Selling Property in Jordan from the USA and Canada: The Power of Attorney, Registration and Protecting the Absent Owner
When property in Jordan is sold from the USA or Canada, the owner usually does not attend the sale in person, so the whole sale is carried out by an agent signing before the registration directorate, and the owner may not learn its details until the buyer has become a registered owner. These transactions are governed by Real Estate Ownership Law No. 13 of 2019 and its amendments, which makes registration at the registration directorate a condition for a valid disposition of real estate located in areas where land settlement has been completed, and by Jordanian Civil Code No. 43 of 1976, which sets the limits of an agent for sale's authority. A sale registered by an agent is hard to undo once registered, so the protection of an owner living abroad is built before signing, in the power of attorney he gives and its limits, a matter a specialist lawyer examines before the owner signs any instrument.
1. Registration at the Registration Directorate Is the Sale, and Nothing Before It Transfers Ownership
An owner living abroad may treat the sale of real estate like the sale of any other asset: agreement on the price, then a deposit, then a contract signed by both parties. Article 63 of the Real Estate Ownership Law, however, provides that dispositions, contracts and all other transactions on real estate in areas where land settlement has been completed are valid only if registered with the registration directorate, and that every disposition or contract made otherwise is void. A contract the agent signs with a buyer at a real estate office does not make the buyer an owner; it is the transaction registered at the directorate that transfers ownership to him.
The law adds to this the authority of the register itself: Article 9 provides that the courts and the government act on the contents of the title deeds issued by the registration directorates without further evidence, and that none of these deeds may be set aside except in accordance with the law. This means that what is registered in the buyer's name becomes the starting point against the former owner and everyone else.
A related issue concerns expatriates in particular: registering property in the name of a brother or relative living in Jordan "to make things easier," on the understanding that it remains in truth the property of the person who paid for it. Article 10 of the same law provides that claims based on possession and on a borrowed name (simulation) are not heard for registered real estate, so the person who paid cannot claim ownership of the property through a borrowed-name claim. Assessing the position of a property registered this way, and what legal routes remain for the person who paid, is among the first things the lawyer examines before any step.
2. What Changes in the Power of Attorney When the Purpose Is Selling Property
When the owner is in the USA or Canada, the power of attorney becomes the instrument through which the whole sale passes. The types of powers of attorney, their wording, the irrevocable power of attorney, and what is needed for a power of attorney made abroad to be accepted are covered in the article Powers of Attorney from the USA and Canada for Use in Jordan. What is specific to a sale is that the registration directorate executes the power of attorney within its written limits: the Department of Lands and Survey's rules for accepting powers of attorney provide that a power of attorney must be executed with all the conditions it contains, within the limits of the law, public policy and public morals. The directorate is bound by a restriction the owner writes, and a restriction that is not written is not presumed.
Deciding what is written into a power of attorney to sell, and what is left to the agent's discretion, depends on the relationship with the agent and the stage of negotiation with the buyer, which is itself a legal point that merits consultation before the power of attorney is made. A document made in the USA or Canada also needs authentication before any Jordanian body accepts it, and the lawyer checks this against the instructions in force when it is used.
3. When the Agent Sells Below Value, to Himself or to His Relatives
The Civil Code regulates the authority of an agent for sale on the price, the identity of the buyer and receipt of the price. Article 852 provides that an agent authorized to sell without restriction sells at a suitable price, and that if the principal has set the price, the agent may not sell for less. If a sale below that price takes place without the principal's permission, the same article gives the principal options with different effects, and the lawyer assesses which suits the case depending on what has become of the property and the buyer's position.
Article 853 provides that an agent for sale may not buy for himself what he was authorized to sell, and may not sell it to his ascendants, descendants or spouse, or to anyone with whom the transaction brings him a gain or spares him a loss, except at a price above the fair market price; the sale to these persons is permitted at the fair market price if the principal authorized him to sell to whomever he wishes. The words of authorization in the power of attorney therefore decide whether the agent may sell to his relatives and at what price, which the lawyer examines in light of Article 853.
As for the price, Article 855 provides that the principal has the right to receive the price from the buyer even though receiving it is the agent's right, and the Department of Lands and Survey's rules for accepting powers of attorney provide that powers of attorney to sell may be accepted even if they contain no clause on receiving the price. The money may therefore pass through the agent's hands by default, and Article 856 obliges the agent to give the principal the necessary information on how far the power of attorney has been executed and to render an account of it. When the agent disposes of the price for himself, the dispute may move from a civil accounting into criminal liability, and where that line falls depends on the facts of each file.
