Switzerland
Answer ... Each canton must operate a land register office. Depending on the size of the canton, the land register may be divided into different district offices. The land register offices are therefore administrative bodies operated by the cantons under federal oversight.
Switzerland
Answer ... Registration in the land register usually has a so-called ‘constitutive’ effect, which implies that acts concluded between parties have no legal effect until registration in the land register. However, certain legal acts have immediate effect between the parties even where they have not yet been registered in the land register. In such cases, registration has only a declaratory effect. If no registration is made in the land register, the good faith of third parties must be protected.
Switzerland
Answer ... As most real estate deeds require the authentic form, it is usually the notaries who ensure compliance with the formal and documentary requirements for registration. Identification of the parties will always be necessary. Most cantons have a system of independent notaries (although state licensed and subject to state supervision); but some have replaced notaries with administrative offices.
Even where the deed can be executed in the written form (ie, where the authentic form is not required) – for example, in the case of the inheritance division – the signatures of the parties must be authenticated by a notary public or by the competent administrative body in order to do so.
Switzerland
Answer ... Once a real estate transaction has been executed before a notary public or before the competent administrative body, the notary public or the administrative body will file a request to the land register. The request will then be verified by the land register office and, if deemed complete, will be entered in the land register.
Switzerland
Answer ... The following information is freely accessible to everyone without having to justify any particular interest:
- the designation and description of the property;
- the name and identity of the owner;
- the form of ownership and the date of acquisition; and
- the easements and land charges as well as certain mentions.
Certain cantons offer a direct online access to part of this information (usually, the name of the owner). The remaining information may be disclosed upon request to the competent land register office if the applicant establishes a ‘sufficient interest’ in consulting the land register; although practices as to what constitutes a ‘sufficient interest’ may vary widely from one canton to another. Certain professionals (eg, notaries, lawyers, banks, pension funds, insurers) have extensive access to the online land register and can thus consult it without having to submit individual requests.
If a plot of land is owned by a company, only the company name will be publicly accessible. As the commercial register only discloses board members and not shareholders, the identity of the ultimate owner of the property will not be publicly accessible (as long as the shareholder is not a board member).
Finally, the cantons may require that all acquisitions of real estate be published (however, the price will not be disclosed). This has been implemented by some cantons through an online list of transactions.