Many property disputes do not arise from bad faith, but from getting the order of the steps wrong: paying before due diligence, taking delivery before registration, or settling for a contract the holder assumed was final.
This guide sets out the correct order.
The Governing Rule, Before You Start
Ownership does not transfer except by registration in the land register. Everything before that — however formally attested — remains in the realm of obligation, not of ownership. Build your financial and time planning on this rule.
Step 1: Initial Legal Due Diligence
Before any serious negotiation on price:
- Obtain a recent land registry extract.
- Examine the original ownership document.
- Determine the property’s legal tenure category and its zoning status.
- Verify that the property’s description in the document matches reality.
A principle: do not discuss price before you know what you are buying legally. Negotiating over a property of unknown status is, at best, a waste of time.
Step 2: Checking Annotations and Encumbrances
The property register page may carry restrictions that prevent transfer of ownership or burden the property with third-party rights:
- A mortgage in favour of a creditor.
- An attachment, executory or precautionary.
- A lawsuit annotation — meaning there is a live court dispute over the property.
- A restriction on disposal for any reason.
- Easement rights or third-party rights.
The presence of any of these does not necessarily make purchase impossible, but it does mean the transaction needs specific legal handling before proceeding.
Step 3: Verifying the Seller’s Capacity
- Match the seller’s identity to the name registered in the register.
- If buying from an attorney: verify the power of attorney, the scope of its authority, that it is in force, and that the principal has not revoked it.
- Where there are multiple heirs: verify the inheritance certificate and the consent of all heirs or their legal representatives.
- Where the seller is a company: verify the signatory’s capacity and authority under the company’s commercial register.
Step 4: Verifying Zoning and Survey Status
- Is the property inside the approved zoning plan?
- What is its classification (residential, commercial, agricultural)?
- Are there building violations, expropriation decisions or plan-extension decisions affecting it?
- Site inspection and boundary matching — the very thing courts appoint a survey expert for in litigation, because agreement between the document and reality is not always to be assumed.
Step 5: Drafting the Sale Contract
A good contract contains, at minimum:
- Precise particulars of both parties and of the property (property number, cadastral zone, area).
- The price, the method of payment and its schedule.
- The seller’s obligation to transfer ownership and the timing of that obligation.
- Who bears the fees and taxes.
- The date of actual handover.
- The penalty for breach by either party.
- The dispute resolution reference.
A fundamental financial rule: the full price is not paid before the transfer of registration is complete. Tie the final instalment to completion of registration, not to handover of the keys.
Step 6: Formal Attestation
The contract is attested before the competent authority in the established manner. Attestation gives the contract greater evidentiary weight and protects both parties, but — as noted above — it is no substitute for registration.
Step 7: Completing the Financial Requirements
Registration is usually preceded by satisfying financial and administrative requirements, among them clearance certificates from the relevant authorities and the fees and taxes arising on transfer of ownership.
Note: specific fee figures are not given here because they are subject to change. Refer to the Directorate of Land Registry Affairs and the competent authorities when carrying out the transaction.
Step 8: Registration and Transfer of the Entry
The decisive step: submitting the file to the competent land registry office and effecting the transfer of the entry from the seller’s name to the buyer’s name on the property register page.
On completing this step — and not before — you become the owner.
After registration: obtain a land registry extract in your name and keep it with the ownership documents. This is your primary proof for any future enquiry or dealing.
Step 9: Actual Handover
Handover of the property free of occupants, with a signed handover record documenting the property’s condition, the utility meters, and the fittings included in the handover.
Seven Common Mistakes That Forfeit Rights
- Settling for an unregistered contract for years, then discovering the property has been sold to someone else.
- Buying under a power of attorney and believing it suffices as ownership.
- Paying the full price up front, before due diligence or before registration.
- Relying on an old registry extract that does not reflect restrictions arising afterwards.
- Neglecting to trace the chain of ownership when the seller is not the registered owner.
- Accepting photocopies of documents instead of the originals.
- Rushing under pressure — “the opportunity will be gone”. Property is not bought under time pressure.
An Illustrative Example
A person bought an apartment under an attested contract, paid the full price and received the keys, then postponed registration for years because the property was “in his possession”. During that period the property was subject to dealings and restrictions he was unaware of, and he found himself forced into litigation to establish a right he had assumed was settled — all of it avoidable by completing registration at the time.
The lesson: possession is not ownership. Registration is ownership.
In Summary
Transferring ownership is a sequential process, and each step in it protects the next. Cutting a corner on any of them saves days and costs years.
At Al-Saleh Construction, we guide the client through these stages and set out the property’s legal status in writing before any financial commitment.
Contact us | Read: Types of Property Ownership Documents in Syria
Disclaimer: this article is general and introductory in nature, does not constitute legal advice, and is no substitute for consulting a specialist lawyer and the competent official authorities. Procedures and fees are subject to change.
Reference Sources
- Land Registry Law — Decision No. 188 of 1926 and its amendments
- garslegal — Proving property ownership in Syria (2026)
- Aqar Gate — Legal checklist for verifying property ownership (2026)
- SANA — Property ownership in Syria: registration challenges (February 2026)
