Liberia

Registering Property in

Liberia

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: LRD 701,502.55
  • City: Monrovia

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain a Transfer deed form

The parties obtain a Transfer deed to provide to the surveyor who will be conducting the survey of that property. At that time, the seller will also provide a copy of his deed to the new owner. The transfer deed can be obtained in shops.
1 day no cost
* 2 Buyer contacts a surveyor to conduct the survey of the property

One of the requirements prior to transferring a property in Liberia is to conduct a survey of that property by a licensed surveyor. The potential buyer will contact a certified surveyor to conduct the survey of the property to be transferred.
The property cannot be surveyed during the notice period. Any person wishing to introduce a claim of ownership on that property must come forward during the notice period. If there are no disputes recorded after the notice period, then the surveyor will conduct the survey of the property with the potential buyer as a witness, and anyone else who wishes to be present.


Agency: Private licensed surveyor 		21 days (simultaneous with procedure 3) USD 50
* 3 Publication of survey in newspaper and radio by surveyor

By law, the surveyor must inform the public that the survey or re-survey of a particular property will be conducted on a set date. The notice will also provide the location of that property. The notice is published in local newspapers and is also aired for a period of 15 days. But the law is silent as to the length of this notice.
1 day (simultaneous with procedure 2) included in procedure 2
4 Parties contract a lawyer to start official transfer process.

The parties give the lawyer the deed on which the sketch of the property has been done by the licensed surveyor. The transfer process will then start.
2 days 10 - 15% property value
5 Lawyer visits Registry to check the status and ownership of the property

The records are kept in ledgers and the search for ownership is done manually by checking the ledgers. An application for search for Deeds/Titles document is completed. It takes a week for CNDRA to search for the deeds. CNDRA will contact MOFA in case they do not have the entire file.

Agency: Center for National Documents & Records / National Archives (CNDRA) 		7 days USD 4 (250 LB$)
6 Lawyer visits Bureau of Internal Revenue of the Ministry of Finance (Real Estate Division) to check for outstanding taxes on the property

Bureau of Internal Revenue (Real Estate Tax Division) at the Ministry of Finance
Comments: The Real Estate Tax division will issue an official Tax Receipt evidencing that all delinquent real property taxes have been paid in full. This Tax Receipt is mandatory, as of June 1st, 2009 in order to have the deed probated at the Probate Court.


Agency: Bureau of Internal Revenue at the Ministry of Finance 		3 days no cost
7 Parties sign the deed form at the lawyer's office

Once all verifications are done by the lawyer to ensure that the property is free of all encumbrances and established the rightful ownership of the property, both parties can now sign the deed, which will be probated at the Probate Court. The deed must have a vivid description of the building.
1 day no cost
8 Lawyer visits Probate Court to request the transfer

The lawyer visits the Probate Court to request the transfer (1 business day). The Court will then publish a notice of the transaction for 4 business days. If there are no objections, on the fifth business day, the lawyer can pick up the deed with the seal of approval from the Court.
The Probate court rules state that only lawyers are allowed to submit the deed for probate.

Agency: Probate Court 		7 days no cost
9 Parties register the deed at the Registry

The buyer will complete the Registration Form for Deeds and Titles Documents. A bill form will be provided at that time and payment is made at the MOF.
Documents to be provided at time of registration:

1. A copy of the Real Estate Tax receipt (obtained in procedure 5)
2. Flag receipt from the Ministry of Finance as proof of payment
3. Original and Two copies of Bill form
4. Probated Deed


Agency: Land Registry 		7 days 5 USD (300 LD$)
10 Seller goes to Bureau of Internal Revenues to change the owner’s name on the property

The parties will change the ownership name at the Bureau of Internal Revenues. It is in the interest of the seller to ensure that the name is changed so that the new owner is responsible for future taxes.

Agency: Bureau of Internal Revenues 		1 day no cost
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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