The Land Register

Real Estate and Property

Prepared by: Constantinople

Learning a property's legal status requires more than checking the registered owner's name. The land register allows rights over the property and the related transactions to be traced together.

What Does a Land Register Entry Show?

Rights such as ownership, easements and security do not have the same legal effects as annotations and declarations. Reading an entry correctly requires identifying its section and underlying document. The current page should not be assessed separately from the transaction history. The official deed, journal and cadastral plan are necessary to answer some questions.

Publicity and Access to Documents

The land register's publicity concerns access to relevant records and documents by a person credibly demonstrating an interest. It does not mean unlimited access to anyone's entire asset information. Representative authority, legal interest and the scope of the requested document are demonstrated for the particular application. Summary information viewed online should not be mistaken for the complete transaction file.

Review Before Purchase or Litigation

Before purchase, the legal encumbrances are examined; if litigation is contemplated, the chain of transfers and the transaction alleged to impair the right are reviewed. An accurate register does not establish compliance with every planning and occupancy requirement. Land register review is planned together with necessary municipal, project and actual-condition checks.

Documents to Prepare for an Initial Review

Send each document in its entirety as held by you, rather than only its first page or a screenshot. We determine, according to the file, what authority is needed to obtain missing official records. The following records are helpful at the outset:

• Current land register entry
• Historical chain of entries
• Relevant official deeds
• Documents underlying annotations and declarations
• Cadastral plan

Why Do the Particular Circumstances Matter?

For example, the absence of a registered mortgage and the existence of development rights are different questions. We assess ownership and encumbrances through the land register, and planning status through municipal documents. One document does not answer every question.