The formal notice in Morocco: what it does, and how to send one
Someone owes you money, or has not kept a commitment. A formal notice is what moves your demand from chasing to law. Here is what it does, what it has to contain, and how to send it so that it counts.
Updated 23 September 2026
General information, not legal advice. Every situation differs — check yours with a professional before acting.
What a formal notice actually is
It is a written, dated demand addressed to the person who owes you something, requiring them to perform within a set period. The Dahir of Obligations and Contracts provides that a debtor is in default once they have been given notice (article 254), and that the notice must be in writing with a certain date (articles 255 and 256).
While you chase by phone, you are asking a favour. From the formal notice onward, the consequences of the delay begin, prescription is interrupted, and you are building the document a court will look for first.
Which disputes it covers
Any dispute where someone owes a sum or has not kept a commitment. It is not a landlord's tool.
- Rent that has stopped being paid
- A debt between individuals, or an acknowledgement of debt
- An invoice delivered and never settled
- A deposit or advance that is not returned
- A contractual commitment that is not performed
What it must contain to hold up
A vague notice is contested without effort. It has to let the other party know exactly what is being asked, and let a judge verify that they knew.
- Both parties identified precisely, with addresses
- The basis: the lease, the contract, the invoice, the acknowledgement of debt
- The exact sum claimed, or the precise act required
- A clear deadline to perform
- What happens if it is not met
- The date and the signature
The most common mistake
Demanding “the sums owed” without stating a figure, or “promptly” without a date. A demand nobody can verify is a demand that can be argued with.
Registered letter or commissaire judiciaire?
Both give a certain date. The difference is proof of receipt, and that is where cases are lost.
An unclaimed registered letter leaves the argument open: the other party will say they received nothing. A commissaire judiciaire travels to the address, hands the document over and draws up a record of service that stands as proof. If the person refuses to take it, the refusal is recorded — and matters continue regardless.
For a small sum between people who are still talking, a registered letter is often enough. For a case with a real chance of reaching a judge, service is what turns an assertion into evidence.
What deadline to give
The period must be reasonable for what is being asked. The notice Indari prepares gives the other party 7 days to comply.
You will often come across 15 days: that figure attaches to residential and professional leases under law 67.12. Depending on the nature of your dispute, it is not necessarily the period that applies to yours.
And afterwards
In a good share of cases the notice is enough on its own: receiving a document served by a commissaire judiciaire changes how serious the matter looks, and many situations settle at that point.
If the deadline passes without an answer, the case can go to the competent court with the notice and the record of service as the main exhibits. Depending on the dispute that may mean payment, termination of a contract, or an order to pay. What the notice gives you is a file that stands up.
What it costs, and what Indari does
A registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt costs a few tens of dirhams. Service by a commissaire judiciaire costs more, because it produces something else: a document handed over in person and a record that stands as proof.
Indari prepares the notice in Arabic from the details confirmed with you by phone, and a commissaire judiciaire signs and serves it anywhere in Morocco. Standard 790 MAD, Express 990 MAD, a fixed price known in advance. The request is filed online, including from abroad.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a formal notice required before going to court?
- It is not demanded in every situation, but it is almost always expected: it establishes that the other party knew what was asked of them and did not do it. Without one, many claims are fragile.
- Is an email or a WhatsApp message enough?
- They prove you asked, and they are worth keeping. What they lack is a certain date and proof the message was received — the two points the argument then turns on.
- Does it have to be in Arabic?
- Arabic is the working language of Moroccan courts, and it is the language the notice is drawn up in. It is also the language the other party cannot claim not to have understood.
- What if the person has moved, or refuses the document?
- The commissaire judiciaire records the situation in the report. That is the point of using one: what would have stopped a letter is simply documented.
- Can I do this from abroad?
- Yes. The request is filed online, the details are confirmed by phone, and the commissaire judiciaire travels within Morocco.
- How long before the other party receives it?
- Preparation takes days once the details are confirmed. Service then depends on finding the person at the address given, and the deadline runs from that point.