MOROCCO Law and Practice Contributed by: Loris Marghieri, Dounia El Aissaoui and Julien Nouchi, Gide Loyrette Nouel
It usually takes between six and 12 months to successfully enforce a mortgage. 3.7 Subordinating Existing Debt to Newly Created Debt According to Law No 39-08’s Section 169, the priority of debt ranks from the date of registra - tion, with same-day registration receiving equal consideration, and retains its rank and validity without further formality, until the valid registra - tion of its withdrawal ( mainlevée ). In order to subordinate a mortgage already registered in favour of a new mortgage, a spe - cific subordination or intercreditor agreement between the creditors concerned exchanging ranks is required. The rules of subordination among creditors and governing the enforcement rights will be set out in that agreement. 3.8 Lenders’ Liability Under Environmental Laws In principle, and provided that they did not cause the damage themselves, the holder of security over real estate cannot be held liable for envi - ronmental damage. 3.9 Effects of a Borrower Becoming Insolvent A security interest granted by a borrower remains valid under Moroccan law even if the borrower becomes insolvent. However, a creditor is not entitled to proceed with the enforcement of a security interest for the duration of the borrower’s insolvency proceed - ings. Indeed, any creditor whose claims are not privileged by law is prohibited from commenc - ing or continuing an individual action against the debtor.
In addition, pursuant to Article 714 of the Com - mercial Code, if it is determined that the granting of a security is detrimental to the debtor’s bank - ruptcy estate, the bankruptcy court may invali - date securities granted during the six-month period preceding the debtor’s declaration of bankruptcy. 3.10 Taxes on Loans Loans granted by Moroccan licensed banks, or by through shareholder loans, are exempt - ed from registration duties but other loans (eg, those granted by foreign banks not licensed in Morocco) are subject to 1.5% registration duties. 4. Planning and Zoning 4.1 Legislative and Governmental Controls Applicable to Strategic Planning and Zoning Law No 12-90 on urban planning sets out the general rules applicable to strategic planning and zoning. Urban Development Master Plans ( Schémas Directeurs d’Aménagement Urbain ) and zon - ing plans are used to establish strategic plans and zoning schemes ( plans de zonage ). Each municipality prepares development plans ( plans d’aménagement ), which categorise the land into distinct use zones and assign a different building density ratio to each zone. 4.2 Legislative and Governmental Controls Applicable to Design, Appearance and Method of Construction In practice, public law regulates a landowner’s ability to build a new building or refurbish an existing one through an administrative authori - sation that must be obtained prior to beginning any construction work.
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