Legal value of LR Information

What is the legal value of land registry information delivered by your national system?

– Certified information. Is the LR information partly or completely certified? If partly, could you please describe what specific information is certified?

– Non certified information

The Land Registry can provide information in two different ways: certified and not certified information, both available in paper or electronic format.

With regard to the certified information, (certificate of ownership and burdens) any specific information contained in the Land Registry related to the ownership or burdens of any immovable property or entry in the Land Registry can be certified. It can only be issued on paper or telematicaly and is always signed personally by the registrar with his physical or electronic signature.

According to the data provided, as said before, the registrar can certify any information contained in the land books.

As a general approach we can state that the certification may contain the description of the registry plot, its situation, its area, any property appertaining to it, its share of building ownership, any special administrative programs it belongs to (such as the low-income housing programme), mortgages, including the mortgage liability for principal, interests and costs, the mortgage’s term, any injunctions, easements or possible lawsuits involving the property, any tax-related encumbrances, and generally any circumstances involving the home’s ownership. In addition, it may also include any other information expressly asked for. There is a special law provision that entitles any person with a legitimate interest (for example as a potential buyer or as a potential creditor) to ask for a “literal certification of any entry in the land registry” which will include a word- for-word reproduction of all entries related to the immovable, or information on the non-current history of the property, or just ask the Registry to certified only the extremes you are interested on.

In conclusion:

– Any information in the land registry can be certified by the Land registrar with the only limit of the data protection rules.

– This means that certification can express:

a. the ownership or burdens, and the description of the registry plot

b. the whole content of any registry entry or just specific information requested

c. the applicable and valid entries or the whole history of the registry file including the cancelled ones.

d. The literal reproduction of the registry books or just the summary or key notes of the registered rights.

– Please consider that the Registrar is responsible of any information certified by him so that any damages caused by any irregular or inexact certification will be compensated by the Registrar.

The not certified information is the so called simple informative note (simple excerpt) and it is just comprehensive of the basic information of a certain registry plot.