How to Find Real Estate and Land Register Information in Slovenia

The Slovenian land register is a public register that contains entries and makes available to the public information on rights on real property and legal facts relating to real property. Rights in rem over the real property are acquired or terminated at the time when the entry in the Land Register takes effect, unless otherwise provided by law. The land register is kept and maintained by the court in computerized form. The land register can be accessed online.

Accordingly, information about the real properties is available in the Slovenian land register (zemljiška knjiga) which is available online. To access the online land register, one shall register into the eSodstvo (eCourt) portal at the https://evlozisce.sodisce.si/esodstvo/prijava.html?type=navaden. Online registration can be made by anyone, is free of charge and is a necessary requirement to access the information from the Slovenian Land Register. The portal is available in the Slovenian language only.

Professional users (courts, notaries, attorneys-at-law,..) have professional user accounts enabling them to file appropriate applications regarding real properties and similar.

Land register search options enable inquiries regarding particular real property if the ID numbers of the real property are available/known (plot number and cadastral community or, in case of floor ownership, the ID number of individual part in floor ownership) or if the ID number of particular encumbrance/derived right is known (when details regarding the particular encumbrance/derived right are sought). It is hence not possible to make searches based on the name of the owner (i.e. search engine does allow to enter the name of an individual and to acquire the list of all the real properties owned by such an individual; such searches may only be made exceptionally by the court if legal interest is shown). Accordingly, public search is based on ID data relating to the real property or encumbrance(s)/derived right.

The Slovenian land register is a public register that contains entries and makes available to the public information on rights on real property and legal facts relating to real property. As regards the data from the land register, the principle of reliability applies to them. Accordingly, any person acting honestly in relation to a legal transaction and relying on the information on rights entered in the land register shall, in principle, not suffer adverse consequences by doing so.

The following information about the real properties is available in the land register:

• rights in rem over real property (ownership right, a mortgage, a land debt, an easement, a right of encumbrance, a right of superficies);
• certain contractual rights concerning the real property (prohibition on disposal with the real property (under certain conditions); lease/rent rights regarding the real property; contractual pre-emption right or the right of (re)purchase; special rights to use a public good; certain other rights as prescribed under the laws);
• the holder(s) of each particular right;
• certain legal facts related to real property and holders of such rights (i.e. the commencement of judicial proceedings concerning the holder of rights (notes of civil status and notes of bankruptcy proceedings); priority notice/note; the early recall of a claim secured by a mortgage (note of early recall of a claim); the filing of a mortgage action (note of a mortgage action); note of a legal dispute; an enforcement order against the real property (note of enforcement); note on prohibition of the disposal of ownership or an encumbrance of real property; note of an extraordinary legal remedy; certain other legal facts may also be entered into the land register if the conditions set forth under the law are met);

The registered persons accessing the Slovenian land register have access to the excerpt from the land register for particular real property (which may generally be relied upon; official extract which can be effectively used shall be notarized by the Slovenian notary public). Current as well as historic excerpts are available. Furthermore, the following excerpts and information are (among others) available in the land register: regular excerpts regarding the registered encumbrance(s) and legal facts; combined extract for the land and (part of the) building from the land register and cadaster; list of unresolved notes related to the real property (that is the list of applications related to the real property regarding which the decision on entry/deletion was not yet adopted by the court); details regarding the unresolved notes/applications.

Information about the real properties is also available at the geodetic data registers and information databases of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia (zbirke prostorskih podatkov Geodetske uprave Republike Slovenije) ; those are available online at https://www.e-prostor.gov.si/ which also has an English version (however, application for public view of real properties’ details is only available in Slovenian language). Access to the online data is free of charge. Certain registers may only be accessed by registered or professional users. Search options of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, among others, enable the user to find the relevant ID numbers of the real property if for example the address of the real property is known to the user. In the mentioned register one can also obtain further details regarding the real property (i.e. the area/measurement of the real property, buildings on the real property, manner of use of the property, restrictions on use, infrastructure on the property..).

