New provisions in the cadastre and real estate law no 7/1996

Significant changes to the law on cadastre and real estate publicity were enacted under Law no. 133/2012 (published in the Official Gazette no. 506 of 24 July 2012 and entered into force on 27 July 2012), and under Law no. 219/2012 (published in the Official Gazette no. 789 of 19 November 2012 and entered into force on 22 November 2012) (the “Cadastre Law”).

The main scope of the recent amendments is the creation of a unitary cadastral system that will entail the accurate registration of all real estate properties with the Romanian integrated system of land book registration.

The most important changes brought in by the new law are:

1. Online access to Land Book services

From 2013, the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity ensures that public notaries have direct and permanent access to the electronic land books.

Online access to the land book services shall also be available for any other interested party upon the issuance of an order by the general manager of the National Agency, which shall establish the procedure to be followed for granting such access.

This procedure shall simplify access to the land books, providing quicker and easier access to a complete set of information with respect to any registered immovable asset.

2. The implementation of the Land Book and Cadastre National Programme

The Land Book and Cadastre National Programme was created to integrate the Romanian cadastre and land book system, which will include all immovable assets in Romania. A version of this programme was established in 2010, but encountered various difficulties in the implementation phase. The current programme establishes guidelines and solutions to the previous practical difficulties.

A protocol will also be concluded between the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity and the National Union of Public Notaries in Romania.

The Cadastre Law was recently amended to include the following measures for implementation of the programme:

(i) Upon request to the cadastre office and pursuant to a notary procedure, possessors of plots of land who do not have ownership documents may register as owners in the land book, based on an acknowledgement given by any public notary. If no one opposes within 30 days from the publication of this acknowledgement at the relevant municipality, a certificate will be issued for the registration of the possessor as owner of the property. Otherwise, the possession shall be annotated in the land book, as a de facto state, with final registration to be performed 5 years after the initial annotation or, upon request, based on an ownership title or an irrevocable court decision.

(ii) If the cadastral measurements of properties previously registered with the land book contain any errors regarding the graphical representations of such properties, their correction shall be performed without the consent of the registered owner.

(iii) In the event of the death of any person, the local administrative secretary is obliged to inform the public notary body, within 30 days from the date of the owner’s death, in view of starting the inheritance procedure.

The cadastral services and registration operations performed for the implementation of the Land Book and Cadastre National Programme shall be carried out free of charge.

As a result of the Land Book and Cadastre National Programme, on a long-term basis, ownership titles shall be more secure and there will be a lower risk of such titles being challenged in court.

3. The removal from agricultural use of intra-muros and extra-muros plots of land

Law 219/2012 provides that any intra-muros plots of land (i.e. plots of land that are located inside the city boundaries) to be used for construction works may be permanently or temporary withdrawn from agricultural use through the construction permit. The law further stipulates that the content of the documentation necessary for such withdrawal from agricultural use, as well as for any change in the category of use of the land, shall be established by regulation approved by an order with normative character of the National Agency’s general manager.

For extra-muros plots of lands (i.e. plots of land that are located outside the city boundaries), the content of the documentation necessary for the withdrawal from agricultural use shall be established by regulation jointly approved by the minister of agriculture and rural development and the National Agency’s general manager.

This change has simplified the building permitting procedure for intra-muros projects (especially for photovoltaic projects, which under the previous law required various preliminary consents and approvals for the removal of land from agricultural use).