Moldova

Registering Property in

Moldova

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: MDL 1,090,616.54
  • City: Chisinau

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate from the Cadastre

A certificate containing information regarding the encumbrances on the property must be obtained from the Territorial Cadastral Office (an office like this exists in each district of the country). Generally, all services have an expedited option, which generally costs 10 times the usual fee amount to receive the needed document in 1 working day. The notary will also request a certificate at the Territorial Cadastre Office, concerning the value of the property put on sale, according to the Law regarding the Methodology for calculating notary fees adopted in 2000.


Agency: Territorial Cadastral Office 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 2 & 3) MDL 51 (regular service) or MDL 255 (expedited service)
* 2 Obtain a company registration certificate

Notary law lists the documents that need to be submitted to a notary for notarization of the sale-purchase agreement. If this property is part of the social capital of the company the notarized copy of the charter documents is required for the transfer procedure. If this property is not in the charter capital, then only the following documents are needed:

• Copy of registration certificate (this document states who is the authorized person to act on company’s behalf) – it is valid for 3 months, doesn’t have to be renewed routinely.
• Non-encumbrance certificate
• Sale-purchase agreement

In cases where property is part of the company's social capital, both parties must produce notarized copies of the company charter. The purchaser will need two copies (for notarization and registration purposes), while the seller will only require one (for notarization). However, if the parties (seller and buyer) notarize a sale purchase agreement, the copy of the charter is then not needed for registration. It is sufficient to produce a copy of the company’s registration certificate. The notary fee is MDL 6.50 per certified page (including notary fees). For this case, a figure of MDL 130 is provided on the basis of an assumption of a 10-page charter in both cases.


Agency: Company registrar 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1 & 3) MDL 126
* 3 Obtain a tax clearance certificate from the Tax Office

A tax clearance certificate from the Tax Office should be produced to confirm the existence or absence of unpaid taxes for the real estate involved in the transaction. No fees are charged for this document.

Agency: Tax Office 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1 & 2) no cost
4 Execution of the transfer deed by a public notary

The public notary will execute the contract in the form required by the law, in three original or notary-certified copies. Previously, under the old Soviet-era Civil Code, the deeds (contracts) for alienation of property on immovable assets were subject to mandatory notary-certification. The new Civil Code does not contain such a requirement. The requirement on notarization of land sale and purchase agreements subsisted in the Law on Normative Price of Land. Other types of land alienation and all types of building alienation transactions do not require notarization. However, the Cadastral Offices are reluctant to register transfer of property rights on immovable assets, based on such contracts, if they are not notary-certified. Still, there are cases when Territorial Cadastre Offices register sale purchase agreements in respect to real estate (other than plots) which are not notary-certified, especially when the parties are assisted by a lawyer. Upon execution of deed at the notary there is a state tax to be paid as well in the following amount:
For certification of deed of land sale: a state duty of 0.2% of land value if the transaction takes place between two private persons. When the state /Government sells land to private individuals a different state duty applies: MDL 5 if the land is outside locality boundaries and MDL 10 if the land plot is within locality boundaries.
For certification of deed of sale of buildings: 0.5% from the building price. The state tax may be paid to the notary in cash.
The notary will usually request the submission of the non-encumbrance certificate from the cadastre (obtained in Procedure 1).


Agency: Public Notary 		1 day MDL 0.2% land price (state duty) + 0.5% of building price (state tax) + Notary’s fees according to the values determined in the following table: Value of property Notary’s fees Up to MDL 20,000
5 Submit the application for registration to the Cadastre

The Cadastre Office (http://www.cadastre.md/?lang=en&menu_id=217) will examine the documentation filed and register it in the Immovable Asset Register. The registration of title is conducted by applying a stamp on all originals or notary-certified copies of the title documents. A transfer of property is usually registered within 7 business days (10 calendar days).

Registration of transfer of ownership over the property (warehouse and land) with the Registry of Immovable Property, within 7 business days (10 calendar days) costs MDL 0,17% of the land price (but not less than MDL 83 and not more than MDL 415) + 0,06% of the warehouse price (but not less than MDL 267 and not more than MDL 1335). It takes either 3 or 5 times more to get the property registered under the expedited options - within 3, and respectively 1 business day.

Territorial Cadastre Office in Chisinau also provides registration services (under the Law) within 3 business days (4 calendar days) in which case it charges a fee of 5 times the regular amount, or 400 MDL. As soon as the sale-purchase transaction is completed the seller must pay VAT which is currently equal to 20% to the state budget. The documentation shall include:
Executed transfer deed, confirming the transfer of the right of ownership (obtained in Procedure 3)
Where the application is submitted by an agent he must attach power of attorney or other document conforming powers.


Agency: Cadastre 		7 days (normal option), 3 days (fast option) or 1 day (fastest option) Regular version (10 calendar days) costs MDL 0,06% of the sale-purchase price of the property (but not less than MDL 267 and not more than MDL 1335), the cost is 3 or 5 times more for the expedited options - within 3, and respectively 1 business day.
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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