Annotation of a Dispute in the Land Registry

One of the annotations in land registry law is the annotation of a dispute. It is a frequently used legal mechanism with highly significant legal effects, which you can learn more about by reading this article.

Annotation as a Type of Land Registry Entry

Under the Land Registry Act, there are three types of entries of registered rights in the land registry. Registered rights means the right of ownership and all other rights in rem, as well as the contractual rights entered in the land registry that are tied to a property, namely lease, rent, right of repurchase, right of pre-emption and concession. Unlike intabulation and provisional entry, by which registered rights are acquired, altered or terminated, with or without the need for subsequent justification, an annotation does not register rights. Instead, the entry makes visible relevant circumstances that the law provides may be annotated in the land registry. An annotation may also establish certain legal effects where the law so provides. The basic purpose of every annotation is therefore to make relevant circumstances visible or to establish certain legal effects relevant to assessing the legal status of a property.

Subject Matter and Effect of an Annotation

It should be emphasised that notations (zabilježbe), as a type of land registry entry, may be ordered only where provided for by the Land Registry Act or other laws. The definition of a notation makes clear that it may be ordered when a particular legally relevant fact or an important personal relationship (the subject of the notation) needs to be entered in the land registry. A prerequisite for the notation of personal relationships is that the personal relationship for which the notation is requested already exists and is proven by documents; through the notation, these relationships are made public and take effect against everyone. Accordingly, under the Family Act, the land registry records a notation of guardianship, a notation of the exercise of parental care after the child reaches the age of majority, and a notation of the management and disposal of marital property. In addition, the Bankruptcy Act provides for a notation of the opening of bankruptcy proceedings. On the other hand, legally relevant facts are noted in the land registry so that the legal effects of the notation can be achieved, such as a notation of priority ranking, of the write-off of land, of a joint mortgage, of a dispute, of alienation or encumbrance, and other legally relevant facts provided for by the Land Registry Act (Official Gazette 63/19). A notation may be requested by the persons it concerns, by a court or by another competent authority. Where the law provides for the possibility of a notation, the land registry court will order it by decision upon a submitted application, and its effect is that no one can claim they did not know, or could not have known, about the notation.

Annotation of a Dispute

Among those mentioned, one of the annotations that may be entered in the land registry is the annotation of a dispute. Under the Land Registry Act, an annotation of a dispute is an entry that makes it visible that proceedings are pending before a court or another body concerning a registered right, the outcome of which could affect the intabulation of the registered right, or its ownership, existence, scope, content or encumbrance. A dispute that may be annotated in the land registry is any dispute relating to a property or an already registered right. From this definition it can clearly be concluded that a dispute cannot be annotated if it concerns a personal relationship or a legal fact that would need to be entered in the land registry, but only if it concerns a dispute over a registered right. Common examples of annotations of a dispute in case law are the annotation in the land registry that litigation is pending to acquire ownership by adverse possession or by building on another person's land.

Annotation of a Dispute and Standing to File a Request

Standing to request an annotation of a dispute belongs to every party to the proceedings between whom the dispute is being conducted, as well as to any other person who is a participant in the proceedings or who has a legal interest, provided they prove that a dispute capable of affecting the registered rights is pending before a court or another competent body. On the basis of a submitted request, the annotation of a dispute may be allowed directly by the land registry court, but it may also be ordered by the court or other body before which the proceedings are being conducted (for example, a civil court). If, after the annotation has been made, the plaintiff withdraws the claim, or the claim is dismissed, or the proceedings are finally discontinued, the holder of the registered right (the registered owner or the holder of another right in rem or contractual right) has the right to request deletion of the annotation of the dispute.

Annotation of a Dispute and Its Effect

The effect of an annotation of a dispute is that the final judgment rendered on the claim also binds those persons who acquired registered rights after the petition for annotation of the dispute had already reached the land registry court. If the plaintiff succeeds in the dispute, they have the right to request registration in the priority rank secured to them by the annotation of the dispute, and the right to request deletion of all entries made in the land registry afterwards, where they conflict with that new entry. It follows that an annotation of a dispute does not prevent any land registry entry that comes after it, provided the requirements for those entries are met. Likewise, if the proceedings for which the annotation was made are concluded by an enforceable decision under which the entry to which the annotation relates would be changed, that decision will be enforced by allowing the change to be entered in the manner and to the extent decided. At the same time, deletion will be ordered of both the annotation of the dispute and all entries requested after the petition for annotation of the dispute reached the land registry court, where they conflict with the new entry. It is important to note that an annotation of a dispute is deleted ex officio after ten years from the moment it was allowed.