How can I register a property in the Property Registry?

Usually, when a person acquires a right over a property, that property is already registered in the Property Registry. However, it may happen that that property does not appear in the Registry because a right has never been registered on it. It should be pointed out that the Registry contains a record of rights organized by properties, but not a record of properties. In other words, the Registry does not contain every property out there, since what matters are the rights over them. So, if no one has ever wanted to register a right over a certain property, that property will not appear.

Carrying out the first registration of a property in the Property Registry is known as “inmatriculación”. There are several procedures for this, each with different steps and requirements. Apart from specific cases in which the owner is a Public Administration or the properties have been created by state intervention, the most common procedures are those of i) ownership declaration; and ii) double deed registration.

The ownership declaration is a process by which it is proven that a certain person is the owner of a property. It is carried out before a competent Notary of the district where the property is located, to whom a series of documents must be provided. In this sense, one must present the document by which the property was acquired, which can be public –granted before a notary– or private. In addition, it is necessary to provide the cadastral certification, which must coincide with the description that has been made of the property in the document mentioned above. Finally, it will be necessary to identify all the neighbours, as well as the holders of other rights over the property.

After that, the Notary must consult with the Registrar, providing him with all the data, if the property that is intended to be registered is not registered already. In addition, he must verify that the property does not invade the public domain. If, indeed, in the opinion of the Registrar, the property is not registered and does not invade the public domain, the Notary will notify all interested parties whose contact details has been provided. Likewise, he will publish all of this in the Official State Gazette –BOE in Spanish– and, depending on the circumstances of the case, it may do so on the City Council notice board.

During a period of one month, any interested party may oppose the registration by providing proof of their allegations. In this case, the Notary must terminate the procedure, leaving the possibility for the parties to initiate legal action before the courts. In the event that no one objects, the Notary will send the documentation to the Registrar to carry out the registration, if applicable.

On the other hand, the double deed registration is much simpler. The only requirements are, as the name itself indicates, that there are two deeds and that at least one year has elapsed between the granting of them. In this case, unlike the ownership declaration, the two titles must be public, that is, granted before a Notary Public. As in the previous process, it will be necessary for the description of the property to coincide with the cadastral certification and for the Registrar to have no doubts that it does not invade the public domain.

Given these circumstances, one may wonder why opt for the ownership declaration route when the double deed path is considerably simpler. In the first place, it could happen that a second deed does not exist and, despite this, the owner wants to register his right. However, even in the event that two deeds exist, it could be more interesting, for the acquirer of the second deed, that the first carries out the ownership declaration. For example, if someone has acquired a property by inheritance –first deed– and there is an interested buyer, it would be convenient for the latter that the seller carries out the ownership declaration instead of buying directly and registering through the double deed –the purchase would be the second deed–.

Why would he be interested? Well, because the ease of the procedure carries a great disadvantage. Article 207 of the Mortgage Law establishes that, in the case of double deed registration (and other cases) “the protective effects dispensed by article 34 of this Law will not occur until two years have elapsed from its date.”

Therefore, until two years have elapsed since the registration, the protection offered by the Property Registry for the purchaser who acted in good faith will not produce any effects. This means that, if the owner carries out the double deed registration and subsequently intends to sell, the future buyer will not have the security of being protected against third parties who may challenge the seller’s right. That is, if A registers with two deeds and then sells to B, the latter could lose his right if a third-party C proves that A was not the true owner.

On the contrary, the ownership declaration does offer the guarantees of article 34 to future purchasers from the moment of registration. Therefore, continuing with the previous example, if A had registered through the ownership declaration, B would be protected against C’s claim. That is, B would always retain his right, even if C was right and A was not the true owner.

Finally, it should be noted that in neither case will the person registering the property be protected. In other words, if A registers the property, no matter which procedure is followed, he will not be protected against possible claims from third parties. Protection only occurs for people who acquire any right from A.