Common Errors in Applications for Registration in the Real Estate Cadastre

Quick Overview: What to Watch Out for When Filing a Registration Application

An application for registration in the Land Registry must correspond exactly to the contract on the basis of which the right is being registered. The Land Registry primarily verifies the correct identification of the property, the parties involved, the right being transferred, any attachments, the authenticity of signatures, and payment of the administrative fee. If the information in the application and the contract differs, the Land Registry will usually not approve the registration. Some errors can be corrected upon request, but fundamental errors in the contract or in the scope of the application often mean that you must resubmit the application.

The most common errors are:

• the contract and the application for registration do not contain the same information,
• the property is identified differently than in the Land Registry,
• a co-ownership share, a parcel of land, or a related right is missing,
• the signatures are not notarized,
• the parties fail to realize that some defects cannot be corrected during the proceedings.

Are you planning to file an application for registration and don’t want to risk rejection due to an error in the contract or form? Let us review or draft yourpurchase agreement, gift deed, and the application for land registry entry itself. You’ll avoid unnecessary delays, repeated fees, and problems with the property transfer.

Most Common Errors

Errors can occur in the registration document itself—that is, the document on the basis of which a specific right to real property is entered into the land registry. Most often, this will be a purchase or gift agreement, or an agreement establishing an easement or lien, one copy of which must be attached to the application for registration. You’ve surely heard or read countless times that it’s not a good idea to rely on freely available contract templates on the internet.

It may sound like a cliché, and one might think that such a contract couldn’t possibly be so difficult that you couldn’t handle it yourself; however, the Land Registry will not overlook certain deficiencies in such a contract. This is because the deed of registration is subject to review by the Land Registry to ensure it meets all legal requirements. One such requirement, for example, is the correct identification of the real estate in question in accordance with the Cadastral Act—such as a parcel by its parcel number and the cadastral district in which it is located (you cannot, therefore, identify the property at your own discretion).

Another common error is missing information about the properties for which the registration of a right is being proposed; adding this information would constitute an impermissible expansion of the registration application (it is important to distinguish between how to define a residential unit created under the old Act on Ownership of Apartments and, conversely, a unit created under the new Civil Code).

And if, for example, you wish to donate real estate to a married couple, be sure to clearly specify in the deed of gift whether you are donating it to their joint marital property or as co-owners with shared ownership; otherwise, you will also encounter problems with the land registry.

In practice, we often see that people underestimate the importance of accurately describing the property. In the contract, they describe an apartment or plot of land in “plain language,” but not exactly as it is registered in the land registry. For the land registry, however, the parcel number, cadastral area, unit number, title deed, and related shares are decisive. A single missing detail can be enough to delay the transfer by weeks.

In apartment transfers, errors often occur regarding shares in the common areas of the building or related land parcels. If you’re unsure whether the draft document matches the title deed and the contract, it’s worth consulting with an attorney before filing. Correcting errors in advance is cheaper and faster than initiating new proceedings with the Land Registry.

There may also be a discrepancy between the information in the deed of registration and that in the application for registration itself. In such a case, the Land Registry is bound by the application for registration, and if the information in the application and the deed of registration do not match, it cannot approve the application for registration.

For example, in the case of residential units defined under the previously applicable Act on Ownership of Apartments, a share in the land belonging to the unit is transferred along with the unit itself. If this share were listed in the application for registration but not in the deed of registration, the Land Registry would not register the title.

Conversely, the deed of conveyance may list the residential unit, including co-ownership shares in all related parcels of land (the parcel on which the building is located and other related parcels, such as a garden), but the co-ownership share is missing from the application for registration. This can happen quite easily if the related land is registered on a different title deed than the unit itself.

In the interactive registration application form, the co-ownership share in the related land must then be added manually, which is easy to overlook.

A typical real-world scenario is when a client is transferring ownership of an apartment and the purchase agreement also specifies a share in the land beneath the building. However, this share is missing from the registration application form because it is registered on a different title deed, and the form did not automatically include it. The Land Registry cannot then register anything other than what was precisely specified in the application. The result is a delay in the transfer and, often, the need to resubmit a corrected application.

Irremediable Defects and Next Steps

The defects described above are so-called irremediable defects, and as a result, the Land Registry will not approve the proposed registration. In this context, the Land Registry will inform you that you may withdraw your application for registration, provided that all parties involved agree.

This is a faster option than waiting for the Land Registry Office to issue a decision rejecting the application for registration, since a 30-day period then begins for filing a special action under Part V of the Civil Procedure Code, which cannot be shortened in any way, and only after this period has expired can a new application be considered (any new proceedings will be suspended until then).

Therefore, if you withdraw the application for registration, you must subsequently correct the defects in the registration document or the application and resubmit everything to the Land Registry Office. Unfortunately, you will also have to pay the administrative fee again; for an application to register a right, this fee is 2,000 crowns.

Rectifiable Defects

There are also defects that can be corrected upon request by the Land Registry Office. For example, if a signature on the deed of registration is not notarized, you can appear in person at the Land Registry Office and acknowledge the signature as your own. However, if one of the parties has not signed the document at all, this constitutes a defect that cannot be corrected during the registration proceedings. It is also possible to rectify a situation where you fail to pay the administrative fee when filing the application for registration; you can do so later upon request from the Land Registry Office.

The biggest problem is that a layperson often cannot tell whether a defect is still correctable or whether it is an error that will cause the Land Registry to reject the application. A missing signature verification can usually be corrected. However, an incorrectly defined subject of the transfer or a discrepancy between the contract and the application can be a fundamental problem.

Do you need to transfer an apartment, house, plot of land, or share in a property? We’ll prepare your contract, application for registration, and escrow for the purchase price so that the documents meet the Land Registry’s requirements. Contact us before you submit your application.

Summary

The application for registration in the Land Registry must correspond exactly to the contract and the information recorded in the Land Registry. The most common errors occur in the identification of the property, the transferred right, co-ownership shares, the parties involved, or the attachments. Some defects, such as an uncertified signature or an unpaid administrative fee, can be corrected upon request by the Land Registry. Other errors are irreparable and may result in the Land Registry refusing to approve the registration. In such cases, the transfer is delayed; it is often necessary to withdraw the application, correct the documents, and submit a new application along with a new administrative fee. It is therefore safest to review both the contract and the application before submission.