4. Risks Facing an Owner Living Abroad
The following table sets out risks facing an owner who is away from his property, the legal basis for each, and what the lawyer examines:
| Risk | Legal basis | What the lawyer examines |
|---|---|---|
| A power of attorney that does not confine the sale within written limits | The Department of Lands and Survey's rules for accepting powers of attorney | What the power of attorney actually permits, and its effect on the intended sale |
| A sale below value | Article 852 of the Civil Code | Whether the power of attorney set a price, and what the article allows the principal after the sale |
| A sale by the agent to himself or to his relatives | Article 853 of the Civil Code | The buyer's relationship to the agent, and the scope of authority in the power of attorney |
| The price remaining in the agent's hands | Articles 855 and 856 of the Civil Code | Who received the price, and the agent's duty to render an account |
| A sale contract signed outside the registration directorate | Article 63 of the Real Estate Ownership Law | The effect of the unregistered contract and of what was paid under it |
| Registering the property in a relative's name | Articles 9 and 10 of the Real Estate Ownership Law | What legal routes remain for the person who paid |
| A sale under a forged power of attorney or after the agent's authority was revoked | Article 13 of the Real Estate Ownership Law | The chain of later transactions, the buyer's good faith, and what the law offers to protect the right while the lawsuit is pending |
5. A Sale Challenged After Registration: Why Undoing It Is Hard
If a sale is registered under a forged power of attorney, after the agent's authority was revoked, or in excess of the power of attorney, the road to recovering the property runs through a lawsuit. Article 13 of the Real Estate Ownership Law gives the court, if it finds the disposition or registration transaction void, the power to decide, taking into account the rules of good faith and the stability of real estate ownership, one of two outcomes: annulling the disposition and the transactions built on it and re-registering the right in its owner's name whenever possible, or ordering whoever caused the harm to pay fair compensation based on the value of the property at the time the lawsuit is filed.
The file may therefore end with a sum of money instead of the property itself; among the situations in which the court may lean toward compensation is a property that has passed to a second buyer in good faith. The law provides routes to protect the right while the lawsuit is pending, and the lawyer chooses between them depending on the facts of the file. The article Nullity of Property Transactions Under Jordanian Law sets out the grounds of nullity and the court's power to choose between re-registration and compensation.
For the owner who gave a power of attorney years ago and whose relationship with the agent has since changed, the practical question is when the revocation of the agent's authority takes effect against the registration directorate and the buyer. The lawyer examines the date of the power of attorney, its type and the law under which it was made, and how to document the revocation in a way that the body executing the power of attorney will recognize.
Practical note: The rules on powers of attorney in real estate dispositions changed when the Real Estate Ownership Law of 2019 came into force, and Article 15 of that law provides that powers of attorney made before it took effect remain valid for their periods and under their terms in accordance with the law under which they were made and registered. The lawyer therefore determines the rules governing each power of attorney by the date it was made, and reviews the acceptance rules applied by the Department of Lands and Survey at the time of execution. Do not sign a power of attorney to sell property, or a revocation of an earlier power of attorney, before reviewing its text or consulting a specialist lawyer.
Alongside the civil lawsuit, using a forged power of attorney may open criminal liability for forgery and use of a forged document, and coordinating the civil and criminal tracks, and which comes first, is a judgment the lawyer builds on the facts of the file.
6. Tenants and Rent While the Owner Is Away
Not every owner living abroad wants to sell: the owner may lease the property and leave a relative to collect the rent. Here too, the wording of the power of attorney determines what the agent may do in managing the property and dealing with the tenant, which is one of the power-of-attorney questions covered in the article on powers of attorney from the USA and Canada referred to above.
An owner who discovers while abroad that the tenant has stopped paying, or that the property is occupied by someone other than the tenant, needs someone with standing to act before the court in Jordan. Here the lawyer examines the lease agreement itself and the provisions of the Owners and Tenants Law that govern it, and the article Recovery of Leased Premises in Jordanian Law sets out the grounds on which an eviction claim rests.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
Can an owner living in the USA or Canada sell property in Jordan without traveling?
Yes, the sale may be made through an agent signing before the registration directorate, provided the power of attorney is accepted by the Department of Lands and Survey. In areas where land settlement has been completed, the sale is valid only when registered at the directorate under Article 63 of the Real Estate Ownership Law.
May the agent buy the property for himself?
No. Article 853 of the Civil Code provides that an agent for sale may not buy for himself what he was authorized to sell, nor sell it to his ascendants, descendants or spouse except at a price above the fair market price, and this rule varies with the words of authorization in the power of attorney, which the lawyer examines.
Does the agent receive the price of the property sold?
He may, since Article 855 of the Civil Code makes receiving the price the agent's right while keeping the principal's right to receive it from the buyer, and a power of attorney to sell is accepted even if it contains no clause on receiving the price. The agent must render an account of the execution of the power of attorney (Article 856).
What is the status of a sale contract signed outside the registration directorate?
In areas where land settlement has been completed, Article 63 of the Real Estate Ownership Law provides that a contract not registered with the registration directorate is void, so ownership does not pass under it. The effect of any deposit or price paid under it is a separate question the lawyer assesses.
Can the owner recover the property if it was sold under a forged power of attorney?
If the court finds the disposition void, it may annul it and re-register the property in its owner's name whenever possible, or award fair compensation based on the value of the property at the time the lawsuit is filed, taking into account good faith and the stability of ownership (Article 13). Recovering the property itself is not guaranteed in every case.
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Selling property in Jordan while the owner lives in the USA or Canada is a delicate matter for both sides: on the owner's side, the safety of his property depends on the text of a power of attorney he signs far from the property and the buyer, and on the agent's side, whether a relative or not, signing makes him civilly liable if he exceeds the power of attorney, and that liability may extend to criminal liability if he disposes of the money for himself. Because the sale is complete once registered, and because the court may award compensation instead of restoring the property in some cases, such as where it has passed to a buyer in good faith, a mistake in drafting the power of attorney or in revoking it is hard to correct from abroad. For legal consultation in civil cases, or to read about breach of trust when an agent disposes of money for himself and about what changes in any legal matter when its owner is outside the country in the article A Lawyer in Jordan for Residents of the USA and Canada, you can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy.
