Similarly with other countries, to secure the right to real estate in Cyprus, you need to go through a certain registration procedure so you can get Title Deeds in Cyprus. The document that confirms the ownership in relation to the immovable object is the Title Deed.

Title Deed is the main document of the owner of a property or land plot in Cyprus, which confirms and secures the owner's right to a specific object. The buyer will be able to get such a certificate at the final stage of the purchase and sale transaction. The document is issues by the District Land Registry Office and the absence of a Title can promise big problems for the new owner. Without this document, he will not be able to dispose of real estate or land in full, i.e. it is almost impossible to sell, mortgage or pass on such property by inheritance.

Title Deed is required for the purchase and sale of real estate (whether it is an apartment, house or land), and through this document, the transfer of absolute ownership rights from the seller to the buyer is implemented. The title deed contains information relating to your property: its location, its size, its rites of passage, limitations.

Seldemosa Case

The case with action number 1472/2011 at the Famagusta District Court under the company name Seldemosa is significantly important for all purchasers of property in Cyprus with respect to the title deeds. The case concerned about the buyers, who purchased a property and wanted their title deeds. A court order was issued ordering the issuance of the title deeds. However, a local bank issued a temporary court order to prohibit the transfer of the deeds. Due to the existence of two opposing court orders, the officer from the District Land Registry Office requested the court to give instructions how to proceed. The court has decided the following:

“The Contract of Sale, as an encumbrance created earlier than the temporary Court Order (which was prohibiting the sale of the property) precedes the 2nd prohibition, which prohibited the selling of the same immovable property”.

In simple terms, the court established that the purchaser cannot be prevented from taking full ownership of the property, because the order to prohibit the transfer came after the deposition of the contract of sale, according to the ‘Sale of Property (Specific performance) Law 2011, Article 8 (1). Therefore, as long as the contract is registered before any prohibition orders, loans, memos or other encumbrances, the buyer cannot be prohibited from taking his title deeds.