lawyer

hi Tracy


this a useful information u had to know before that u decide to Buying a Property in Egypt.

Legal Steps to Buying a Property in Egypt :


The steps would be as follows:


1- Due Diligence Report

The due diligence report is the most important part of the transaction since it aims to verify the legal safety of the property, or otherwise. Your lawyer will obtain the necessary documents to complete the legal checks and submit to you a written report of their findings.

A due diligence report necessarily investigates the following items: • Title of Deed The legal proof of who the legitimate owner is of your desired property. • Building License A license issued by the state granting the right to build on a land plot, defining the purpose of the building, the grace period and the percentage of land it is permissible to construct upon. • Commercial Register This is the official record of the developer’s company. • Tax ID The legal proof that the developer’s company is recognized by tax authorities.

Once the due diligence report has been completed and your lawyer has confirmed it is safe to continue with the transaction, the next step is to check your contract.


2- Revision of your Contract

A draft copy of your contract should be sent to you by your agent or the developer directly. Once you have received this then a copy should be forwarded to your lawyer, whist it is advisable to peruse the document yourself also to confirm your details are correct and highlight any queries you may have.

Your lawyer will revise your contract both in English and Arabic to confirm an accurate translation, to ensure the contract complies with the due diligence report, to ensure all mandatory articles are present and to evaluate whether the clauses are fair for both parties. Any issues raised by either you or your lawyer would then be discussed with the developer and changes made, where applicable. Once the final contract is agreed upon by both parties it must be signed by both parties on every page, including any addendum's, with your names signed and printed on the last page of the contract.

Once the contract has been signed by both parties, one original copy should be sent to your lawyer to be authenticated by the Egyptian court.

Authentication of your Contract

It is a common mistake to call this process registration, since registration is impossible in the case of ownership being on the basis of a ninety-nine years usufruct (for example in Sharm el Sheikh) and is, for the most part, unavailable in other areas. Registration can also be a lengthy process, which once completed restricts the amount of property an individual can own and renders them unable to resell within five years. If you do decide to register it is advisable to authenticate your contract in any case until the registration is complete.

The authentication of the contract is done by way of a court case known as “Signature Validation”. The case aims to prove that the signature of the first party is legitimate, thus preventing contract denial and rendering him unable to dispute any clause in the contract at a later date. It is valid also against his heirs when applicable. The case takes an average of 6-8 months in court, although the length of each case is entirely dependent on the efficiency of the judge assigned to the case.


3- Real Estate Tax Law (Law No. 196 of 2008)

On handover of your property you become subject to the Real Estate Tax Law, which came into effect as of January 2010. On property handover the owner is liable to complete the tax form and submit it to the tax office. This can be done by the owner personally or by a representative, but it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that the task is completed.

The real estate tax law was implied originally to help the lower-income classes of the society. It had exempted cheaper properties from its scope and it is purposed to enhance the country's economy. The tax is considered to be fair and just. The criteria utilized to estimate the tax leaves no space for personal judgments, as it is based on tables and certain categories. Even the penalties have taken the form of financial penalties. The law does not stipulate any criminal punishments on delay or refusal. The law code has even included a table at its epilogue.


if u have any more questions .... just inbox me & u r welcome

good luck

apartments22 wrote:

Hi,  my name is Tracy,  I am buying an apartment,  in El kayaker, could anyone advise me,  about any important points,  I need to do before, I sign the paperwork on exchange of contracts,  this also means,  I will be paying 50% of the purchase price,  so I want to be sure I've covered everything I need to do, but before I pay the money,  I need a lawyer to check the paperwork that is registered with the British Embassy,  ThankyoU in advance

The British Embassy website has lists of lawyers recommended by other UK expats on its website. Use one of them. The Embassy does not endorse any of the lawyers, by the way, simply publishes their details as a resource. No lawyers are "registered" with the Embassy or recommended by them for the obvious reason that if anything went wrong, you could sue the government for giving poor advice.

Thank you,  for this information
Kind Regards Tracy

Thank you, so much, for your time and explaining the important points,  I need to follow
Kind regards Tracy

First of all thankyou for the information,  I have decided to buy,  I have had the first contract checked by a lawyer,  to check the land belongs to the person stated on the contract, I have signed the first contract,  setting out the terms of the sale,  of which both parties agree,  as you say the due diligence,, is the most important,  I have  a copy of this contract and so does the developer,  does this contract have to be stamped by the court,  or  the final contract,,   which I will get after my final payment,  and the property handed over to me,  giving me the power of attorney.
Thankyou in advance
Tracy

in 2001  was looking for a good, English speaking lawyer as I had started a business. After several aborted attempts I consulted the British Embassy list.I did not want to an International lawyers fees plus the expense of a new business  My thinking they about the list is that there would be lawyers that would serve my needs at a lesser price and integrity than one of the 500 after all they also do not want to deal with small businesses.
The lawyer I eventually chose told me he would need advance fees in full 15,000LE. This appears to be the common practice here. i have never received a receipt. i ended up stopping the setting up of a business account with HSBC due to his inefficiency and the appropriate Government Ministry issuing the licence would not accept the business format presented. He would have started from scratch again BUT demanded another 15K.
I found an accountant who eventually helped in obtaining the appropriate licence and mitigated the damage done by the first. i am writing this as i have met someone who in 2008 suffered a similar fate at the hands of this lawyer.
i wrote to the embassy just stating that this lawyer had not carried out his brief correctly and that to correct his mistakes i would have to pay in full again. I suggest they should look at him again. These were the only details i gave. instead of asking for details I got a phone call telling me that that he was well known, basically I was told this could not have happened. It was not their practice to look into complaints . this man has/had his name on several embassy lists.
Recently I met someone who in 2001 employed the same man for 28K LE and more-or-less the same scenario. when they complained to the embassy the reply was, 'not our business'. We both thought the list would contain people who were honest and capable. I hope others using the list had a more fruitful experience.