The registration of ownership rights in the apartment at the Land Registry Bureau is the last and final step in the sale transaction and is the step-through through which your rights to the apartment are confirmed. The date for registration of rights to the buyer is typically in the post-delivery phase of the possession of the apartment to the buyer, or in parallel with it after payment has been made to the seller, and the registration is done by the buyer’s lawyer using documents forwarded to him by the seller’s lawyer after payment of the balance to the seller.
It is a unique peculiarity of the Israeli legal system that there are a number of places in Israel where people can register real estate ownership rights – even with private entities; however, the LRB is the only place that legally guarantees the accuracy of the registration. Note that if your purchase was financed by a mortgage, a lien in favor of the mortgage bank will also be registered at the LRB.
The Documents Your Lawyer Will Use to Register the Rights Under Your Name Are:
• Application for land registration signed by the seller and duly verified.
• Bills of sale, signed by both parties and duly verified.
• Power of attorney (if the documents are signed via power of attorney).
• Land appreciation tax approval and municipality approval validly directed to the Land Registry.
• Land Registry Fee Approval.
• Application for real estate registration and mortgage notes (if a mortgage was taken to finance the purchase).
• Photo ID of the parties.
In order to implement the registry, your lawyer will physically bring the documents to the local office of the LRB, where they will be submitted for approval and filing. A few days later, your lawyer will receive notification of successful registration or will receive the documents back with a notice of failure and the reason.
Occasionally, it is impossible to register rights at the LRB, such as in the case of buying from a construction company and/or before the relevant authorities have surveyed and mapped out the land, or before architectural plans have been filed with the land registry. In such cases, the rights of a purchaser can be registered temporarily with an attorney, until it becomes possible to register them in the land registry, at which point the attorney is legally and ethically mandated to do so immediately and for your security.