Additional information regarding the real property can be found in the location information issued for particular real property. Such document is issued upon request by the competent municipality and includes information regarding the pre-emptive right of the municipality and/or state on the real property and details regarding the purpose(s) of use, zoning status and restrictions, legal regime(s) applicable to the real property (protected areas – infrastructure, potential flooding areas etc); spatial implementation conditions and envisaged changes to planning documents. It also includes (carto)graphic part of the zoning act. An administrative fee amounting to cca EUR 35 is payable with respect to the issuance of the location information. The document must be obtained prior to the transaction regarding the real property (it is a precondition that the notary notarizes the signature(s) on the sales agreement/the land register permit).

There are also some other registers where information regarding the real properties may be found. For example: In the Register of issued Energy Performance Certificates (maintained by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy) information on whether the energy performance certificate for a particular real property has been issued can be found (issue date, issuing expert, data on certificate). If the real property is subject to sale or lease, it must have an energy performance certificate (subject to certain exemptions). In the Register of issued energy permits information and details regarding issued energy permits can be found. Information regarding the issued environmental permits can be found in the Register of Operators and environmental permits issued; there is also a Register on issued water permits etc.

Documents based on which each particular entry into the land register was made and the decisions on entries are stored permanently in electronic form. These documents, such as the title document (e.g. sales agreement, land registration permit and other similar documents) upon which the entry was made and the relevant decision, are not freely accessible. To be able to access them and acquire a copy, the person shall demonstrate a legitimate interest for such a disclosure of documents. In this regard, the request shall be filed with the land registry court and the land registry judge shall decide upon the request. The same rules shall apply, mutatis mutandis, also with respect to the documents enclosed to the applications regarding which the court has not yet issued a final decision; however, in those cases, legitimate interest is not required to be demonstrated. Court fees (stamp duties) are payable with respect to acquiring copies of the documents whereby the amount depends on the length of the documents (and in principle depends on the number of pages constituting the document).

We refer to response under the question 2 above regarding the excerpts from the land register which can be obtained for particular real property. Also, extracts on the most recent entries in the cadaster of real properties and address register can be acquired from the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia (certain extracts are issued in the form of graphics and certain in the form of a textual extract). Anyone can acquire those excerpts (upon payment of an administrative fee amounting to cca EUR 5); however, the information on the identity of the owner is not disclosed in the excerpts provided by the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia unless the owner is a legal entity or the request is filed by the owner itself.

We refer to our response to the question 2 above.

In case a legal dispute regarding a particular real property is pending (that is when a lawsuit initiating the judicial proceedings concerning the acquisition, extinguishment or modification of rights over immovable property is filed), such a proceeding can be registered in the land register under certain conditions (with a note of a legal dispute). By registration of the note of a legal dispute in the land register it is deemed that all third parties are aware of the dispute. However, it shall be noted that only certain legal disputes can be registered in the land register, namely: (i) legal dispute in which the claimant requests its ownership right to be recognized and registered in the land register over the real property (where the ownership right was acquired based on construction on another person's land or construction across a boundary, based on acquisition through adverse possession, during the marriage or cohabitation under the rules of joint property acquired during marriage or cohabitation or in any other original manner), or (ii) legal dispute in which existence of any other right in rem of the claimant acquired in an original manner is asserted; (iii) legal dispute in which termination of registered right (other than ownership right) is claimed, (iv) legal dispute in which the route (way of necessity) to access neighbouring real property is claimed to be established over the real property.

As regards other legal disputes concerning the particular real property which are not capable of being registered in the land register, there is in principle no public access to information on pending litigation concerning the specific property. However, a party may ask a particular court to confirm whether certain entity/person is a party to a pending litigation, however, legitimate interest has to be evidenced to obtain such information. Otherwise, the courts (each for itself) publish on their websites the schedules of the hearings (which are not necessarily up-to-date) and in such public announcements the names of the parties involved and the claimed amounts may be seen (details on the real property concerned are normally not visible). There are some Slovenian companies specializing in research on other companies (and also making credit assessments) and can provide certain data against payment. These companies mainly follow official publications and acquire information on potential pending litigations from public sources.