Application for entry into the Land Register signed by electronic signature

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The application for the entry of the ownership right to real estate into the Land Register may also be submitted electronically together with the relevant documents. The indisputable advantage of this procedure is that electronic filing saves us time and money spent on administrative fees. When filing the application for registration of the ownership right electronically, the administrative filing fees are halved. In this article you will find important information on what electronic signature you need when electronically filing a proposal for the registration of the ownership right in the Land Register and how you can quickly and easily arrange this signature through the NFQES platform.

Electronic application for entry into the Land Register

The real estate market is constantly changing and the current trends in buying and selling real estate are also changing at a dynamic pace. As humans we need to have a roof over our heads and to live a happy life we need other properties in which we work, run a business or pursue a hobby. Buying and selling real estate is a complex process that has many elements defined directly by law. One of such specifics is the fact stated in Act No. 162/1995 Coll. on the Cadastre of Real Estate and on the Registration of Ownership and Other Rights to Real Estate (hereinafter referred to as the “Cadastral Act”), which states that the ownership right to real estate is acquired only by the entry of this right into the Land Registry.

However, even when submitting an electronic application for entry of the ownership right into the cadastre, all statutory annexes and documents are prepared in the same way as if we were submitting an application for entry in paper form. In the case of electronic filing, these documents are then scanned, saving the claimant some of the money that would have been spent on making the prescribed number of copies in the case of a paper filing.

If the application for registration is submitted electronically, it is no longer necessary to enclose and deliver to the Land Registry paper copies of the purchase or other contract of sale or other statutory annexes and documents.

Who can submit an electronic deposit application?

Also in the case of electronic deposit proceedings, care must be taken to ensure that all documents and deeds meet the requirements for filing according to the provisions of the Cadastral Act and other legal regulations. This means that even with electronic submission, all attachments to the application for entry, such as the purchase agreement, donation agreement, geometric plan, declaration of the manager of residential and non-residential premises, power of attorney, and other attachments required by the relevant legal regulations, must be prepared in electronic form and signed with qualified electronic signatures by all persons who are required to sign the respective documents.

If the signature on any document must be officially certified by a notary public or a registry office, such document must be signed with a qualified electronic signature and time-stamped. A document signed in this way shall have the same legal force as a document with a signature certified by a notary public or a registry office.

If a party to the cadastral registration proceedings is represented by an authorized agent, which is a common practice in real-life situations, such as when real estate agencies submit the application for registration on behalf of the applicant, it is necessary to attach a power of attorney agreement to the application for registration. This agreement must also be prepared in electronic form and signed with a qualified electronic signature including a time stamp.

Qualified electronic signature and time stamp from the NFQES platform

A qualified electronic signature, which is also abbreviated as QES, is a logical information associated with an electronic document which, under the conditions defined in Act No. 272/2016 Coll. on trust services and Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 /eIDAS), allows to reliably and unambiguously identify the natural person who made it. QES replaces the written form of a handwritten signature.

A qualified electronic signature provides authenticity, integrity and undeniability in the context of electronic communication and digitisation of procedures and processes. It makes it possible to unambiguously verify the identity of the signatory and to demonstrate the immutability of signed documents at the time of signing. The signatory cannot also claim that the signature was not made by him or her.

You can set up a qualified electronic signature at this link.

In order to be able to fully sign contracts, deeds, annexes and other written materials that you electronically submit in the application for the entry of the ownership right into the Land Register, for those materials where the law requires an officially certified signature, it is necessary to attach a qualified time stamp to the qualified electronic signature when electronically submitting the application.

The qualified electronic time stamp is used for qualified time verification of a document, which in practice means that this electronic stamp confirms at what time the document was stamped. NFQES is an authorized entity for issuing both qualified electronic signature and qualified time stamp in accordance with Slovak and European legislative regulations.

Click here for a qualified time stamp.

The actual use of a qualified electronic signature and qualified time stamp via the NFQES platform is very simple, straightforward and fast.

Did you know that? …
… electronic communication for self-employed individuals has been mandatory for some time under various legal regulations, and both these obligations and the range of entities required to communicate with the state electronically are continuously expanding? This trend is likely to continue in the future and will affect not only entrepreneurs but also ordinary citizens.

Administrative fees for electronic filing with electronic signature and time stamp

At the very outset of this section, many individuals considering electronic signing will likely welcome the information that submitting an application for registration in the Land Register electronically results in a 50% reduction in administrative fees.

The amount of the administrative fee for the proposal for the entry of the ownership right into the Land Register varies depending on the number of days within which the cadastre should decide on the respective proposal for the entry. In practice, the cadastre normally has a 30-day time limit for deciding on the application for registration, which can be reduced to 15 days.

If the claimant requests that the cadastre decide by:

• 30 days from the date of delivery of the application for registration, an administrative fee of 50 € is payable (100 € for a documentary application),
• 15 days from the date of delivery of the application for registration, an administrative fee of 150 € is payable (300 € for a documentary application).

The applicant has the option, under the law, to submit a so-called notification of the intended application for entry via this link, and in such a case, the administrative fee is reduced to 35 €. In this case, it is considered a standard submission, which the land registry will decide on within 30 days from the date of filing the application for entry. The administrative fees are payable on the day the application for entry is delivered, so they must be paid at the time of submission.

If the administrative fee was not paid correctly at the time of filing or was not paid in the required amount, the cadastre will invite the claimant to correct it. In most cases, it will do so by means of a payment order, which is delivered to the claimant by e-mail or to the claimant’s e-inbox. It is good to remember that the fee (arrears) must be paid as soon as possible, as the time limit under the Land Registry Act expires. If you fail to do so, the amount paid will not be refunded and you will have to make a new submission and pay the administrative fees again.

Electronic submission to the cadastre: what you need to know at the end of the procedure

Electronic filing of a petition for registration is a substitute for a personal visit to the Land Registry and the petitioner can also save the money paid for making paper copies of documents and administrative fees. The requirements for the electronic submission of the application for registration of the ownership right are the same as for the paper submission.

If in the documentary form an officially certified signature of the person concerned is required by law, it is necessary to sign such a document with a qualified electronic signature (QES) and to attach an electronic qualified time stamp to it when signing electronically.

In the case of electronic submission to the Land Registry, all attachments submitted in electronic form must also be signed with a qualified electronic signature and a qualified time stamp. All persons who sign the document in accordance with the legislation in force and in force must electronically sign the documents in this way.

The competent cadastral department does not deliver its decision electronically even if the submission (application for registration) was made electronically. It shall make its decision in conventional paper form and deliver it by post.