Registering Property in Benin

This topic examines the steps, time, and cost involved in registering property in Benin.

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Property Value: XOF 17,194,473
City: Cotonou

	Procedure	Time to complete:	Cost to complete:
1	The notary checks the Property Title at the "Service des Domaines"	2 days	BTN 1,500
2	The sale agreement is signed and authenticated at the public notary	2 days	BTN 590, 84
3	Registration of the sale deed at the Registry of Deeds	3 days	8% of property value + Stamp Duty of 800 XOF per page (It is assumed the Sale Deed consists of 4 pages, and 3 copies are required.)
4	The buyer files for a transfer of title at the "Service des Domaines"	3 - 4.5 months	0.3% of property value

Procedure 1.: The notary checks the Property Title at the "Service des Domaines"
Time to complete:: 2 days
Cost to complete:: BTN 1,500
Name of Agency:: Cadastre (Direction des Domaines, de l'enregistrement et du Timbre)
Comment:: Seller brings the title or gives the number of the title to the notary. Notary sends ‘requisition’ to Service des Domaines, so that the Service tells them about the ownership and the pending encumbrances on the property in writing.

Procedure 2.: The sale agreement is signed and authenticated at the public notary
Time to complete:: 2 days
Cost to complete:: Official Notary fee schedule, according to the property value, is as follows
0 to 5.000.000 = 5.000.000 x 4.5%
5.000.001 to 20.000.000 = 15.000.000 x 3%
20.000.001 to 50.000.000 = 30.000.000 x 1.5%
50.000.001 and above = difference x 0,75%
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Parties file the sale agreement at the public notary where they sign the contract and the sale is authenticated.
The scale of fees to pay is as follows, according to the property value:
0 - 5 million francs: 4.5%,
5 - 20 million francs: 3%,
20 - 50 million francs: 1.5%,
50 million francs and above: 0.75%.

Procedure 3.: Registration of the sale deed at the Registry of Deeds
Time to complete:: 3 days
Cost to complete:: 8% of property value + Stamp Duty of 800 XOF per page (It is assumed the Sale Deed consists of 4 pages, and 3 copies are required.)
Name of Agency:: Registry of Deeds
Comment:: During this step the registry verifies if there are any encumbrances still linked to the property and if the transfer is valid. The registration tax was lowered from 12% to 8% property value with the new Finance Law of 2007, which also raised stamp duties from 300 to 800F per page.

Procedure 4.: The buyer files for a transfer of title at the "Service des Domaines"
Time to complete:: 3 - 4.5 months
Cost to complete:: 0.3% of property value
Name of Agency:: Cadastre (Direction des Domaines, de l'enregistrement et du Timbre)
Comment:: The long delay is due to the workload of the only one cadastre serving all of Benin. Articles 943 et 949 du Code Général des Impôts.
The government is sponsoring the transformation of possessory titles into property titles in certain zones (the state pays for 400.000 out of the 500.000 CFA it normally costs). This only concerns 2% of the land so far. The project proceeds zone by zone and all the inhabitants of the zone need to agree with the plan before it starts.