Act CXLI of 1997 on the Land Registry that is currently in force will be replaced as from the 15th of January 2025 (since writing this article in November 2022, this date has been updated every six months or so, due to the continuous postponement of the E-ING implementation) by Act C of 2021 on the Land Registry, which will bring serious changes to the real estate registration procedure.
The key to digitalizing the land registry will be the E-ING [E-LAND REGISTRY] system to be created for this purpose. The main goal of the E-ING project is to replace the unified real estate register created in 1972 with a modern electronic database that communicates with other databases, reducing the administrative burden on both clients and offices, thus modernizing and making the Hungarian real estate registration system competitive.
The biggest innovation of the procedure that is becoming electronic in full, is that the current form of the land registry system will cease to exist in 2025 and in the future one body with national competence will act. Another novelty of the system is that the submissions are stamped and then the cases that are not summarily or fully processed are automatically judged (introduction of automatic decision-making). From next year, applications can be submitted by filling out an electronic form, in which the acting attorney-at-law (chamber legal adviser) or representative notary public records the essential data. It should be emphasized that in the land registry procedure, legal representation will be mandatory as a general rule. Participation in the procedure therefore carries a serious legal responsibility for the participating attorney-at-laws, since the content of the form filled out by the legal representative will be the governing factor during the automatic decision-making, in addition, in general, the paper-based public or private document can only be used for the E-ING registration as a basis, if it was previously converted into an electronic document by the Hungarian attorney-at-law, chamber legal adviser or notary public. Of course, there will be exceptions to the general rule, so the applicant may submit a request for registration of changes in data (property or the entitled person) in writing or electronically.
It is important to state that the basic assumption of the E-ING system is that the individual (whether acting as an individual or as a legal representative of a legal entity) has some kind of enhanced security electronic signature (or if he or she does not have one, his/her authorized legal representative having an enhanced security electronic signature can convert the power of attorney for the real estate registration procedure, as well as the documents that form the basis of the real estate registry entry, into a certified document). A power of attorney can therefore, as a general rule, only be done in front of an attorney-at-law (possibly in a government customer service) in person or electronically, by electronic signature with an e-identification card, using the form available in the electronic real estate registration system. The documents that form the basis of the E-ING to be submitted by the legal representative can also be signed electronically, so the signatory parties do not need to spend time and money traveling to the legal representative who drafts the real estate sale and purchase contract, but can do so easily and simply online.
That is why it is an important practical advice when applying for a new Hungarian identity card: make sure that the administrator activates all possible services – provided by the Government Office, available free of charge, otherwise belonging to new type identity cards – for the application (including the electronic signature itself, so we should receive two envelopes, a green-bordered and a blue-bordered one with the code cards). In addition, by using Android mobile phones, you don’t even need to invest in a separate card reader in order to read your e-identity card (for more information: https://eszemelyi.hu/en/card-reading/#eSzemelyiMapp-CardReading).
This information is not comprehensive and does not constitute legal advice or an offer. Should you have any further legal questions or queries please contact us via our contact details (https://katonareka.hu/en/contact/).
