Purchase of Real Estate – Risks When No Title Search is Conducted by a Lawyer
In every case, a lawyer should be entrusted with conducting a title search in the records of the Land Registry and the Mortgage Registry to which the property belongs, because there is a risk that the property to be acquired may have already been sold to another buyer, may be encumbered, or may present any other legal defect. For this reason, the lawyer should carry out the following legal tasks before the client purchases the property, in order to avoid lengthy legal disputes:
A) Review of its legality, as well as of the ownership status of the property, through the relevant records of the Mortgage Registry and the Land Registry. The above review should cover a period of at least 20 years.
B) Review for any encumbrances (mortgages, prenotations of mortgage, seizures or court decisions by natural or legal persons).