties only from the day of its inscription; and article 67 goes further for voluntary deeds, which take effect, even between the parties, only from their inscription. In other words, an unregistered deed of sale does not transfer ownership of a titled property.

The owner, and only the owner, may obtain a duplicate of the title and its annexed plan (article 58); in joint ownership, a single duplicate is issued to the co-owner mandated for it. The certificate of ownership that communes and banks ask for is an extract of these inscriptions at a given date.

What is a melkia worth?

Moroccan law recognises the melkia as a traditional title of ownership; the 1913 dahir itself, in article 14, asks the registration applicant to file “the originals or certified copies of the titles, deeds and documents establishing the right of ownership”, and that role is most often played by a melkia. But its limits are those of any testimonial proof: it describes a property by its neighbours and boundaries rather than by a plan tied to the coordinate system, it has never gone through a contradictory publicity procedure, and it does not extinguish rights that third parties might assert.

For a building project, three practical consequences. First, the commune and the urban agency assess proof of ownership case by case; the official planning information note template has a box for “unregistered”, but a file resting on a melkia is weaker than one resting on a title. Second, banks generally require a land title to register a mortgage, which closes access to ordinary property credit. Third, resale and inheritance proceed without the security of inscription, so with a risk of contestation that passes to the buyer or the heirs.

Land title or melkia: what changes for your project

How do you move from a melkia to a land title?

Article 10 reserves the registration application to the owner, a co-owner, holders of certain real rights and, with the owner’s consent, beneficiaries of easements. Article 13 lists the content of the application, handed to the registrar against a receipt: identity and civil status of the applicant, description of the property with its limits, neighbours and buildings, assertion of possession, estimate of market value, existing real rights and origin of ownership. The titles are filed at the same time (article 14).

1. Filing the application. At the land registry of the property’s location, with the ownership deeds; the registrar issues a receipt (articles 10, 13 and 14).
2. Publication. Within ten days of filing, the registrar draws up an extract published in the Official Bulletin and brought to public notice; within the following two months he sets the survey date by notice (article 17). Extract and notice are posted at the court, at the local authority and at the commune, and announced in the markets (article 18).
3. Boundary survey. Directed by the registrar and carried out by a sworn surveying engineer, in the presence of the applicant, the summoned neighbours and anyone intervening; it records possession, places the boundary markers and draws up minutes signed by the parties (articles 19 to 21). If the applicant is absent, no operation takes place (article 22).
4. Closing notice and oppositions. Within four months of the survey, a closing notice is published in the Official Bulletin; it opens a two-month period during which anyone claiming a right may lodge an opposition (articles 23 and 24).
5. Registration or judgment. Without opposition, the registrar registers the property within three months of the end of the period (article 30). With oppositions, the applicant has one month to obtain their withdrawal or accept them; failing that, the file is sent to the court of first instance within three months (articles 31 and 32).

The registrar may also split the application and issue a title for the uncontested part after a supplementary survey (article 31). As long as the file has not been sent to court, he has the power to reconcile the parties by minutes. If he rejects the application, his decision must state reasons and may be challenged before the court of first instance (article 37 bis).

What do you risk with oppositions?

Oppositions are received during the two months following publication of the survey closing notice, and none is admissible after that period, save the exception of article 29: the registrar may accept a late opposition if the file has not yet been sent to court and the opponent shows reasons that prevented timely action; his refusal is then not open to appeal. The opponent must produce his titles and pay the court fee within the month following the opposition period, failing which the opposition is void (articles 25 and 32).

Before the court, a reporting judge prepares the case, may visit the site with a surveyor and hear witnesses (article 34); the court rules on the existence and extent of the claimed rights, then sends the parties back to the registrar, who alone is competent to admit or reject the application (article 37). The judgment may be appealed, then taken to the Court of Cassation (articles 40 to 47). The safeguard against bad-faith oppositions is in article 48: any application or opposition found abusive, vexatious or in bad faith gives rise to a fine of at least 10 % of the value of the property or of the claimed right, without prejudice to damages.

What if the plot is jointly owned or inherited?

Article 10 allows a co-owner to apply for registration, subject to the right of chefâa, that is pre-emption, of the other co-owners. The application must then state each co-owner’s identity and share (article 13). For successions on an already titled property, article 82 requires an inscription application supported by all documents proving the transfer, with each heir’s share. Building on jointly owned land without the written agreement of all co-owners means building on a right you only partly hold; the guides on checking a plot and on inheritance return to these cases.