Why register?

1.  Is it compulsory to register all transactions relating to land/property in your system?

Art. 2 of Land Registry Law provides, in contrast with the provisions of the Italian Civil Code, that real property rights are not acquired until they are legally entered in the Land Register: both title and entry (intavolazione) are required. This is valid as far as contracts inter vivos are concerned.

2. If not, are there any circumstances under which is it compulsory to do so?

In case of several transaction, linked together, you have to produce all the “non registered” acts in order to register the last one.

3. If not, and registration is voluntary, what are the benefits of registration?

Under certain circumstances  i.e.  legal rights transferred through acts mortis causa it is not compulsory to register, although it is in the interest of heirs to do so.

There are furthermore other types of inscriptions where registration has a function of publicity ( pubblicità-notizia or pubblicità-dichiarativa).

It is  indeed in interest of parties to register but it is not compulsory.

4. What percentage of land/titles is/are registered in your system?

Considering in most cases the entry has constitutive effects ( see point 1) the percentage of titles which are registered is very high. It is 100 % in case of transfer inter vivos.

5. What types of legal rights in property are capable of being protected by registration?

Art 9. of LR Law provides a numerus clauses of legal rights in property that can be entered (intavolati): property right, usufructus, mortgage, servitus…

6. Are there other rights, legal situations, judicial decisions affecting property rights or owner’s powers capable of registration?

Yes, there are legal situations provided by national laws and applicable in Tavolare system if compatible. Very often LR judges interpret the law and  state the applicability or not.

It is LR Law itself which also lists in art. 19 and art. 20 some rights to be annotated. Some examples: foreclosure, facts on capacity of parties and various kind of judicial orders.

7. What are the effects of registration of a transfer of ownership?

The answer to this and following questions can be summarised as follows:

Art. 2 of Land Registry Law provides, in  contrast with the provisions of the Italian Civil Code, that real property rights are not acquired until they are legally entered in the Land Register: both title and the entry (intavolazione) are required. These are the constitutive effects of the entry.

The consequence of this fundamental principle is a high degree of reliability of the information contained in the Land Registry. This is valid as far as contracts between living persons are concerned.

The Land Registry entries enjoy of public faith (Principio della Pubblica fede). It means that any person relying on them in good faith enjoys almost absolute protection and it won’t be necessary to carry out further investigations.

If a right is registered for a person in the Land Register – unless an objection against the correctness is entered within the limited period of 60 days or unless the incorrectness is known by the person acquiring the right –  it is to be presumed that the right belongs to him;

if a registered right is cancelled in the Land Register – unless an objection … – it is to be presumed that the right does not exist.

8. What are the effects of registration of a mortgage/charge? What powers or rights are available to the registered owners of charge in order to enforce their security?

Also for mortgage, registration has constitutive effects.

9. Is the title guaranteed by the State/Registrar? If so, to what extent and under what circumstances?

Each title is checked by the Registrar: according to rules 26 and 27 of legge tavolare it has to be free from legal flows or other defects which could lower its trustworthiness; so a registered title has to be considered a valid title.

10. What remedies are available to land registry information users who may have relied on register information and suffered loss as a result of reliance on that information?

A user who suffered a loss due to a wrong information from the L.R. can only initiate a legal action versus Provincia Autonoma di Trento, which is the public authority in charge of the register.

11. How does a party who has suffered loss make a claim for compensation if applicable?

He has to initiate a legal action filing a claim to a Court.

12. What are the risks involved where property transactions are not registered?

Rule 2 of R.D. (=Royal Decree) n.499/1929 provides that property right and other rights in rem are not acquired until they are legally entered in the Land Register (see answer to question n. 7).

According to rule 21 of L.T. (= legge tavolare), however,  no inscription can be written in real folio against/in favor of those, whose name is not registered in Land Registry.

13. Are there any penalties for non-registration?

No, there aren’t.

14. Is cadastral/mapping information included in the title registration process? If so, is it guaranteed? If yes, by whom?

No, it isn’t