A new Czech Civil Code that has been 10 years in the making is due to be passed in Czech parliament later this year (2012). If it is passed it could come into effect as soon as 01/2013.
Present Laws
Under the present laws registration in the Land Registry does not necessarily mean that a person is the actual owner. It could be that the person has not actually acquired the property in a legal way and the actual contracts and steps making him owner have precedent over what is registered in the Land Registry.
Under the current Civil Code that someone is registered in the Land Registry does not guarantee they are the actual owner.
It means a buyer could think they were purchasing a property from a valid seller but in the end not actually be the owner even after paying the purchase price, signing a purchase contract and being registered in the Land Registry.
Currently a top-notch legal team checks how the seller acquired the property (ie. purchase contracts, inheritance, restitution, etc.) and does not rely solely on the Land Registry. If there are questions regarding the ownership they need to go back even further.
Real Life Experience
One foreign owner we are in contact with in Brno owned a property with cash and had an unscrupulous Czech individual forge his signatures, etc. to actually move the ownership to themselves. This change was registered in the Land Registry totally without knowledge of the foreign owner. Only by chance his attorney noticed the change in the Land Registry before this Czech individual was able to resell the property and they were able to have him convicted by the police.
Supposedly this person had done this with a number of other property owners and targeted those who owned their property with cash meaning there were no bank liens to deal with.
New Czech Civil Code
Under the new Czech Civil Code the registrations in the Land Registry would become reliable meaning that ‘good faith’ buyers would become owners of the property. This law is due to be passed by parliament later this year and could come into effect in 01/2013.
Would you like a tried and proven legal team to represent you in your Czech property purchase? Contact us at info@czechpoint101.com or +420 774 440 999 for a free consultation.
Updated/Aktualizováno: July 22, 2014,
