Limitations

1.    Are all legal rights in property capable of registration in your system? If not please state the legal rights or interests in land that must be investigated outside of the registration of title system i.e. those that could bind a bona fide purchaser for value without notice without registration?

All rights in rem are capable of registration in Portuguese land registry system.

Only public restrictions, such as the legal prohibition preventing construction in certain areas for environmental reasons, must be investigated outside of the registration system. But these restrictions never question the validity of the transmission although they can limit the use of the property by its owner. These public restrictions are often considered to be hidden charges over the property.

Note that not all the public restrictions can be considered hidden charges. Some public restrictions such as easements, for example for passage of power grid or pipeline, must be inscribed at the land registry

2.    To whom does responsibility for investigation of such rights apply?

The investigation of public restrictions shall be conducted by the interested party or by his lawyer or solicitor.

3.    What protection if any is available to parties who are bound by property rights that are not capable of being recorded on the title registration system? (For example “hidden rights” such as certain easements that may run with land without a legal requirement for registration).

The parties which are bound by public restriction can fill a judicial claim for damages that have arisen from a precontractual relationship (culpa in contrahendo), if they prove the seller to have not fulfilled his information duties.

4.    Are the boundaries conclusive in the registration of title system? If not, are they guaranteed by another state agency/government department/authority?

The boundaries are mentioned in the immovable property description in the land registry, but they are not protected by the legal presumption generated by it. This presumption only applies to rights and charges over the property.

The immovable physical data are not protected by the land registry which offers its legal protection only to the registered rights and charges.

The boundaries should be guaranteed by the cadastral authorities, but the mapping of the national territory is not complete yet, so no agency or authority guarantees the boundaries.

5.    How does an aggrieved party remedy any boundary error?

An aggrieved party can remedy any boundary error through a judicial claim.