Register the property at the Real Property Registry
Agency: Land Registry (Registo Predial)
It is possible to register a property transfer in Portugal at any of the locations of the one-stop shop “On the spot house” (Casa pronta, www.casapronta.pt) in person. In April 2019, there were 5 locations in Lisboa and 334 locations in all of Portugal. Banks can request that a public employee comes with a laptop with secured access to the database to complete the property transfer at the bank (for free) without going to a Casa pronta location. Also, real estate agents can request that a public employee comes with a laptop with secured access to the database to complete the property transfer in their office.
At the one-stop shop, the public employee will verify the following aspects:
- Identity of parties
- Powers of attorney (stating that the individuals are legal representatives of the firms)
- Verify the legality of the transaction (that all laws are fulfilled)
- Verify the ownership and the encumbrances (with access to the “predial” database)
- Verify that all taxes have been paid (with access to the Tax administration’s database).
Once all the checks are completed, if there are any outstanding taxes, those can be paid at Casa pronta, though a specific agreement between the Tax Authorities and Casa pronta. A receipt is issued to show that the taxes have been paid. The deed is prepared and submitted, and the transaction is completed.
Property registration is mandatory in Portugal, and the one-stop shop process is available since July 2008, and its use is gradually increasing.
As an alternative to using the Casa pronta, it is possible to use the services of a notary or a lawyer (lawyers can do so only since 2008) to prepare and authenticate the deed and verify tax payments. The authenticated deed can be submitted to the Predial (land registry, www.predialonline.pt). Only an authenticated deed can be submitted to the Predial. Predial has 334 property registries (in each municipality) all connected to a central database. Casa pronta is an interface with the buyers and sellers that is connected to the central database managed by the “Registo Predial” (land registry). Preemption rights exist in Portugal but are not mandatory, unless the property is located in special areas (old town, cultural, or close to the airport or near railways). In many commercial areas there is no need for such a waiver.
In addition to «On the spot house» (that works as described above), land registry requests can be performed online. When people prefer to perform a public deed, instead of the simplified procedure, they can apply for the registry sending the deed through a web site (http://www.predialonline.pt/PredialOnline/). In this case, the applicant needs to be authenticated with a qualified digital certificate, like the one every Portuguese citizen as in his/her citizens card. The online procedure, however, may take up to a week to be processed.
Time and cost: 10 days, EUR 69,982.54 (6.5% of the property’s fiscal value or sale price, whichever is higher + 0.8% stamp duty and 250 EUR as a Land Registration Fee)
