The Land Register system, also known as the ‘Land Register’, is a system for the public registration of property. It serves to make legal information relating to property public and verifiable.
In other words, it allows one to ascertain who the owner of a plot of land or a building is, and whether there are any rights, restrictions or encumbrances on that property, such as mortgages, easements, usufructs or attachments.
It should not be confused with the Land Registry. The Land Registry primarily describes the property from a technical and tax perspective, for example, its area, assessed value, cadastral category or parcel number. The Land Register, on the other hand, mainly indicates the legal status of the property.
The title-based system is in force mainly in territories that historically belonged to the Austro-Hungarian legal system, including the provinces of Bolzano, Trento, Trieste and Gorizia, as well as certain municipalities in other provinces.
In the rest of Italy, the ordinary system of land registers applies, based on the registration of deeds.
The main difference concerns the point at which a right becomes fully effective.
In the ordinary Italian system, as a general rule, ownership passes by virtue of the parties’ consent expressed in the contract, for example in a notarial deed. Registration in the land registers serves primarily to make the deed enforceable against third parties, that is, to ensure it is valid even in relation to other people. If something is not registered in the land registers, this does not therefore automatically mean that it does not exist.
In the land register system, however, entry in the Land Register plays a more significant role. In the case of real property rights, what is legally relevant vis-à-vis third parties – and, for inter vivos transactions, also for the purposes of acquiring the right – is what is recorded in the Land Register. A contract is not sufficient to acquire a right, because it is only upon entry in the Land Register that the right itself comes into being.
The Land Register is organised by property, not just by person. It consists of a master register, which forms the main part, and the so-called ‘collection of documents’, that is, the compilation of deeds on which the registered right is based and from which it originates.
Each property or group of properties is linked to a land register entry.
The land register entry normally contains three sections:
Changes are recorded on the basis of a valid title, such as a notarial deed, a court judgement or another measure provided for by law.
The Land Register also includes:
Through a land registry search, it is possible to verify, for example:
The land registry system provides a clear and organized overview of the legal status of the property. It is particularly useful for verifying ownership of a property before purchasing it or granting a loan.