Land Purchase — the Legal Framework of the Public Registry
The purchase of a land plot is built around the public registry of rights to immovable property: it is the registry that determines who the owner is, what rights and restrictions exist on the plot and which application deserves priority. The law on the public registry regulates this process with detailed rules — from the general principles of registration to the ranking of rights. This page explains what a land buyer needs to know about registration procedure, extracts, registrable rights and priority.
The greatest part of the risk in a land transaction is connected precisely with registration matters: incomplete documentation, unknown restrictions or a late-filed application can derail the transaction or shift the right to another person.
Registration Procedure and the Public Registry Extract
Registration proceeds on the basis of registration or other documents directly, and likewise properly created electronic copies of that documentation. The registering organ confirms the submission of an application by registration in the application registration book — in electronic or paper form — and by assigning it a registration number. A precondition for passing an application submitted through automatic means of administration into registration is payment of the registration fee — a practical detail that must be taken into account when preparing the application.
As a result of registration the registering organ prepares an extract, and upon registration of ownership of unregistered immovable property or a change of cadastral data — additionally a cadastral plan. The extract from the registry of rights to immovable property is prepared on the basis of the unified bank of data of the registries of rights, public-law restrictions, tax pledges and debtors, and reflects the data registered and in force in those registries at the moment of its preparation. Especially important is the norm that in carrying out a transaction on immovable property, the authority of the interested person is established only by an extract from the public registry — the extract is issued to any person against payment of the corresponding fee.
What Rights Are Registered on a Plot and How Priority Works
Together with ownership, the registry registers many other rights: superstructure and its mortgage encumbrance, usufruct, easement, mortgage, tenancy and subtenancy, lease and sublease, request, leasing, rights of use and possession provided by public law, as well as obligations connected with ownership — including privatization conditions of immovable property disposed of by the state, autonomous republic or municipality — and pre-emption rights. The registry also records identification data of the subject and object of the right, including the cadastral data of the immovable property.
Rights such as easement, mortgage or lease may be registered only if ownership of the plot is already registered. Moreover, data registered on such rights and on privatization conditions pass unchanged to the new owner, save for cases determined by legislation. Transactions with the participation of a private-law legal entity receive special treatment from the law: a land buyer must know that the origination of rights such as lease requires registration in the public registry, and for transactions concluded with the participation of a private-law legal entity this requirement applies when their total term so provides.
The rules of ranking are a decisive detail of a land transaction: if several mutually exclusive rights are requested for registration on the same object, only the right submitted for registration earlier is registered. The ranking of rights of the same content is determined by the time of submission, and the ranking of registered rights by the time of submission of the application, unless the law provides otherwise. Accelerating the transaction and filing the application in time is thus practically a matter of priority.
Registration of Existing and Under-Construction Objects on the Plot
If a building exists or is planned on the plot, its registration is regulated separately: ownership of a building or its unit — including an under-construction building — is registered on the basis of a document confirming the right and construction documentation, and upon completion of construction, a document confirming the recognition of the building as fit for use. Registration is also permissible where the building is legalized or is lawfully deemed such under the legislation.
If construction documentation, a fitness document or a legalization act is not submitted, ownership of such building is not subject to registration: the owner of the plot or a holder of a right-confirming document is issued an information card for the building actually placed on the plot, and the object is not reflected in the extract or the cadastral plan. For the acquirer of land this means: the legal status of structures on the plot must be determined before the acquisition, since it may differ from the picture in the extract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the extract the central document of a land transaction?
Because in carrying out a transaction on immovable property the authority of the interested person is established only by an extract from the public registry, which reflects the data registered and in force and is issued to any person.
What restrictions may be found on a plot?
Alongside ownership, the registry records mortgages, easements, tenancies, leases, public-law rights, privatization conditions and other rights and obligations that also pass to the new owner.
How is the priority of competing applications resolved?
Of mutually exclusive rights, the one submitted earlier is registered; the ranking of same-content rights is determined by submission time. Timely filing is therefore decisive.
What happens with an unlawful structure on the plot?
Absent the proper documentation, ownership of it is not registered — only an information card is issued, and the object is not reflected in the extract or cadastral plan.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team accompanies a land plot acquisition with a full registration perspective: we examine the extract and cadastral plan, identify registered rights and restrictions, assess the legal status of structures and prepare the transaction and registration documentation so that your application is filed timely and completely. Contact us on Legal.ge — your land purchase will pass every registration stage under professional control.