In order to register for the tax, the buyer must have a personal identity number (osobni identifikacijski broj = OIB), which is also needed for all official purposes, including paying household bills and accessing any account held in a Croatian bank. Other necessary documents include a recent map of the plot issued by the Katastar, and proof from the local planning office that the building or building plot falls within an accepted building zone. The lawyer usually deals with all this, as well as making the application to register the buyer as official owner in the Land Registry and Katastar. As the actual registration of new ownership can take a long time, it is not unusual to be asked to pay the final part of the lawyer's fees after the application has been lodged at the Land Registry.
The LAND REGISTRY
Terminology:
zemljisna knjiga = land registry opcinski sud = county court, the place where the land registry for an area is sited vlasnicki list = ownership document, which is legal proof of title. izvadak iz zemljisne knjige = entry extracted from the Land Registry, which show current actual state of official ownershipaktivne plombe = (on upper left of extract from Land Registry) shows whether there are any active legal processes going on, such as inheritance, or change of title because of sale, and the year such process was initiated.) broj uloska: entry number, which is used to access the particular property you want to check, whether on the internet or at the Land Registry. katarska opcina (k.o.) = the local council/ area where the property is posjedovnica = the property, possession vlastovnica = ownership, listing the property owner(s) teretovnica = mortgages / loans secured on the property In order to know the exact state of ownership of a property, you need to have a newly issued extract (izvadak iz zemljisne knjige) from the Land Registry, which your lawyer can obtain for you. If you apply in person for documents from the Land Registry or Katastar, you need to have special "tax stamps", which you can obtain from a post office or selected local kiosks. There is also a small charge, which is usually payable directly at the Katstar, but through a local bank or post office in the case of the Land Registry. You can access the public records on property through the internet. Nothing you find is legally binding, so it isn't official "proof" of anything, but it is a guide. The process of lodging all properties on the official website is ongoing, and not all properties have been entered yet To use the site, you need to know the place where the property is, the place where the land registry office governing it is, and the property number(s). The LAND REGISTRY is the website of the Ministry of Justice (Ministarstvo pravosuda), whose motto is "success through co-operation" (suradnjom do uspjeha) 1. In the left column, click "ZK ulosci". This opens a box, "Dohvat z.k.uloska" = "access to land registry properties" 2. The top line is the list of Land Registry offices - "ZK odjel". Scroll down to the one you need. 3. The second line (Glavna knjiga = main book) gives the town or village where your plot number is sited. 4. Enter the plot number you are checking on in the third line (Broj zemljista / kat.cestice) OR enter the plot reference number (zk uloska) in the fourth line. This number, if you have it, will be preceded by "zu", but you do not need to enter the letters. 5. Enter the control number (kontrolni broj), as given in the box, in line 5 6. Click "Trazi" = "find" If nothing happens, you may see a message in the red text underneath, which will probably say that the number you're looking for has not been found. This may mean it has not yet been entered into the computer records, or that it has been changed. New numbers can't be identified (as yet) on the internet page. If your entry is accepted, you will see a coloured document with the Croatian crest, which shows you the details of properties and ownership contained. Several different properties may be listed within a single document. To print, click "Pregled za tisak" = "print preview" top left just above the head of the document, then "ispis" = "print", again top left just above the document. You may also wish to check the plot details. The KATASTAR is the property register, in which the land and building plots are defined. Terminology: katarske cestice = land / building plot numbers cest.zgr. = building plot number cest.zem = land plot number kuca = house zgrada = building dvoriste = courtyard / patio kuhinja = kitchen (usually refers to an outside kitchen / outbuilding) vrt = garden gustirna = welland for land there are various descriptions according to whether the plot is registered as vineyards, olive groves, orchards etc. To use the internet to search for buildings and plots on the KATASTAR : 1. Scroll down to PUK ...., which gives you the general area of your search, then choose "ispostava ......" from the right box. This takes you to the place where the land registry maps and possession details are held in any given region. A new box appears, headed "odaberite katarsku opcinu" = "choose the local council area", which takes you to the town or village where your plot number lies. 2. Click the place you need 3. Enter the plot number or possession document number in the first box. 4. Enter the control number, given in a kind of grid on the left, in the second box. NB, if you go back and enter another plot number, the control number doesn't change automatically. Instead it will not allow entry, but a message appears saying "pogresan kontrolni broj!" = "mistaken control number", at which point you can enter the new number which will be shown. 5. Click "Katarska cestic." for details of the property / plot or "posjedovni list" for details of the owner/user / person in possession of the plot or property. 6. From "katarska cestice" you will come to: "podaci o katastarskim cesticama" = details of plots, usually including the description and number of square metres, plus which land map it appears on (in the final box, marked "broj D I kat.plana") If you want to find the owner/user/possessor from this page, you can click the red number under "broj pos.lista" = "number of possession document" and it will take you there. The person listed as the possessor should be the registered owner, but this is not always so. That may or may not be a problem if you are trying to buy the plot. In principle the owner registered on the Land Registry should also be registered as being in possession in the Katastar. Once you have bought your property and the application for ownership registration has been made, you can check on progress on the internet. Find your plot number on the Land Registry as described above and click on the red number beside "Aktivne plombe" to the upper left of the page. (If you know your case number, you can go to the Land Registry page, and click on "Statusi Z predmeta" (= status of "Z" cases) in the list on the left.) A box opens: in the first line, scroll down to find the town with your local Land Registry office; leave line 2 on "Z"; in line 3 enter the reference number of your case, in line 4 the year in which it was submitted, then click "trazi" = "find". A new box appears, which shows the date on which the Court received the application in the top line, the subject on the second (which should read "ugovor o kupoprodaji"= contract of sale), the file number, if any on the third line, and the application on the fourth, which should be "uknjizba" = registration in the Land Registry; line 5 gives the plot number(s), line 6 shows what is happening; line 7 gives the outcome: if it says "u radu" the matter is still in hand; "udovoljeno" means it has been accepted, and "odbaceno" = rejected; line 8 gives the date of the final decision. Once your application is listed as accepted, it is just a matter of time before your name appears on the internet as registered owner, and you can apply to the Land Registry for the official ownership document in your name.
For more information about Croatia, please visit us at www.total-croatia.com
We do our best to provide accurate and up to date information. However, if you have noticed any inaccuracies in this article, please let us know in the comments section below.
