How to get the Information
1. WHO CAN APPLY FOR INFORMATION: IS THE LR ABSOLUTELY PUBLIC OR NOT?
Under Greek Law, anyone invoking legitimate interest can apply for information held in the land registry, which is provided by the Land Registrar in the form of a certificate or excerpt of the Land Book. The law, however, does not impose the producing of special evidence or information proving the existence legitimate interest.
Regarding the on the spot control of the land books, the relevant information in the Land Registry is public in the sense that anyone can have access in the books.
2. WHERE CAN BE FOUND THIS INFORMATION:
The information held in the Land Registries can only be found at the regional land registry offices. The interested party can obtain information either by applying for a specific certificate/excerpt issued by the Land Registrar or by conducting an on the spot search in the land books of each registry office.
3. HOW TO OBTAIN IT:
At the moment, in Greece, there are two systems concerning land registration, depending on the termination or not of the land survey conducted by the Cadastre in the area covered by each Land Registry Office:
a) In areas where land survey has not been completed, the existing system by which the Land Registries function is that of “transcription” and it is “person based”, meaning that all registration concerning property rights is being done under the name of the owner. Of course, each act which is thus registered (notarial act, court decision, administrative act) must necessarily contain a full description of the immovable concerned. In these Land Registries (which is the vast majority) all enquiries concerning immovable property are based on the name of the owner. The interested party must submit a signed application form at the office, which, under the existing law, can only be in paper and in Greek and it should refer a specific name and a specific title which describes the immovable.
b) In areas where land survey has been actually completed, the Land Registry office functions using cadastral data and a “plot based” system. Registration of all property rights takes place under a specific immovable bearing a unique cadastral number. Upon request, via a specific application form, the interested party can obtain any excerpt of the cadastral data base.
In both systems, the certificates or excerpts issued by the Land Registrar can be received by the applicant at the office or can be sent to the applicant in paper form at his cost. The existing law in Greece does not allow electronic signature of the certificates and excerpts, therefore, they cannot be sent to the applicant electronically.
The avarage cost for each certificate or excerpt requested is 12 Euros.
4. WHEN DOES THE EXCERPT ISSUES?
In Land Registries which function without cadastral data, as mentioned above, registration or rejection of any act takes place whithin a day. In Land Registries covering areas where cadastral data is available, registration or rejection of an act must take place, according to law, within 5 days following the date of submission. Any certificate or excerpt concernig the specific registration is issued after the registration procedure is completed.
5. WHAT IS THE VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE EXCERPT FROM THE LAND BOOK?
In general, certificates and excerpts issued by the Land Registrar reflect the legal status at the moment of issuing. However, certificates of registration of an act in the Land Registry are valid for an undefined period of time, since they reflect the actual fact of registration and this fact is not subject to changes.
6. WHERE CAN THE EXCERPTS FROM THE LAND BOOK ARE USED?
Certificates and excerpts from the Land Book can be used for various purposes, pubic or private, that is, in public institutions, courts, real estate transactions, banking institutions and any other transaction concerning real estate. The law does not limit the use of the information provided for specific purposes.
7. HOW TO IDENTIFY THE IMMOVABLES?
As mentioned above, in Land Registries which function with cadastral data, the immovables are identified by a unique cadastral number. In Land Registries covering areas where the land survey has not been completed there is no identifier, however, every act to be registered must, according to law, contain a full description of the immovable in question, that is, location, address, surface, specific boundaries etc.
8. LR AND CADASTRAL RELATIONSHIP:
According to the law, in areas where land survey is completed, the Cadastre provides cadastral data to the Land Registry which, thus, works as cadastral office using the past registrations made in the land registry as archives.
