How to submit a petition for entry into the cadastre?

2) Who will deal with the proposal to enter the property into the Land Register?

It should already be stipulated in the purchase contract which party will file the property transfer to the Land Registry and who will pay the associated fee. Both the buyer and the seller can be the petitioner (i.e. the one who signs the petition for registration). However, the signature of one of the parties is sufficient. The parties may also be represented in the registration procedure, for example by an attorney who prepared the purchase contract for them and provided escrow for the purchase price in connection with it. However, the representative is not a party to the proceedings and is entered in a separate box. The power of attorney for the representation of a party must be signed with a certified signature.

Proper orientation is essential. That is why we have written a guide “How to read the Land Registry”.

3) How to submit a petition for entry into the Land Registry and what you will need for the property transfer

The application to initiate the registration procedure must be submitted only on the prescribed form, either electronically, by post or in person. The Land Registry’s online application will make your job easier by being able to retrieve all the necessary data from the Land Registry itself. However, online filing can only be completed with converted attachments.

If you do not use the online application, what do you need to indicate in the application itself?

• The cadastral office to which the application is addressed – this is determined by the location of the property to which the entry relates.
• The parties to the insertion procedure – most often these are the persons who are also parties to the contract on the basis of which the insertion will be made, e.g. the seller and the buyer or the donor and the donee. In the case of natural persons, it is necessary to identify the name, surname, permanent address, date of birth, birth number (if not assigned, then only the date of birth). A legal person must be identified by its name, registered office and identification number when entering it into the Land Register. If there is more than one party, all of them must be filled in.
• Identification of the property and rights to be entered in the cadastre. The application for registration of the right in rem does not have to be signed with a certified signature. On the other hand, officially certified signatures are required on the contract which is the basis for the registration of the right in rem. Only one copy of the document (with officially certified signatures) on the basis of which the rights are entered in the Land Register is attached to the application for registration of immovable property. A deed of gift or sale of immovable property does not necessarily have to be only on a pre-determined document. An example is a deed of gift in the form of a comic received by the Prague Cadastral Office.

How is the registration in the cadastre for a new building or garage?

In this case, you will need to show the subject of the registration on the cadastral map. You will need to supply the relevant land registry with:

• a geometric plan confirmed by the cadastral office,
• a notice of completion of the building or an approval of the building,
• the municipality’s decision on the assignment of the description number,
• the cadastral form Notification of change of data on the land of which the building has become a part.

4) What fees should I expect when entering the property into the Land Registry?

The administrative fee for a proposal for entry into the Land Registry is CZK 2,000 for each proposal. The fee can be paid by wire transfer to the account of the cadastral office, by credit card at the counter or in cash. Payment by means of stamps is rather rare today and not all cadastral offices accept it. All administrative fee rates can be found on the Land Registry’s website.

5) What to look out for when registering in the Land Registry?

As we mentioned above, the procedure of registering a property in the cadastre can be facilitated by an interactive form that will fill in some information by itself after entering the property certificate or a specific property.

However, it is still necessary to make sure that everything necessary and as it should be is filled in the proposal. For example, when transferring a residential or non-residential unit defined under the old Housing Act, the related co-ownership interests in other properties (the land on which the building is located or other adjacent land) must be transferred at the same time as the unit. These co-ownership interests must be specified both in the contract by which ownership of the unit is transferred and in the application for registration. Otherwise, the Land Registry will not register the requested transfer of ownership and the petitioners will have no choice but to withdraw the original application and resubmit it corrected and pay the administrative fee again.

6) How long does it take to register the entry in the Land Registry?

Upon receipt of the application for registration, the Land Registry informs both parties and the property is sealed at that time. This indicates that changes are being made to the title deed in question. The Land Registry will decide on the registration after a maximum of 20 days, but usually within a month.

After the expiry of the deadline and the permission of the entry, the property is transcribed at the Land Registry.

7) What else is the seal marking used for in the cadastre?

