The registry of rights to immovables is the central part of the public registry of Georgia: it is here that ownership and the rights and obligations connected with it are registered, here that the extract necessary for transactions is prepared, and here that questions of the priority of rights are resolved. This page explains which rights are subject to registration, the role of cadastral surveying and of the extract, how pre-registration works, when abandonment of ownership and changes to land plots are registered, and how ownership of a building or its unit is registered.
The Extract from the Public Registry and Its Significance
An extract from the registry of rights to immovables is prepared on the basis of the unified databank of the registries of rights to immovables, public-law restrictions, tax pledges and mortgages, and debtors, and reflects the data registered and in force in those registries at the moment of its preparation. The extract is issued to any person and is prepared together with the decision on registration, while where registered data exist — upon payment of the corresponding fee. The content and form of the extract are determined by the instruction.
The following rule is particularly important: when a transaction or other legal act is carried out concerning an immovable, except the determination of the right of inheritance, the authority of the interested person is established only by an extract from the public registry. In practice this means that in a sale, gift or mortgage it is precisely this document — and not any other certificate — that reliably confirms the party's authority.
Which Rights and Obligations Are Registered
The following are registered in the registry of rights to immovables:
- ownership;
- superstructure and the encumbrance of the right of superstructure with a mortgage;
- usufruct and servitude;
- mortgage;
- rent and subrent, lease and sublease;
- the right to demand and leasing;
- rights of use and possession provided by public law;
- the privatisation conditions of an immovable disposed of by the state, an autonomous republic or a municipality;
- the preemptive purchase right of state and municipal organs and of other persons.
Besides data on the registered right, the registry also contains identifying data of the subject and object of the right, including the cadastral data of the immovable. A restricted right is registered together with the corresponding restriction or obligation. Data registered on encumbrances and obligations connected with ownership pass to the new owner unchanged, except in cases determined by legislation. A number of rights, including superstructure, usufruct, servitude and mortgage, may be registered only if ownership of the immovable has already been registered. For some of these rights, and likewise for rights arising from transactions concluded with the participation of a private-law legal person for a term exceeding one year, registration is necessary for their creation. The procedure for registering a mortgage certificate is determined by the instruction.
Identification, Cadastral Surveying and Agricultural Land
For compiling the cadastral survey or measurement plan, the owner or lawful possessor of the immovable is responsible for identifying its location and boundary, while the performer of the survey or measurement works is responsible for their proper execution and the accuracy of the data of the plan. The performer is obliged to draw up the plan in accordance with the procedure determined by a decree of the Government of Georgia; the same procedure also determines the suspension and cancellation of the performer's certificate for works executed in breach of the requirements of legislation.
Registration of a right in a plot of agricultural land is carried out under the procedure established by this law, taking into account the requirements determined by the relevant organic law and other legislative and sub-legislative acts. Where a private-law legal person registered in Georgia registers ownership, a mortgage or an obligation entailing the creation of ownership on such a plot, and the data on the partners are not established by the records of the registry of entrepreneurs or are incomplete, duly compiled documentation on the partners establishing the dominant partner must be submitted to the registering organ; where the holder is an organisational entity that is not a legal person — documentation on its members. The composers of these data are responsible for their accuracy, and the submission of incorrect information may become a ground for cancellation of the registration of ownership. Where there is a plurality of partners which are themselves legal persons, the declarant may be asked to provide information on the dominant partner in the manner determined by the instruction. This obligation is not imposed on a financial institution defined by legislation or an international financial institution determined by a government decree acting within the framework of permitted activity, nor on a private-law legal person where ownership is registered on the basis of an investment plan (agreement).
Pre-Registration and the Priority of Rights
In order to secure the registration of a right in an immovable, pre-registration of that right may be carried out on the basis of an agreement concluded between the parties. In the case of a plot of agricultural land this is accompanied by additional requirements of the organic law as well. Pre-registration excludes the registration of any other right in that thing on the basis of a transaction and the registration of abandonment of ownership, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, but it does not exclude the registration of an heir as owner of the thing.
