Buying a property in Romania – Real estate law in Romania
If you are looking to buy a holiday home or second residence or invest in Romania, Transylvania or the Black Sea and you are a foreign citizen / investor, there are some things you need to know about the Romanian land acquisition procedure and costs. or Romanian houses.
After 2012, foreign EU citizens (non-Romanians) can buy a house or apartment in Romania and can freely buy and sell any Romanian property, without restrictions. Along with the sale price of the property, buying real estate in Romania has other associated costs.
If you have chosen to collaborate with a Romanian real estate agent / broker, you can expect to have an additional commission of approximately 2-4% of the property price. The local tax will be 2-4% of the property price. The signing of a contract must be witnessed by a notary public who submits it to the certification of the Land Registry in charge of real estate registries. The Romanian notary public’s fees are approximately 0.5 to 1% of the purchase price. You will also have to pay fees to the Property Registry (“Cartea Funciara”) to register the Transfer Deed. The Romanian property registration fee for the purchase of a property will vary from 1 to 3% depending on the length of time the seller has owned the property and the value of the property.
Romanian law on property states that citizens of EU member states, legal persons incorporated in EU member states and stateless persons domiciled in an EU member state can buy land in Romania only if the land is used for secondary residences or for secondary venues after a Term of 5 (five) years from the accession of Romania to the EU (as of January 1, 2012); only for agricultural land and forest land within 7 (seven) years from Romania’s accession to the EU (as of January 1, 2014).
But for Citizens, legal persons and stateless persons who are not from an EU member state, the Romanian legal system establishes that they can buy land in Romania, under the conditions of international treaties between Romania and the states of origin of these persons, under a reciprocity. base.
In our view, a prudent investor will hire a Romanian lawyer / Romanian legal office, who will closely communicate with the notary in the verification of the title, obtaining the extract from the Land Registry and drafting the agreement for the transfer of property. of the real estate. This means that the Romanian lawyer will act solely on behalf of his client and will be liable to him, while the notary will not have the same degree of responsibility to the buyer.
According to Romanian law, there are three basic rights to land and buildings, such as property rights; rights of use such as lease, usufruct, areas; right of concession. The principle of contractual freedom represents the fundamental core of property law in Romania.
Sometimes an investor / buyer may choose to close a pre-sale agreement, whereby the seller agrees to transfer the property to the buyer on a specified date in exchange for an agreed consideration. The content of the pre-sale contract will stipulate all the commercial and legal conditions for the transfer of the property, as conditions prior to the definitive transfer of the property. The closing of said pre-purchase contract does not imply the transfer of the property, but rather the binding obligations stipulated for the parties, in terms of, for example, the damages or penalties provided therein, if the seller refuses to sign the end. Notarial deed of assignment within the agreed term.
The closing of the pre-sale agreement is to protect the investor / buyer from any possible purchases from other buyers and from issues related to the fixed price and duration of a future purchase. From our point of view, it is essential that the pre-sale contract is signed before a Notary Public and clearly stipulates the sale price and other clauses related to the duration of the future purchase. In this case, it can be enforced in court at the buyer’s request as a deed to transfer ownership.
A sales agreement signed in Romania, in accordance with Romanian law, will stipulate obligatorily: obligations of the parties for the fulfillment of the sales contract, delivery conditions and quality of goods and / or services, terms, payment methods and guarantees of payment, payment instruments and safe price, contractual risk, as well as a method of resolution of eventual disputes derived from the contract. Other required elements include the full name and identifying details of the parties (for legal entities) and the name of the person signing the contract (representing a legal entity).
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