AGRICULTURAL LAND: NEW CONDITIONS FOR ISSUING TITLE DEEDS

Landowners or their heirs whose lands were unlawfully taken over by agricultural production cooperatives, therefore non-registered, who do not have title deeds issued under the law, may apply therefor to the City Hall in the jurisdiction of which the land is located, in the 6 months following the entry into force of the Law no. 123/2023, published in the Official Gazette no. 419 of May 16, 2023.

Conditions for issuing title deeds

Landowners or their heirs who did not sign up to join agricultural production cooperatives, did not remit the lands or whose lands have not been taken over by the State under translative property deeds can request to be issued title deeds by the county’s commission in the following conditions:

1. the land figures in the agricultural or cadastre records and in the tax records;
2. the land considered is not registered in the land book under the Law of cadastre and real estate publicity n°7/1996;
3. the land is not subject of an instatement / reinstatement of property right claim by other persons neither has it been subject of a prior title deed.

The request can be sent by post, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or filed to the city hall’s headquarter.

We remind that according to the Law no. 18/1991 lands abusively taken over by the agricultural production cooperatives from natural persons, without signing up in the cooperatives or by the state and without title, rightfully return to the owners who claimed the reinstatement of ownership, on the original locations unless they have been assigned to other persons under the law.

Corroboration of the articles of the Law n° 18/1991 ¹  ensued that ownership claims should be filed within the 30-day legal deadline following the entry into force of the Law 18/1991 (already expired). The decision no. 36/2020 of the HCCJ (DCD court formation) is in line with this interpretation of the law.

Nevertheless, the legislator, under the Law no. 123/2023 explicitly provided that the 30-day deadline does not apply to landowners or their heirs if they didn’t sign up to join agricultural production cooperatives, did not remit the lands or whose lands have not been taken over under translative property deeds.

According to the newly enacted legal provisions, they can claim title deeds within the 6 months following the entry into force of the Law 123/2023, namely until November 2023.

Note

1. Article 11 para. 2^1 corroborated with art. 27 para. 2^1