Managing Iraqi property for an owner living abroad
Living abroad changes the practical organisation of an Iraqi property file. Someone must hold keys, communicate with occupiers, inspect the building and receive official correspondence. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, explains how a defined management mandate can connect those activities with authority and a usable record of what has been done.
Build a property record before appointing a manager
Start with the registered plot and district reference, the ownership interests, the occupancy position and the location of original documents. Compare this information with an official registry copy. Article 10 of Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971 gives the register and its certified copies evidential significance. A familiar street description helps a visitor find the house but does not replace its registered identity.
An occupied house, an empty building and an undivided share produce different management questions. An agent appointed by one co-owner does not thereby represent every other co-owner. The file should record who can give instructions and the document establishing that person's authority, separately from contact details supplied by a tenant or helpful neighbour.
Divide the mandate into actual tasks
Article 927 of Civil Code No. 40 of 1951 frames agency around a lawful, identified act. Articles 931 and 932 permit the task and the agent's discretion to be defined. A useful mandate consequently distinguishes inspection, maintenance supervision, lease signing, collection, official correspondence and litigation. These activities should not be collapsed into a vague reference to looking after the house.
The owner and manager can specify which decisions require prior approval and what evidence accompanies a request. If two agents are appointed, article 938 should be considered when deciding whether they act together or separately. Substitution also deserves an express review: article 939 connects appointment of another agent with the principal's permission or a delegation of discretion. A manager's choice of a convenient replacement is not itself proof of authority.
Preparing authority while the owner is overseas
Article 10 of Notaries Public Law No. 33 of 1998 treats an Iraqi consul as a notary for that law's purposes. Preparation should begin with the intended Iraqi recipient and the specific act to be performed. Identity details and the property's registered description can then be checked against the proposed wording. Keep the instrument's issue details with a readable copy so that later actions can be traced to the authority actually granted.
A general email about maintaining a building and a formally issued power are different documents. Recording which instructions supplement an existing power helps the owner and manager understand the relationship between operational decisions and legal representation.
Record occupation and work at the premises
A practical inspection record identifies the visit, observations, photographs and their source. Occupancy documents, key handover records and notices should be filed apart from maintenance reports. These are useful evidence-management choices to agree in advance, rather than papers assembled only after a disagreement arises.
Article 933 requires an agent to stay within the mandate and addresses exceptional action when prior notification is impracticable and the circumstances indicate likely approval, with prompt reporting afterwards. A genuinely urgent event should therefore have its circumstances and response recorded. Calling every alteration urgent obscures the difference between a limited repair, granting occupation and changing the building's use.
Reporting, accounting and handover
Article 936 requires progress information from time to time and an account at the end of the agency. A workable report links each action to a supporting item: an official letter, an owner approval, an acknowledgment or a site record. Maintain an inventory showing where original documents are held. Articles 935 and 937 also make separate treatment of assets received for the principal important; the manager's personal transactions should remain distinguishable from the owner's property administration.
Articles 946 and 947 govern termination, dismissal and restrictions, including third-party interests and knowledge of dismissal. A change of manager should be accompanied by an inventory of keys, documents, live notices and unfinished applications. Identify which institutions have been told who represents the owner. This makes the next stage of management begin from an intelligible record rather than an oral reconstruction.
Legal basis and sources
- Civil Code No. 40 of 1951
- Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971
- Notaries Public Law No. 33 of 1998
Frequently asked questions
Does management authority automatically include a sale?
The actual powers and proposed act must be examined. Daily administration and transfer of a registered right are different matters, and an immovable disposition engages registry procedures.
What should periodic reporting contain?
An evidence-linked account of visits, occupation, official dealings and approvals, consistent with the reporting obligation in article 936.
What matters when replacing an agent?
The instrument, any third-party rights, notification and a documented handover of the outstanding file.
Related topics and articles
- 01Sale of property under an irrevocable power of attorneyA power of attorney with a third-party right attached (Civil Code art. 947; Registration Law arts. 199 and 205); the sale concludes only by registration.
- 02Writing a residential lease and lodging copies within thirty daysIraqi residential lease writing and lodging rules under article 7 of Property Lease Law 87/1979, with occupants, furnished lets and new buildings.
- 03How to read an Iraqi property title document before buyingReading an Iraqi title document: current registry copy, property identity, owners, attachments, mortgages, restrictions and site comparison.
- 04What a landlord reviews before and after a lease in BaghdadWhat a Baghdad landlord reviews before and after a lease under Rent Law 87/1979 and the Civil Code.
- 05Sale or mortgage and the real-estate tax step in governorates not organised in a regionSale or mortgage and the real-estate tax step in governorates not organised in a region, under Law 162/1959 and Land Registration Law 43/1971.