In summary, the procedure for the transfer of the title deed under the provisions of the Law is the following:

• Submission of the application to any District Lands Office.
• Examination of the application to verify that the three basic conditions are fulfilled, namely
• the payment of the purchase price,
• the existence of a separate title deed of the property which is the object of the contract
• the payment of taxes, by producing the necessary evidence / documents / certificates
• Sending a notice of the transfer of title deed to all interested persons, giving the right within 45 days to submit an objection and / or application for the transfer of an encumbrance.
• After the lapse of the period of 45 days, in the case of an appeal and / or transfer request, the objection and / or application are examined and a decision is issued.
• Sending a notice of transfer of the title deed to the buyer and the seller, calling upon them to proceed with the transfer of the title within 60 days. The buyer is informed of his right to proceed with the payment of the transfer fees within the deadline of 60 days for the transfer of the title, regardless of the seller’s consent.

Where the purchase price has been fully paid, the applicant is asked to produce the necessary evidence to substantiate the full payment of the purchase price, which is the following:

• Original receipt or receipts showing the payment of the purchase price or photocopies of these. In the case of photocopies, it is possible during the examination of the application to ask also for the original receipts to be produced. All receipts must have been issued by the seller. If the seller is a company or a land development company, then the receipt should bear the company logo, the date of issue, the amount paid for the purchase of the property, the signature of company representative and the company stamp.
• Proof of the deposit of the purchase price in a financial institution, proving that the deposit was made (in the form of cash, cheque) or the transfer of money (from the buyer’s account) to the seller’s account and / or
• A signed certificate from the seller and / or the financial institution of the full payment of the purchase price or the full implementation of the buyer’s contractual obligations and / or
• Affidavit of applicant, sworn before Court, where appropriate, to support the payment of the purchase price or the fulfillment of the buyer’s contractual obligations. It is clarified that the presentation of an affidavit of applicant to support to the payment of the purchase price is not deemed to be adequate evidence to substantiate the full payment of the purchase price.

Where it was declared that the purchase price was partly paid, the buyer will be called upon in a relevant notice to pay within the period of thirty (30) days, the balance of the purchase price into a special temporary account in the name of the Director of the Department Lands and Surveys.

It stressed that, if after examining all the evidence, it is not substantiated that the purchase price has been fully paid, the application will remain pending until the full payment of the purchase price. When full payment of the purchase price is documented, the Land Registry will proceed to examine the second condition noted below

If there is no registered title for the object of the contract, the applicant has the right to apply to the Department of Lands and Surveys for the compulsory acquisition of title. Where there is a recorded title to property, the Land Registry will proceed to examine the third condition.

The buyer must present the certificates from the Commissioner for Taxation and every competent Tax Authority, that he has paid his dues for the following taxes up to the date of the transfer of the property in his name:

• Immovable Property Tax
• Immovable Property Fee
• Sewerage Charges

It is clarified that if the payment of the above taxes is a contractual obligation of the buyer, he has to produce the relevant certificates from the competent authority, for the purpose of transferring the title in his name. If he proves that the payment of such taxes is not his contractual obligation, it shall be deemed that he has fulfilled this obligation.