ILN: BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE - AN INTERNATIONAL GUIDE

[BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE IN ROMANIA]

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Another amendment aiming to facilitate the development of renewable power generation projects was introduced by Law no. 159/2022, into Law no. 50/1991 on the authorization of construction works, to provide that building permits may be issued without land planning documentation for the production of electricity from renewable sources and hydrogen. For the same purpose as above, a similar amendment has been brought by Law no. 166/2023 to the provisions of Law no. 350/2001 on regional planning and urbanism. Thus, the right to build will be granted, even in the absence of approved urban planning documents, for construction works of renewable sources electricity and hydrogen production and storage capacities, located either in urban or rural areas, including transforming capacities, cables and installations for their connection to the public utility grid. Further coordination is necessary among Law 18/1991, Law 50/1991 and Law 350/2001 as recently amended, in order to clarify the uncertainties about the implementation of simplified urbanistic procedures. III. Conclusion of the Purchase Agreement Validity requirements on the form of the purchase agreement. All in rem rights over real estate (including ownership) must be transferred through authenticated agreements concluded before a Romanian public notary, under the sanction of absolute nullity of the agreement. The notary public may be chosen by either of the parties. An agreement relating to rights in rem over a real estate property located in

Romania must be governed by Romanian law. The persons who sign the agreement before the notary public must have proof of identity (ID Card, Passport, etc.) and, if the case may be, proof of power of attorney (which must also be authenticated by a notary public and must expressly give power to sell/purchase the specific property). If the buyer/seller is a legal entity, proof of status of the company must also be provided. The notary shall verify the status of the property and shall obtain an authentication excerpt from the relevant Land Book which shall block any further registrations in the Land Book until the agreement is registered after signing. All the Land Book registrations/de-registrations in respect of the ownership title shall be carried out by the notary public. The parties will sign only one copy of the agreement which remains in the public notary’s archives. The notary shall provide as many duplicates as necessary, which shall be only signed by him/her. It should be noted that in Romania there are certain pre-emption rights or other statutory (imposed by law) limitations potentially applicable in relation to some specific categories of real estate properties (outside city limits, agricultural). Examples include pre-emption rights of the State, of the tenants of agricultural land or public service providers (public schools, hospitals), neighbours, etc. Land near the borders may be sold only with the prior approval of the Ministry of Defence. The rules for the exercise of the pre-emption right have been changed (the amendment entered into force on 13 October 2020), and they have become more cumbersome. The

ILN Real Estate Group – Buying and Selling Real Estate Series

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