Legal & Formalities · Guide
‘Melkia with requisition’: what that listing phrase conceals
You come across it in property listings, slipped in between the floor area and the number of bedrooms: ‘melkia with requisition’. The phrase is reassuring. It states one truth, and keeps quiet about another.
What is true: a registration procedure has been opened at the Land Registry. What goes unsaid: the riad does not yet have a title, and nothing guarantees that it ever will.
Where the number comes from
When the owner files an application for registration, the Land Registry issues a receipt (1913 dahir, art. 13). Once the fees are paid, the application is recorded and given a number. That is the number the listings display.
The application describes the property, its owner, its value, the rights encumbering it and the origin of ownership. It is therefore a valuable document, provided you know how far the file has progressed.
One number, four realities
| Stage of the file | How to find out | Your level of risk |
|---|---|---|
| Application filed | Receipt, extract published in the Official Bulletin (BO) | High: no one has yet checked the boundaries on site |
| Boundary survey completed | Official report and plan | Medium: neighbours can still lodge an objection |
| Objection pending | Entry in the register, case before the court | High: a judge will decide |
| Deadline passed, no objection | Notice of closure published more than two months ago | Low: the registrar registers the property within three months, barring any other complication (art. 30) |
An application can also fall through. If the applicant fails to appear and does not provide a valid excuse within the month following a formal notice, or if a dispute prevents the boundary survey twice in a row, the application is cancelled (art. 23).
So why prefer it?
Because, compared with a melkia (property held under deeds, without registration) on which no step has been taken, a requisition offers three very concrete things.
A file you can consult. The requisition certificate (100 DH under the ANCFCC fee schedule) states who the applicant is, how far the procedure has progressed and whether anyone has objected.
Work already done. The fees have been paid. The deeds have been filed. And if the boundary survey has taken place, the neighbours have already been heard.
A place in the queue. The buyer can lodge their right with the Land Registry to secure priority (art. 84), or have it published and become an applicant themselves (art. 83). We devote an article to this (see buying a riad undergoing registration).
Six checks to make
- Ask the seller for the number and a copy of the receipt.
- Obtain a recent requisition certificate yourself.
- Compare the applicant’s name with the seller’s.
- Request copies of the deeds in the file and of the plan, if there is one (fees set by the ANCFCC schedule).
- Find the notice of closure of the boundary survey in the Official Bulletin and work out when the objection period ends.
- Have it confirmed that no objection has been registered.
A requisition is neither a promise nor a bogeyman. It is a file, and a file is there to be read. Read it before you sign.
Sources
- Dahir of 12 August 1913, as amended, arts 13, 23, 30, 83, 84 (ANCFCC consolidated version)
- ANCFCC, documents, deadlines and fees
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