SNC: There Is No “Partially Regulated” Real Estate Market in Serbia

The Serbian Notary Chamber (SNC) points out that there is no “partially regulated” real estate market in Serbia, that all the agreements on the transactions of real estate are confirmed and authorized at public notary offices in line with the valid regulations and submitted to the competent cadaster services for registration.

– SNC believes that the Republic Geodetic Authority is doing great damage to the real estate market and all the participants in this job with the report in which it says that the real estate market encompasses, as they write, “three systems: the regulated, the partially regulated and the non-regulated system of the real estate market. The formulations, as well as the assessments, estimates and “parameters” that are cited in the report have no basis in any valid regulation in the Republic of Serbia and therefore cannot represent a realistic report on the real estate market – the press release says.

They add that “this report, among other things, causes panic among the citizens and the economy that the majority of the transactions of facilities under construction belongs to some kind of ‘partially regulated market’ in which there are considerable risks for both the purchasers and the sellers.”

– The report doesn’t cite the fact that, in line with the current Law on the Registration Procedure with the Cadaster of Real Estate and Utilities and the Law on Planning and Construction, the obligation of the cadaster is to pre-register facilities under construction – they say and add:

– The Republic Geodetic Authority also says in its report that “the partially regulated system of the real estate market encompasses real estate which is not registered in the cadaster,” whereby it gravely misleads the entire public by saying that illegal transactions of real estate or parts of real estate under construction or already built, and which, for various reasons, have not yet been registered in cadaster, are in line with the law.

SNC reminds the public, but also the Republic Geodetic Authority, that public notaries solemnize (confirm and authorize) agreements on the transactions of real estate and that they examine the contents of each individual agreement – checking the status of the real estate and the legality of the affair in detail.

– Each transaction of real estate which is done with the solemnization of the agreement at the public notary is fully regulated by the current laws, whether they are newly built facilities, old facilities, or facilities under construction – they clarify.

For several years now, SNC has been insisting on a consistent application of the laws and pre-registration, but that useful tool, envisaged by the law, which would allow facilities with suitable permits to be visible in the cadaster, is still vary rarely used at the Republic Geodetic Authority, they say.

According to the insight of public notaries, the lack of pre-registrations and a large number on unresolved prior requests for registration in the cadaster are precisely the most common reasons why some transactions are not listed in the cadaster. To clarify, the Law on Planning and Construction proscribes for each facility under construction and each apartment in that facility to be pre-registered until the issuing of the exploitation permit, when the pre-registration turns into a registration.

When the sales and purchase agreement on an apartment under construction is authorized, the cadaster should pre-register the purchaser, which thereby becomes the “pre-registered purchaser”. SNC believes that if the cadaster acted that way, in line with Article 22 of the Law on the Registration Procedure with the Cadaster of Real Estate and Utilities, it would certainly increase the legal security.

Considering that there are few of those pre-registrations relative to the number of facilities under construction, public notaries check the status of the facilities every other way – by examining the building permits, the status of the investors, the register of real estate transactions.

– Having all this in mind, SNC appeals to the Republic Geodetic Authority not to use terms such as “partially regulated market”, “regulated”, or “non-regulated” in its reports, because they don’t exist either formally or essentially in the legal practice in the Republic of Serbia. As for the job that public notaries carry out within the real estate market, it is exclusively the solemnization (confirmation and authorization) of agreements which are in line with all the valid laws and regulations – they conclude.

Javnobeležnička komora Srbije Beograd

Republički geodetski zavod Beograd

Serbian Notary Chamber

SNC

Republic Geodetic Authority

agreements on real estate transactions

Law on the Registration Procedure with the Cadaster of Real Estate and Utilities

Law on Planning and Construction

authorization of sales and purchase agreement for apartment under construction

solemnization