The Tortuous Path to Restore Damaged or Lost Real Estate Documents

During the opposition’s control of parts of the Rural Damascus governorate between 2012 and 2018, the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs in Rural Damascus suspended the work on the Land Registry for several real estate areas in the governorate. When official work resumed in 2019, it became evident that the registries for some of those areas had been lost or damaged, necessitating their restoration. However, those trying to restore their real estate documents face an uphill battle.

Properties 1196 and 1197 in the Kafr Batna area, administratively part of the Arbin district in Rural Damascus, are among those whose documents were damaged or lost and were therefore subject to judicial restoration.

On November 23, 2023, the real estate judge of the Rural Damascus governorate issued two identical rulings, numbered 33 and 34, concerning the properties 1196 and 1197. In these rulings, the judge decided to cancel the objections to the properties due to “absence and non-attendance,” meaning the objections were dismissed after the objection period had ended, as the objector failed to submit the documents proving their right to the property.

According to Law No. 33 of 2017, which covers the restoration of lost or damaged real estate documents, restoration involves a set of procedures leading to the issuance of a reliable substitute for the damaged real estate document or the completion of one of its elements. There are two types of restoration: administrative restoration, which occurs when sufficient documents are available to restore the document at the relevant Directorate of Cadastral Affairs, and judicial restoration, which is employed when the documents are completely destroyed.

During the process of judicial restoration for damaged or lost real estate documents, the real estate judge of Rural Damascus announced, on November 24, 2022, a schedule of documents and ownership documents for properties numbered 1181-1200 in the Kafr Batna real estate area. This announcement was based on the decision of the Minister of Local Administration No. 4 dated May 28, 2019, the commencement order for judicial restoration No. 2078 dated June 15, 2019, the provisions of Article 8 of Law No. 33 of 2017 and its executive instructions, and the land registry laws issued by decrees No. 188-189 of 1926 and their amendments, as well as the delimitation and census system issued by decision No. 186 of 1926.

The procedures for judicial restoration are similar to those for delimitation and census under Decision No. 186 of 1926. This includes the publication of the decision to commence the delimitation and census process, the timing, and property information, as well as inviting stakeholders to attend the process. In the decision, the judge outlines the damaged real estate documents, the property numbers, the real estate area, and the sections of the real estate document that need to be restored. Stakeholders are given a six-month period to submit any documents they have that support their claims to the properties with damaged documents. All of this information is published in the Official Gazette and two local newspapers.

If there are no objections within this period, the real estate judge decides to validate the real estate documents submitted by the rightful owners, such as ownership deeds, court rulings, or notarised documents. Based on these documents, new land registries are created to replace the damaged ones. Consequently, the judge issues a final, unappealable decision to confirm the ownership.

In the event of an objection, the rightful owner or their legal representative may submit an objection supported by documents proving their right. After the six-month objection period ends, the land court reviews the submitted objections within two months, in chambers, meaning without summoning the objectors.

The judge only considers objections concerning the existence of rights duly recorded in the Land Registry to be restored. For example, if someone claims ownership of a property based on a purchase contract, they must provide evidence that this right is previously documented in the Land Record within the Land Registry. This could include, for instance, a previously filed lawsuit note on the land record issued by the civil court to confirm the sale in favour of the claimant. The judge’s role is to verify the existence of this note based on the documents available and those submitted by the objector.

Subsequently, the real estate judge issues a decision confirming the restoration of the required land registries. The judge attaches a detailed report to the decision, which includes the property numbers, the real estate area, the parts that have been restored, and the names of the owners. The decision also addresses the outcome of any objections, including the cancellation of objections. The judge will cancel an objection if the objector fails to submit supporting documents within the six-month period to prove their right to the property in question. This was the case for properties 1196 and 1197 in the Kafr Batna real estate area.

Additionally, the judge decided to place a note on the land records for properties 1196 and 1197, indicating that the rightful owners are entitled to either file a lawsuit to “annul the registration” of the property under someone else’s name within five years or to claim financial compensation for the damage caused by the registration of the property under another person’s name within 15 years. These lawsuits must be filed in the regular courts, and the Directorate of Cadastral Affairs must remove this note from the property record once the specified period has expired.

The judge’s decision is considered as a personal notification and can be appealed to the Civil Court of Appeal within 15 days. After the appeal period has passed, the court sends the judge’s decision to the relevant Directorate of Cadastral Affairs for implementation and to open the new property records.