Land Registry and the Register of Deposited Contracts

Clients are often unclear about the difference between the land registry and the register of deposited contracts, so in the text below we will try to clarify the matter. The register of deposited contracts is based on contracts for the purchase of apartments with an occupancy right (stanarsko pravo), or on contracts concluded before the entry into force of the Property and Other Real Rights Act (Official Gazette 81/15, 94/17) and the Land Registry Act, when it was not considered essential to ensure the conditions necessary for registration in the land registry.

How did the register of deposited contracts come about?

The register of deposited contracts was established by the Ordinance on the Establishment and Maintenance of the Register of Deposited Contracts of 1991, as amended in 1994. The Ordinance was intended as a transitional solution until the land registry status of cadastral parcels on which apartment buildings had been constructed was finally settled. Because of the present-day problem of a large number of buildings without registered condominium units (neetažirane zgrade), as owners of individual apartments entered in the register of deposited contracts have no interest in initiating the process of registering the building as condominium property, since they can sell, bequeath and otherwise dispose of the apartment on the basis of the existing entry, the Ordinance on Linking the Land Registry and the Register of Deposited Contracts and on Registering Ownership of a Separate Part of a Property (condominium ownership) was adopted in 2013. The aim of the Ordinance is to prevent possible abuses, such as multiple sales or multiple mortgage encumbrances on the same property. In this article we describe the parts that make up the register of deposited contracts under the Ordinance of 1991.

Acquiring ownership of an apartment by depositing the contract in the register of deposited contracts

Under Article 23 of the Act on the Sale of Apartments with an Occupancy Right, the buyer acquires ownership of the apartment by registration in the land registry after proceedings have been conducted to determine, in accordance with special regulations, the shape and size of the building plot necessary for the regular use of the building. However, if the property is not registered in the land registry, ownership of the apartment is acquired by depositing the contract with the land registry department of the court in whose jurisdiction the apartment is located and by registration in the register of deposited contracts maintained by the court. Depositing a contract in the register of deposited contracts is also permitted where the apartment was acquired on some other legal basis, as well as where the apartment is being transferred to a third party. The law provides that the Minister of Justice and Public Administration adopts the ordinance on the establishment and maintenance of the register of deposited contracts.

What parts does the register of deposited contracts consist of?

Under the Ordinance on the Establishment and Maintenance of the Register of Deposited Contracts of 1991, the register of deposited contracts is kept by the land registry department of the court in whose jurisdiction the apartment being registered is located, regardless of whether the building containing the apartment is registered in the land registry. The register consists of a main register and a collection of documents, and is kept separately for each cadastral municipality. The main register consists of 50 bound sub-folios, and a separate sub-folio is kept for each apartment. Each sub-folio consists of property sheet A, ownership sheet B and encumbrance sheet C.

Property sheet

Property sheet A has two sections, AI and AII. Section AI records the building in which the apartment being registered is located, indicating the street and house number and the land registry or cadastral parcel on which the building stands. Section AII records the apartment being registered, stating its position in the building, its floor area, and the number and purpose of its rooms.

Ownership sheet

Ownership sheet B records details of the deposited contract, the owner's first and last name, unique personal identification number (JMB) and place of residence, the ownership share, and any restrictions on the owner's right to freely dispose of the apartment.

Encumbrance sheet

Encumbrance sheet C records encumbrances and restrictions, such as mortgages, easements and the like.

Collection of documents

The collection of documents holds a certified copy of the document on the basis of which the entry in the register of deposited contracts was made.

Application for registration of a contract and the register of deposited contracts

The court deposits the contract and enters it in the register of deposited contracts upon the application of the contracting parties.

Together with the application for registration, the applicant must submit to the land registry court: – a document (the apartment sale contract or a court judgment replacing it) containing all the details to be entered in the A sheet (ownership sheet part), – proof that the seller holds the right of disposal over the apartment being registered, or is its owner. The court issues an extract from the book of deposited contracts in the same way as a land registry extract (zemljišnoknjižni izvadak) is issued.