Since February 10th this year, Croatian citizens can no longer submit applications for land registry entries themselves; instead, public notaries or lawyers handle this exclusively by electronic means. We asked the prominent Zagreb lawyer Mr. Branko Kostić for his comment on this change.
What can citizens expect from this change?
The expected effect of this change is to speed up the resolution of land registry cases, as only qualified professionals will submit applications to the court, reducing the number of unfounded applications and those missing required documents.
In any case, regardless of this change, parties are advised to hire a professional for all transactions related to real estate purchases, who will check the land registry status and any potential obstacles to the sale.
It is especially noted that, due to recent court practice, even extracts that appear completely in order must have at least the finality of the latest entries verified to avoid the possibility of deletion lawsuits by third parties who may have rights related to the property.
Buying and selling real estate is a legal transaction usually performed once or twice in a person’s lifetime, and it is necessary to apply a high level of caution when concluding all legal transactions related to acquiring and disposing of real estate. Every lawyer will tell you that most disputes, especially those involving fraud, could have been avoided by hiring a professional who is ultimately legally responsible for their actions in the real estate transaction process.