The cadastre will mark the property with a seal no later than one working day after it receives the proposal to change the ownership right. The seal at the cadastre does not allow any further changes, it lasts for the entire duration of the proceedings and is cancelled by the cadastre after the registration or the decision to discontinue or dismiss the proceedings.

It is therefore advisable for buyers to check whether the property they have already reserved is marked with a seal, to check that the buyer is not trying to deceive them. However, the seal is also an insurance policy for the property owner and may be the first indication that something unfair is going on. Should someone try to fraudulently transfer the property, you must use the 20 day period mentioned above, send a statement to the Land Registry and defend yourself with what is known as an objection.

The Cadastral Office will then examine the application for registration – but only from the angles imposed by law:

• verify whether the prescribed form has been complied with,
• examine whether the transferor is the beneficial owner,
• check whether the entry is possible and whether any facts prevent it.

In practice, it is important to note that the Land Registry always starts from the situation at the time of the application and will not take into account documents drawn up later.

An available attorney advises: The Land Registry offers a Change Tracking service which, for a fee of CZK 200 per year, will automatically alert you to any changes to the property you are monitoring (e.g., the marking of a seal or the commencement of proceedings). This is a simple and effective tool to prevent fraudulent transfers.

8) Can the land registry refuse the transcription?

It is not uncommon for errors to be found in the submission that prevent the Land Registry from granting the application. If the defects are removable (most often clerical errors, unverified signatures, unpaid administrative fees), they can be resolved by correction within the time limit set by the Land Registry. The worse option is irremediable defects (for example, insufficient or incorrect specification of the immovable property or proposed rights), where the cadastre rejects the application completely. Unfortunately, this happens quite often. It is enough, for example, to mislabel a parcel of land or a party to a contract. For example, we once dealt with a case where the signature indicated Zdenka instead of Zdeňka. In the end, however, we managed to reverse the situation in favour of the client and complete the proceedings.

9) Withdrawal of the application for entry into the cadastre

There is no need to despair the moment you hold in your hands a notice from the Land Registry with irremovable defects. The most appropriate and quickest solution in such a case is to withdraw the application for registration.

The Land Registry has no special form for this, but remember that there is no way to withdraw the application without:

• the reference number of the proposal,
• the date of filing,
• the participation of all parties involved and a declaration that they request the return of the deposit documents to the hands of the specific party.

The application for withdrawal of the proposal for entry must then be signed by all parties and subsequently sent or delivered in person to the office of the Cadastral Office. The submission of this request is free of charge. The following process is followed:

1. The Cadastre processes the withdrawal proposal, stops the proceedings and sends a confirmation to the parties.
2. It waits until all the parties have received the letter or until the 10 days have elapsed.
3. If you have waived the possibility of revocation, the office will send you back the deposit documents and you can re-submit the deposit application. Otherwise, you must allow 15 days for the appeal.

If you don’t file a withdrawal, the Land Registry will forward the refusal to the court in case you want to challenge its decision and the 30-day period for a possible lawsuit starts. This slows down the whole process considerably. We therefore recommend that you also pay attention to these formalities and collect your mail.

Want to make sure the whole process goes off without a hitch? Within 48 hours, we can handle the complete contractual and legal process of buying or selling a property for you flawlessly, professionally and online. Precise submission of the application for the entry of the ownership right into the Land Registry is a matter of course.

Summary

Filing a petition for entry into the Land Registry is a necessary step to ensure that the actual transfer of ownership, the establishment of an easement or a pledge takes place. The contract itself is not sufficient – only the authorisation of the entry by the cadastral authority is decisive. In this article, we have explained what can be registered, who can file the application, what documents you will need, how much you will pay for the registration and how long the whole process usually takes. We have also focused on the most common mistakes, the reasons for rejecting the proposal, the importance of the so-called seal in the cadastre and the possibilities of withdrawing the proposal. Thanks to this, you will know what to look out for to ensure that the registration in the cadastre takes place without unnecessary delays and complications.