Submit an application for registration of transfer at the Land Registry
Agency: Land Registry and Cadastre
There is no need for a lawyer or notary to be involved in the process. The application is a standard form that may be printed out for free from the Mapping Authority’s website. The fee to receive the title is NOK 525, and the stamp duty tax is 2.5% of the property value. If the transaction is financed by debt, the buyer has to pay an additional fee to register the mortgage bond. This fee is the same as for registering a title, NOK 525. Upon refinancing an existing mortgage loan within the same loan frame, the fee to register a new mortgage deed or transporting the old mortgage deed to the new one is NOK 200. The registration fee and stamp duty are invoiced to the submitter after the registration and can be paid as normal through a bank, including internet banking.
The registration authority along with the cadastral authority is centralized within the Norwegian Mapping Authority. The Norwegian Mapping Authority and the Land Registry and Cadastre are located in Hønefoss, in Buskerud county, north of Oslo. All documents for registry may be sent to the same address: Kartverket Tinglysing, 3507 Hønefoss.
The current process for property registration by post is the following: On day one, the documents for transfer are sent to the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Karverket). The materials are reviewed and entered into a temporary database. At 21:00 hours of the same day, all the documents received are automatically validated and entered into the Land Register database. On day two, a second staff member verifies that the data entered is correct. Finally, the original title deed and any other submitted and registered documents are stamped by the Land Registry and returned to the submitter. An invoice for registration fees and stamp duty follows shortly. On day three, the applicant receives the physical documents sent by post (1 day of delivering time).
Since April 18, 2017, as an additional option for property registration, the electronic submission has been enabled but it’s only available for professional users (real estate agents and banks). Currently, there is a work in progress for adapting the system and give access to other professionals, such as law firms. Since its introduction, the electronic system has enabled faster registration and its possible to submit documents online, sign electronically and receive the confirmation of registration in seconds. For the electronic submission, the requisitioners (real state agents and banks) need to have an agreement with a service provider enabling the use of the Mapping Authority’s electronic system. In Oslo, there are currently two or three service providers. The service provider charges a fee for the use of the system, and a fee for each document set up in the system. The fees paid to the Mapping Authority are the same as the charged for property registration by post.
The current process for electronic submission is the following: After filling the online form, an email is sent to the relevant parties (buyer and seller) for the signature of the deed, encumbrance and any other document needed for registration. The parties sign the document electronically using “Bank ID”, an electronic identification device generally accepted by banks and public systems. The notice is given to the requisitioner in the electronic system of the service provider, and the documents can be uploaded to the Mapping Authorities’ electronic system. Usually, within 20 seconds or less (one minute at the most), a notice is given that the document is registered at the Land Register. The requisitioner receives an electronic copy of entries recorded on the relevant property at the Land Register.
Since most of the legal and natural persons have no access to the online system, the most common practice in Oslo is to send the documents for registration by post to the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Karverket). Hence, per methodology, Doing Business records the most common practice.
Time and cost: 3 days, NOK 866,468.09 (NOK 525 (registration fee) + 2.5% of the value of the property (stamp duty))
