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Washington D.C., March 23, 2017 Improving Quality and Reliability of Land Records: Germany’s Experience Dr. Nicola Hoischen, LL.M. (Cologne/Paris 1) Federal Chamber of German Civil Law Notaries
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Overview 01 Land Records in Germany 02
Efficient Collaboration of Notaries and Courts 03 Quality and Reliability of Digital Land Registries
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01 eIDAS: e-ID Authentication and Signing Land Records in Germany
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Land Records in Germany
Two registries: The Cadastral Map: full geographic coverage (parcel, boundaries) The Land Registry: rights in rem (ownership, encumbrances) Separated but linked databases Clear assignment of property rights Synchronization will take place electronically in the future
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The Land Registry Land registries are kept by the local courts and provide access to all relevant information:
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Under German law property rights only exist if they are registered!
The Land Registry Under German law property rights only exist if they are registered! All transfers of property must be registered to become effective Registration of the new owner is legally binding for anyone (no need of further certificates)
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The Land Registry Registration gives rise to Legal Assumptions:
Registered rights exist and belong to the registered person. Rights that are not registered do not exist.
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The Land Registry Advantage of the German system:
Buyers and creditors can fully rely on the registered information extract from the land registry (8 €) no title inspection (deeds of former transactions) no title insurances
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The Land Registry The German system…
allows secure and efficient property transactions at low transaction costs …because (and only if) the registered information is: accurate complete legally checked
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02 Efficient Collaboration of Notaries and Courts
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Efficient Collaboration of Notaries and Courts
Civil Law Notaries are… highly qualified legal professionals independent holders of a public office In real estate transactions notaries… give impartial legal advice to the parties draft and authenticate sale and purchase agreements create immediately enforceable deeds perform a preventive legal control
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Efficient Collaboration of Notaries and Courts
The Notary as “Gatekeeper”… prepares applications collecting information and certifying documents identifies the applicants (prevention of money laundering) guarantees completeness, legal accuracy, legal validity of documents (filter function) prevents legal disputes about property rights
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Efficient Collaboration of Notaries and Courts
The Land Registry… can rely on information already verified and documents prepared by trusted legal professionals re-checks information and documents for completeness, accuracy, legal validity (“second set of eyes”) registers usually without having to make any changes
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03 Quality and Reliability of Digital Land Registries
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Quality and Reliability of Digital Land Registries
Challenge: Promote digitization of the German Land Registry Is in progress plus Maintaining the existing quality level Notaries as gatekeepers are ready
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Digital Land Registries in Germany
The current situation: For 20 years land registries have been kept electronically, partly scanned, partly fully digitized For 10 years online access to the electronic database has been made available; it allows all kinds of online searches, i.e. by name, by address, by plot number The German system already offers high transparency Notaries have started in four federal states submitting structured applications electronically
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Digital Land Registries in Germany
The future situation: Fully electronic registration Redesign the land register as a structured database Registered information available as fully structured data New technical possibilities (e.g. hyperlinks, filtering register extracts, interconnection of registries)
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Digital Land Registries in Germany
Role model: The German Commercial Registry The notaries already… prepare the applications digitizing the documents certify the accuracy of the electronic versions filter information and create structured electronic data submit the data electronically to the registry The courts then… incorporate electronic documents and structured data with a few clicks
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Conclusions Land Records in Germany offer: Full coverage of spatial data Clear assignment of property rights Notaries and Courts guarantee a Land Registry which is: accurate complete legally checked
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Conclusions Digitization of the Land Registry Is in progress And: we expect it to be the benchmark regarding quality and reliability …in other words: A Digital Land Registry “made in Germany”
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Thank you for your attention!
Dr. Nicola Hoischen, LL.M. (Cologne/Paris 1) Federal Chamber of German Civil Law Notaries
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