In a statement, the head of the Lawyers’ Association to Appeal and Amend the Rental Law, Attorney Adeeb Zakhour, called on Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri to make a single-article amendment to the rental law that would establish balance and clarify the rental relationship, in light of conflicting judicial jurisprudence and worsening confusion among citizens.
Zakhour explained that most of the decisions issued by the courts counted the extension years as of 2017, with the majority of the articles of the law suspended until the fund was established and entered into force based on Article 58. He pointed to decisions issued by the Beirut Court of Appeal, previously headed by Judge Ayman Oueidat, and others by the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, headed by Judge Rima Chebaro, which established judicial stability for years and considered that the deadlines do not begin to run before all elements of the law are completed.
Zakhour recalled that Berri had clarified twice in 2015 the inapplicability of the 2014 law after it was appealed before the Constitutional Council, noting that despite the consistency of jurisprudence, some rulings were issued that considered extensions of 9 and 12 years starting from the 2014 law, contrary to the majority of decisions, which led to widespread legal confusion and swamping citizens with endless judicial disputes.
He added that the confusion was exacerbated by the failure to establish, compose, and function properly committees neither in 2014 nor in 2017, nor to establish and finance the fund, which is the basic foundation of the rental law, in addition to sending unlawful warnings and lawsuits against tenants, which brought tens of thousands of citizens into judicial procedures and disputes without a clear reference.
Zakhour stopped at what he described as a chaos of media interpretations, where “everyone is presenting legal opinions and increasing them, even on TikTok and the radio,” with exaggeration about the expiration of the extension on February 28, 2026, contrary to the rulings issued. He stressed that the committees cannot carry out their work without the Fund and its financing, which is currently impossible in light of the financial deficit and lack of funding sources, warning that the existing gaps may lead to the displacement of thousands of families.
Zakhour concluded by hoping that Berri would take the initiative to clarify and confirm the three-year extension for all tenants, beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the fund, with increases commensurate with the minimum wage, and place a concise and clear project on the agenda of the House of Representatives to vote on as an expedited duplicate, thus removing any ambiguity in the extension and regulating the contractual relationship between the landlord and the tenant, while suspending the work of the committees and the fund until the law amendment is completed and a clear housing plan is developed.
