An encumbrance certificate is most often required upon the sale of a property and the creation of a mortgage over it. It sets out all entries, notations and cancellations relating to encumbrances and rights over the property as at the time of its preparation, or, as the case may be, certifies that there are none. The official name of this certificate is a Certificate of Entries, Notations and Cancellations for a Property.

An encumbrance certificate is issued by the Registration Service at the Registry Agency.

If you are buying a property, we recommend requesting a certificate of the absence of encumbrances covering the maximum verification period. People usually limit themselves to requesting a check for a period of 10 years back. This, however, is not always a sufficient guarantee for the buyer that they will acquire a “clean” property. The reason is that the 10-year limitation period does not run in respect of pending civil cases with recorded statements of claim, or of injunctions prohibiting disposal of the property (“vazbrana”).

Also, bear in mind that electronic searches in the Property Register do not always contain the full information about the property. Therefore, obtaining a certificate is a mandatory part of checking for encumbrances over the property.

Application for the Issuance of an Encumbrance Certificate

The application for the issuance of an encumbrance certificate must contain:

  • Details of the persons to whom the search relates and of their immediate predecessors in title;
  • A full description of the immovable property, its location, the municipality in which it is situated and at least three of its boundaries.

The following are attached to the application:

  • Copies of all documents of title, arranged chronologically, so that the entire history of the property can be traced (notarial deeds, voluntary partition agreements or court judgments on partition, marriage contracts, wills, certificates of heirs, etc.);
  • A current plan/sketch from the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency;
  • A document evidencing payment of the state fee.

Besides at the counter, the certificate may also be requested and obtained electronically. For this purpose, the applicant must hold an electronic signature or a digital certificate issued by the Registry Agency.

If you do not have copies of some of the older documents of title, you must obtain them in advance. To do so, you must submit an application, on site or electronically, to obtain uncertified transcripts of them.

Fees for issuing the certificate:

  • BGN 10 – for issuance within up to 7 working days;
  • BGN 30 – for issuance within up to 3 working days.

Every encumbrance certificate has a unique alphanumeric code 12 characters in length, consisting of digits and capital Latin letters. We recommend carrying out an authenticity check, i.e. whether the certificate in your possession is identical to the one issued by the Registry Agency. You can carry out this check at https://uwt.registryagency.bg/.

The encumbrance certificate for immovable property has no period of validity. It is accurate and valid only as at the moment of its issuance. Entries, notations and cancellations for properties are made every day. For this reason, as early as the day after the certificate is issued, changes may occur and, for example, a statement of claim or an injunction prohibiting disposal (“vazbrana”) may be recorded.

Should you require consultation in connection with the purchase and sale of immovable property, obtaining transcripts of documents of title and encumbrance certificates, please contact us on tel.: 0887550706 or by e-mail: [email protected]