On January 1, 2019, the perpetual usufruct right to land developed for housing purposes was transformed into the ownership right. Many natural persons – owners of single-family houses and apartments -, in particular due to the possibility of obtaining a discount on the transformation fee, decided to pay such a fee in a one-time form. Regardless of the choice of the one-time fee, the court ex officio, apart from registering the ownership, also enters the claim for the transformation fee in the land and mortgage register. The claim for the transformation fee shall be removed from the land and mortgage register at the request of the owner of respectively a single-family house or an apartment, upon payment of an appropriate court fee. There is no time limit for submitting an application for removal of the claim, however, it is worth submitting the application as soon as possible, in particular in order to avoid possible problems with the sale of the real estate in the future.
Legal basis for the entry of the claim – a certificate confirming the transformation
In accordance with art. 5 section 1 of the Act of 20 July 2018 on transforming the perpetual usufruct right of lands developed for housing purposes into land ownership (consolidated text, Polish Journal of Laws of 2020, item 139), hereinafter referred to as: “the Act”, the court registers ex officio in the land and mortgage register not only the ownership of the land but also the claim for the transformation fee. At the same time, pursuant to art. 4 section 5 in relation with section 1 of this Act, the basis for entering a claim against any owner of a real estate is a certificate confirming the transformation issued by an authorized body. The claim for the transformation fee is entered in section III of the land and mortgage register.
Legal basis for removal of the claim – certificate of payment of the one-time fee
Based on art. 7 section 9 of the Act, the competent authority issues ex officio a certificate of payment of the fee to the real estate owner within 30 days from the date of payment of the one-time fee. In practice, these certificates were often sent to the owners with some delay. However, in the absence of a certificate of payment of the one-time fee, the real estate owner should contact the appropriate authority.
Application for the removal of the entry of a claim for a one-time transformation fee
The application for the removal of the entry of the claim for a one-time transformation fee shall be filled in on the KW-WPIS form. To the application, in accordance with art. 7 section 9 of the Act, a certificate of payment of the one-time fee is attached. It should be noted that in the case of an application for the removal of an entry of a claim for a transformation fee, fees other than those indicated in Chapter III of the Act of 28 July 2005 on court costs in civil cases (consolidated text, Polish Journal of Laws of 2020, item 755) shall apply. Based on art. 7 section 10 point 1 of the Act, a fixed fee of 250 PLN is collected from the application for the removal of the entry of a claim for a one-time transformation fee. The application together with the certificate of payment of the one-time fee and the proof of payment of the court fee should be submitted to the district court, the land and mortgage register department, which keeps the land and mortgage register for the real estate.
It should be noted that owners of single-family houses or apartments who have not chosen a one-time fee should also apply for the removal of the transformation fee after paying all annual fees. In this case, however, pursuant to art. 7 section 10 point 2 of the Act, the fee for removing the claim has been set at a lower level, i.e. 75 PLN.
If you would like to obtain legal assistance in preparing and submitting an application for removal of a claim for a transformation fee from the land and mortgage register or other issues related to real estate law, please contact us via the Contact form.