A fresh start for Poland's land registry system

Regulations are currently being drafted which will pave the way for an electronic title and mortgage registration system. Wojciech Langowski from the Law Offices of Miller Canfield looks at how a system could develop and highlights the benefits such a development would bring to Poland's property market. It is widely recognised that a reliable and efficient title and mortgage registration system is the foundation of safe property business and banking, but in Poland title or mortgage registration proceedings in large cities (especially in Warsaw, Krakow and Szczecin) can take years. As owner registration in the Land and Mortgage Book (LMB) is usually a condition for purchase of property, these delays slow down property sales. Moreover, courts around the country often use different legal formulas, and data in LMB's often differs to that in land registries. Such a situation seriously obstructs the development of the property market in Poland. The unsatisfactory situation i