At the end of last year, the Office for State Representation in Property Matters (ÚZSVM) determined in 50,809 cases the owner of real estate that was previously unclear. In 2022 alone, the office resolved the owner for about 7,000 properties, which is on par with the previous year. The Office of the Commissioner of Land Management announced this in a press release today. Property that does not have a specific owner by the end of this year will go to the state. According to the latest available data as of August 1 last year, the owner of 152,173 plots and 3,954 buildings was unclear.
“The authority has launched investigations into 91,029 items registered in the land registry for insufficiently identified owners by the end of 2022. Investigations most often ended with the filing of a petition to initiate inheritance proceedings because the owner is no longer living; this was the case in 63 percent of cases. During investigations, the ÚZSVM focuses mainly on properties that complicate the development of towns and municipalities, for example when building infrastructure,” said the director general of the office, Kateřina Arajmu.
As of August 1 last year, there were 352,266 entries in the land registry with insufficiently identified or unknown owners. One owner can own several different properties and one property can be co-owned by multiple owners.
“This year is the last year, in accordance with the Civil Code, that the real owners of real estate can apply for their rights. Therefore, I encourage everyone to consult the list of under-identified owners on our website and check if ancestors or themselves own a property they were unaware of,” Arajmu warned.
The task of the Office of the State Property Management is to represent the Czech Republic in legal disputes concerning state property. Thus, the Office acts mainly before courts and arbitration bodies instead of other organisational units of the state. The Office of the State Property Management also acts in legal disputes concerning property it manages itself.
Source: ÚZSVM and ISBnews
