Estate agency commission in Morocco: who pays, how much, and when it is legally owed

Foreign buyers arrive in Marrakech assuming agency fees follow an official scale, like registration duties or notary fees. They don’t. No Moroccan text sets the amount of a property commission, and no law yet regulates the estate agent profession. What actually protects both sides is not a statutory tariff — it is what the mandate says, before the first viewing.

A profession still without legal status

Unlike the notary, whose role and fees are regulated, the Moroccan estate agent operates with no dedicated legislation. A draft law on estate agent status has existed for over a decade: built around some thirty articles, it would make the activity a liberal profession governed by law, and would define an estate agent as any person who carries out, on a regular basis, as a main or secondary occupation, under a mandate contract and for remuneration, services of property mediation, administration and management on behalf of a third party. The text would require Moroccan nationality and the absence of any final conviction for acts damaging honour, trust and integrity.

That draft has still not been adopted. Professionals are calling for it to be activated, and its transfer to the Secretary General of Government is expected once the new executive takes office. Until it is published in the Official Bulletin, it has no binding force — citing it as though it already applied is one of the most widespread misunderstandings on the market.

The direct consequence: anyone can present themselves as an intermediary. Basic verification — commercial register entry, tax identification number, the ability to issue a VAT invoice — is the only filter available. An intermediary who cannot invoice legally will not be able to give you the receipt you will need on resale either.

The real legal framework: the brokerage contract

In the absence of a professional statute, the relationship falls under the brokerage contract in the commercial code (law no. 15-95), Title III, articles 405 onwards. Article 405 defines it: brokerage is the agreement by which the broker is instructed by one person to find another person and bring them into contact, with a view to concluding a contract.

Three articles deserve a buyer’s attention:

• Article 409: a broker who fails to tell one party the name of the other contracting party becomes liable for non-performance of the contract. An intermediary who refuses to put you in direct contact with the seller is not “protecting” the transaction — they are exposing themselves.
• Article 410: the broker guarantees the authenticity of the last signature affixed to documents that pass through their hands and relate to the deals they have handled.
• Article 417: a broker who knowingly lends their services to unlawful operations has no right to any remuneration.

Where no remuneration is set by the agreement or by custom, the court fixes it, using its own discretion or expert opinion, by reference to what is charged for comparable services. Without a written amount, you are exposing yourself to a discussion settled by a judge.

What a commission actually costs in 2026

There is no legal scale: fees are freely negotiated. Market practice, on the other hand, is stable and well documented.

Transaction	Most common practice
Sale — total commission	5% excl. VAT, roughly 6% incl. 20% VAT
Sale — usual split	2.5% excl. VAT from the seller, 2.5% excl. VAT from the buyer
Large cities (Casablanca, Marrakech)	scale generally aligned on 5%
Some secondary cities	occasionally higher rates, up to 8%
Long-term rental (12 months or more)	one month’s rent excl. VAT from each party

Some agencies apply a sliding scale on high-value properties, others charge the full amount to a single party — including “0% seller” arrangements. Some sellers build the commission into the advertised price, others invoice it separately.

On a flat sold for 2,000,000 MAD, 5% excluding VAT is 100,000 MAD, rising to 120,000 MAD including 20% VAT. The gap between a quote announced as “5%” and the same quote read excl./incl. VAT is therefore 20,000 MAD on that single transaction.

This is the most banal and most expensive trap: insist that the mandate states whether the percentage is exclusive or inclusive of VAT, and on what basis it applies (advertised price or the price actually agreed after negotiation).

When is the commission legally owed?

This is the point that generates the most litigation, and Moroccan commercial case law is reasonably clear. The Casablanca Commercial Court of Appeal has held that the commission is owed once the sale has been concluded thanks to the broker’s intervention, regardless of the broker’s absence at the signing of the authentic deed. It has also held that the right to commission is acquired as soon as the intermediary has carried out the decisive steps — introducing the parties, opening negotiations — during the validity period of the contract, the date of final conclusion being irrelevant.

In practice: going around the agency after a viewing to deal directly with the seller does not cancel the commission if the intermediary can prove the introduction. That tactic, still common in Marrakech, regularly ends in a court summons.

Conversely, the mandate should be written, dated, signed, for a fixed term, and state the amount of the remuneration and which party bears it. Beware of a widespread confusion here: the French rules of the loi Hoguet — mandatory clauses on pain of nullity, maximum duration, loss of the right to fees — do not apply in Morocco. Here, those clauses are not a sanctioned legal formality but your only contractual protection. Their absence does not automatically deprive the agency of its commission: it deprives you of proof of what was agreed.

A line that also matters on resale

Commission is not only an entry cost. On resale, the property profit tax is calculated on a net gain after deduction of acquisition costs. Where real costs are not evidenced, they are assessed on a flat-rate basis at 15% of the acquisition price, a lump sum deemed to cover notary fees, registration duties, land registry costs and intermediaries’ commissions. If the costs actually incurred exceed that lump sum, they are deductible at their real amount — provided they are evidenced.

Hence a rule to apply on the day of purchase, not ten years later: demand a proper invoice, with VAT, tax identification number and a reference to the property. A commission paid in cash without an invoice is permanently lost for tax purposes, and adds to the payment traceability issues Moroccan regulation is tightening year after year.

Checklist before signing a mandate

• Verify the agency actually exists: commercial register, tax identification number, ability to issue a VAT invoice
• Have the rate specified excluding or including VAT, and the basis of calculation (advertised or negotiated price)
• Have it written in black and white which party bears the commission, and in what proportion
• Set a fixed term for the mandate and check any renewal clauses
• Require the triggering event to be stated: at exactly what moment the commission falls due
• Never pay before the final deed is signed at the notary, unless there is a clear clause accepted knowingly
• Keep the invoice with the full acquisition file, with resale in mind
• Budget the commission alongside the costs detailed in our step-by-step guide to buying property in Morocco

As long as the draft law remains pending, no official licence certifies the quality of your intermediary. It shows in their transparency on these specific points — and a serious professional has no reason to refuse to put them in writing. For the other pitfalls specific to this market, our article on mistakes to avoid before buying in Marrakech is a useful companion read.