Effective legal protection
1. Enchained title and protection: Let’s suppose that someone appears as seller in a document or application for registration. However he’s not entitled to sell in accordance with the LR registration books or land books because precisely the registered owner is a different person who has nothing to do with that one. What would your LR response be?
We need to distinguish the two different systems existing parallely in Greece:
- In LR which function without cadastral data, the Land Registrar cannot refuse registration, in case the seller does not coincide with the owner registered in the Land Books, since the law does not authorise him/her to control the substantive legality of the deed (see above under IV ), which includes ownerhip and capacity of the parties. However, in practise, Land Registrars always inform the parties prior to any such registration and in most cases the document is withdrawn by the parties.
- In LR which function with cadastral data as interim cadastral offices, the Land Registrar performs a thorough control of substantive legality, which includes ownership, capacity of the parties and any other kind of legal defect that may occur. So, in case the seller is not the actual owner of the property, as ownership right is reflected in the Land Books, the Land Registrar is obliged by law to deny registration.
2. Entitlement to alter or modify LR terms. In your LR system, the entries or registrations in the Registration books or land books on the registered properties can be modified?
Registrations contained in the land books can only be altered with the owner’s consent, by a judiciary decision or by an administative act.
3. Notifications. What sort of notifications for parties or stakeholders do LR offices deal with legally?
Greek law does not provide for any official notification for parties made by the LR. However, a notification of an event, not specified in advance, may be possible if LR proceedings make them necessary. In any case, the decision of the Land Registrar to reject registration is always communicated to the interested parties.
