The conveyancing of title to immovable property takes effect upon entry in the register, backdated to the time the application was received by the land registry.
Applications for the registration of title are submitted to the land registry using a standard form, which must be accompanied by:
(a) the document forming the basis for the title to be entered in the register (the ‘registration document’ – in this particular case the purchase agreement);
(b) a power of attorney with the principal’s authenticated signature if a party is being represented in the procedure. If the title to the property is being registered on the basis of an authentic instrument and the agent is the person who drew up the authentic instrument (typically a lawyer), there is no need for the principal’s signature to be authenticated;
(c) if the application is submitted by a legal entity, its extract from the companies register or from another statutory register, unless this extract can be obtained in Czech free of charge online. An extract is not required if the registration document is an authentic instrument;
(d) other documents required by law, such as a public authority’s approval of a legal act by a participant in the registration proceedings.
The purchase agreement attached to the registration application need not contain an authenticated signature. However, an authenticated signature is recommended because otherwise the land registry is required to examine the authenticity of handwritten signatures, except in the following cases:
(a) a document containing a lawyer’s declaration that the handwritten signature is authentic;
(b) a situation where a legal entity has submitted a specimen signature with the applicant’s authenticated signature which matches the handwritten signature on a document, and has also submitted proof of the signatory’s authorisation to act on behalf of the legal entity (unless this is already evident from the relevant records);
(c) a situation where the signatory acknowledges before the land registry that the signature is their own or a copy thereof.
A registration application may also be submitted electronically, in which case the attachments must also be in computerised format. The only formats admissible for documents intended for the registration of rights in the register are Portable Document Format (PDF) and Portable Document Format for Long-term Archiving (PDF/A). An advanced electronic signature, accompanied by the certificate on which it is based, must be inserted in the document. The same applies for documents with an advanced electronic stamp or a qualified electronic timestamp.
There is generally a CZK 2 000 charge for accepting an application for the commencement of proceedings to permit an entry in the property register.
After the application has been submitted, the land registry informs the existing owner of the immovable property that ‘sealing’ has taken place, i.e. that, following the submission of the application for registration, legal circumstances have been affected by a change. If all conditions for the conveyance of title to be registered in the property register have been met, the land registry permits this registration once at least 20 days have elapsed since the sealing. This act formally brings the proceedings to an end.