Responsible Agency

1. Which agency/government body/authority is responsible for land registration?

Land Registry.

2. If the responsibility for property registration is dealt with by an agency/authority, to which government department is it responsible to?

The Land Registries are incardinated under the Ministry of Justice, and all matters concerning them are entrusted to the General Direction of Registries and Notaries.

3. How is the organization managed?

Every Land Registry is managed by a land registrar who has passed an Estate exam and has several employees, depending on the size of the   Registry.

4. Describe the organisational framework

There is no Central Service, every Land Registry has its own district with exclusive competence and every Registry has its own database regarding the land included in their territory.

5. How is the agency/government body/authority funded?

The Land Registries are self-financed through the fees they charge for registration, once the expenses are covered, the excess of income becomes the registrar and employees wages.

6. Are the staff of the agency/government, department/authority civil servants?

Registrars are civil servants. The employees are hired in each office by the registrar and have a permanent contract just as a regular worker.

7. Who is responsible for cadastral/mapping information? Is it the same organisation or a separate agency/department?

Cadastral information is a competence of the Cadastre, the General Direction of Cadastre is part of the Ministry of Economy. They are completely separated from the Land Registry but coordinated.

When titles are presented in the Land Registry, they must include the cadastral reference number and in some cases a descriptive cadastral certificate and Land Registries have access to the Cadastre database.

8. What are the principal functions of the registering department/agency/authority?

In every Land Registry, public documents regarding property and real rights are registered.

Registration is voluntary, but mortgage registration is constitutive, therefore mortgages do not exist until they have entered the books in the Land Registry, but the general rule governing registration is that real rights exist even without registration, the access to the Land Registry makes them more protected.

9. What are the key values/principles underpinning registration of title in your system?

Land Registries are the key instrument for preventive legal security. They provide security in the Real State market since its content is presumed exact and real.

10. What registration system of property do you have in your country (title/deed)?

Title system.