Transferring Iraqi property ownership at the land registry
A signed private paper between seller and buyer does not complete transfer of registered Iraqi property. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, describes the land-registry path and the stages where a file commonly pauses.
Registration creates the disposition
Article 3 of Real Estate Registration Law No. 43 of 1971 provides that a transaction over land takes legal shape only once it is entered by the registry office. Article 508 of Civil Code No. 40 of 1951 makes the same point for a sale of immovable property. An agreement signed elsewhere may still have legal relevance, but its effect must be analysed separately. The distinction is explained in promise to sell versus a completed sale.
The form and supporting papers
Article 82 requires a form signed by the parties, applicants or their representatives. It identifies the property by serial number or plot and district, location, characteristics, type and area as shown in the title document and register. It also states the transaction, whether it covers the whole property and the parties' identities and civil status. Article 83 lists the title document or registry copy together with legal documents such as a power, division record, sharia document or final judgment.
Comparing the private agreement with the register is a useful first step. A differing plot reference, area or owner's name can stop the transaction. Where a seller acts through an agent, the instrument's date, scope and relevance to this disposition require separate review.
Registry checks and barriers
Under article 84 the form is entered, the property file is checked for matching descriptions and legal barriers, and the register is checked against the application. Article 85 allows the department head or an authorised assistant to review whether the documents have the required legal form and match the transaction. Article 96 defines registration barriers, including attachment by a judicial or authorised official body and legal incapacity.
Before scheduling transfer, identify any attachment, mortgage or restriction on disposal. Not every entry blocks every act; article 101 permits some registrations over attached property. The nature of the entry determines the next step.
Inspection and value
Article 87 describes inspection as recording the property's existing characteristics and actual value. Article 88 sets the cases for inspection, including transactions over principal real rights where a full year has passed since valuation. Article 90 requires an on-site report of boundaries, characteristics, rights and valuation. Article 95 permits objection to the report's information before the transaction is registered and provides for re-inspection by a special committee.
Unrecorded construction can reveal a discrepancy between the physical property and the register. Correction of the property's recorded category is considered in building permits and later registry effects.
Acknowledgment by the parties
Article 107 requires acknowledgment by the contracting parties before the competent official for consensual dispositions. Article 109 provides for offer and acceptance in one session after the acknowledgment is read, with identity established by official documents, the official's knowledge or two witnesses. Article 108 covers acknowledgment outside the office within the competent area where an excuse prevents attendance.
Article 120 allows the competent department, at a party's request, to delegate execution to another land registry. Later articles regulate sending and returning the file and when the contract is treated as concluded at the delegated department.
Audit and the new title document
Article 128 provides for monthly audit, while article 129 permits confirmation or objection to substantive errors or omissions. Article 133 states that registration attains final form upon audit confirmation even if the title document has not yet been issued. Article 134 then requires the department to issue the document with the established characteristics and rights, signed by the officials and department head and officially stamped.
Legal basis and sources
Frequently asked questions
When does registered ownership pass?
The disposition is concluded through registration under article 3; final form follows audit confirmation under article 133.
Can the parties sign in different governorates?
Article 120 permits delegation to another land registry at a party's request.
What if the property is attached?
The source and nature of the attachment should be checked against articles 96 and 101, because certain registrations can proceed with an attachment remaining or moving.
Related topics and articles
- 01How 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.
- 02A promise to sell and how it differs from a completed saleA preliminary agreement under Civil Code article 91, and a completed sale of land that concludes only by registration under articles 90 and 508.
- 03Real Estate Registration Departments in Baghdad, Karkh and RusafaFiling at a Baghdad Real Estate Registration Department under Law 43/1971: venue follows the department's area of work, the property and its register.
- 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.