Pre-registration terminates upon registration of the right it was intended to secure, upon expiry of the term if a term was set, on the basis of a written agreement of the parties, and likewise upon registration of another person's ownership in the manner established by legislation — except registration of an heir and the case where cancellation of ownership leaves the thing without an owner. As for priority: where registration of several mutually exclusive rights is requested on the same object, only the right or rights submitted earlier for registration are registered — hence the timeliness of the application is decisive.
Abandonment of Ownership and the Designation of a Land Plot
The registry of rights to immovables also registers the abandonment of ownership. It is admissible only if, at the moment of the request, no right other than ownership is registered on the immovable. Ownership is deemed abandoned from the moment of registration of the abandonment, and after abandonment ownership passes to the state.
A land plot is registered as a plot of agricultural or non-agricultural designation, and an agricultural plot — with the corresponding category, in accordance with the title document. If the designation or category is not specified in the document, registration takes place on the basis of additionally submitted information or a statement of the interested person. The registry correspondingly registers the change of a plot's designation from one type to another and the change of the category of an agricultural plot; the procedure, conditions and time limits for registering these changes are determined by the instruction.
Forest Boundaries, Division and Merger of Plots, and Preemptive Purchase
The determination of the boundary of state or private forest is carried out by the agency on the basis of the corresponding act of the Government of Georgia. A change of the boundary of state forest is effected by correction of the boundary, the registration of which takes place on the basis of an application of the manager of the property. Correction of a forest boundary is likewise possible on the basis of an application of the owner or lawful possessor of the land plot if the registration document giving rise to the right to request registration of ownership was issued, received or drawn up before 1 January 2012; within the framework of systematic registration it may also be effected on the application of the possessor (user) if the plot satisfies the conditions for recognition of ownership of arbitrarily occupied land.
The division of a land plot or the merger of plots is registered on the basis of a project agreed with the organ of the relevant municipality, which must comply with the requirements established by the Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activity Code and other normative acts. As for the preemptive purchase right — it is registered on the basis of an application of a co-owner or lessee. The interested person must submit to the agency the insured letter by which the corresponding notice was sent and a document confirming delivery which establishes the date of delivery. The right is registered for the term indicated in the notice, counted from the day following delivery, or following publication; if the exact term cannot be established, the term is deemed to be fifteen calendar days. Expiry of the term causes the decision on registration to lose force. If the notice was not delivered to the holder of the preemptive purchase right at his registration address or the person cannot be precisely identified, the information is published on the agency's website. The registering organ bears no responsibility for the authenticity and correctness of the documentation submitted.
Registration of Ownership of a Building or Its Unit
Ownership of a building or its unit, including a building under construction, is registered on the basis of the title document and the construction documentation, and upon completion of construction — the document confirming that the building has been recognised fit for use (acceptance into exploitation). Registration of a legalised building or one lawfully deemed as such is also admissible. Where these documents do not exist, ownership is not registered: the owner of the land plot or a person holding a title document receives an information card for the building actually placed on the plot, which is not reflected in the extract or the cadastral plan, and the agency informs the municipal and supervision organs of this fact.
A building may be the object of a single right or consist of more than one unit; premises united in one system and interconnected are registered as a unit. A unit may be alienated only after ownership of it has been registered. Division of a building into units and distribution of the area constitute a ground for a change in the ownership registered on the land plot: co-ownership of the owners of the units is registered on the plot, and the share of each unit is determined by the ratio of its area to the total area of the building. Division into units, merger and change of functional designation are carried out on the basis of construction documentation or of a project agreed with the corresponding organ; if the functional designation cannot be established from the documents, registration follows the indication of the interested person. This special regime does not extend to registration of ownership of the state, an autonomous republic or a municipality, or to privatisation conditions.