[BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE IN LATVIA]
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person, whose ownership rights have been registered with the Land Registry, shall be considered the owner of real estate, except when the ownership rights of the real estate are established by the law. Entries registered with the Land Registry have public credibility. Thus, not only the owner of the real estate is guaranteed credibility of its title registration, but also every third party is provided with valid information on the current status of the real estate. However, this does not mean that transfer of title to real estate or the title itself cannot be challenged (for example, the seller has no rights to sell the respective real estate, or any third party's rights of first refusal have been violated and thus this person may possibly exercise his or her redemption rights). The Cadastral Registry is kept by the State Land Service. The cadastral value (determined mainly for the real estate tax and Land Registry state duty purposes), detailed information on buildings and structures (area, number of premises, etc.) as well as detailed information on every real estate object, including graphical information and technical encumbrances, are held in this register. However, not all encumbrances prescribed by law are actually registered in the registers, for example, protection zones and consequential restrictions and limitations are set by law, notwithstanding whether they are registered with the Land Registry and/or Cadastral Registry, therefore the actual situation on site shall be considered prior to the acquisition of the real estate. In practice, frequently the information in the Cadastral Registry differs from the information in the Land Registry. The law also specifies buildings and structures, which are not registered in the Land Registry
as separate and independent objects of property, for example - fences, small buildings, except for garages, linear engineering structures, except for transport structures, engineering structures the area of which is less than 50 square metres or height is less than 10 metres. But some transport structures, such buildings and structures are registered in the Cadastral Registry. Therefore, to obtain more detailed information on the real estate, the information in both registries - the Land Registry and the Cadastral Registry should be reviewed and considered prior to the acquisition of the real estate. VI. Agreement and re-registration of the title with the Land Registry Any transfer of the title of the real estate should be registered with the Land Registry. Agreement on alienating the real estate should be prepared in writing and signed by both parties personally. It should be also noted that an oral agreement is binding to the parties, and each party is entitled to claim from the other party to express the oral agreement in a written form. It is not required, but signatures of the contracting parties on the agreement could be certified by a notary public, as well as an agreement could be concluded in the form of notary deed. Agreement on alienation of real estate is binding upon the parties from the moment of its conclusion, but for any third party, only a person, whose ownership rights have been registered with the Land Registry, shall be considered as the owner of real estate. The title (ownership) is transferred to the buyer from the moment of re-registration of the title with the Land Registry (i.e., a Land Registry judge has adopted a decision on
ILN Real Estate Group – Buying and Selling Real Estate Series
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