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Real example of property titling in Latvia

The following is the real example of property titling in Latvia.

Data as of: January 2004

City: Riga

Property value: $203,500 = LVL 110,094

Registration Requirements:

Procedure 1: Verification of Title

Time to complete: 2 days

Cost to complete: LVL 2

Comments:

The buyer should request from the seller or from the Land Registry an updated extract from the

relevant folio of the Land Registry, which allows the buyer to verify the title of the seller and the

legal rights attached to the real estate.

Procedure 2: Verification of Cadastral Value
Time to complete: 7-14 days
Cost to complete: LVL 2.70

Comments:

The seller should request a cadastral value statement of the real estate. Such statement is issued

by the State Land Service.

The documentation shall include:

To receive the statement the following documents shall be submitted to the State Land Service:

• title certificate issued by the Land Registry Unit;

• land boundaries plan;

• building inventarisation file;

• power of attorney to represent the company before the State Land Service

Procedure 3: Notarization of seller's and buyer's incorporation documents
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: LVL 0.60 per page on average. Aprox. 20 LVL

Comments:

The seller and the buyer shall notarize the copies of their registration certificate, articles of

association and VAT registration certificates

Procedure 4: Statement of authorized officers
Time to complete: 2-4 days
Cost to complete: LVL 2-3

Comments:

The seller and the buyer shall obtain an official statement from the Company Register of Latvia

certifying the persons that are entitled to sign on behalf of the company.

Procedure 5: Certificate confirming the connection of the building with the land plot
Time to complete: 14 days
Cost to complete: LVL 5

Comments:

Parties must obtain from State Land Service a certificate confirming connection of the building with

the land plot.

A new inventory file of the building must be obtained from the State Land Service if the existing

inventory file is older than 3 years. This will take about 30 days and cost an extra LVL 100

Procedure 6: Statement on Real Estate Tax
Time to complete: 7-14 days
Cost to complete: No cost

Comments:

The seller shall obtain from the local municipality a confirmation on payment of real estate tax for

the property.

Previously, a real estate sales agreement is signed by the parties. The purchase agreement can be

prepared by the parties, by a lawyer or by a public notary. In the last two cases, the

documentation obtained in procedures 2-5 should be presented to the lawyer/notary that will take

between 3 and 10 days on average to prepare the sales agreement. The fees will depend on the

lawyer/notary.

Even if a lawyer or notary is not required, it is common practice to hire one to prepare the

agreement

The documentation shall include:

In order to receive the statement, the following documents shall be submitted to the municipality:

Real estate sales agreement.

Application to the municipality

Procedure 7: Municipality's first refusal rights
Time to complete: 20 days
Cost to complete: LVL 20

Comments:

The parties submit the signed real estate sales agreement to the municipality for a decision on its

first refusal rights.

This usually has no charge, except in Riga where it costs LVL 20

Procedure 8: Application to the Land Registry (Land Book)
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: LVL 15 (depends on the notary)

Comments:

The parties sign and a notary attests the application for the registration of the buyer’s title with the

land registry or Land Book

The registration application should contain the authorization to the person that is entitled to

perform the registration procedures. If the authorization is not incorporated in the registration

application, the parties can:

1) issue a notarized power of attorney to this effect, or

2) incorporate the authorization in the sales agreement, in which case the sales agreement

must be attested by a notary, or

3) authorize a notary to process the registration of title.

Procedure 9: Payment of a registration fee and a stamp duty in a commercial bank
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: LVL 6 (processing fee for the registration of title)
LVL 3 (processing fee for the receipt of the registration certificate)
2% of the highest of either the purchase price or the cadastral value of the real estate, with a
maximum of LVL 30,000 (Stamp duty for the registration of title)

Comments:

The state fee for registration and stamp duty are paid at any commercial bank before

submitting documents to the Land Register. Receipt of payment should be submitted with the

registration documents.

Procedure 10: Registration of the buyer's title
Time to complete: 15 days
Cost to complete: already paid in in Procedure 9

Comments:

The parties submit the documents obtained in the previous procedures to the Land Registry Unit of

the Land Book.

After reviewing all submitted documents a Land Book judge adopts a decision on registration of

change of ownership rights and issues a new Land Book Certificate.

The documentation shall include:

A cadastral value statement of the real estate (obtain in procedure 2)

Notarized copies of buyer and seller’s incorporation documents (obtained in Procedure 3)

Statements on authorized officers (obtained in Procedure 4)

Real estate sales agreement signed by parties

Statement of the payment of real estate tax (Obtained in Procedure 6)

Municipality’s approval of the transference (Obtained in Procedure 7)

Notarized application for the registration (obtained in Procedure 8)

Receipt of payment of stamp duty and registration fee (obtained in Procedure 9)

* Procedures 1-5 can take place at the same time, but must start at

different days.