Legal Principles of Property Registration and Protection

The Principle of Rogation in Property Registration

The first thing to note about registration is that it must be requested by those interested in it (the so-called principle of rogation, or praying) and must be based on one or more public documents (deeds and other legal documents, judgments, administrative decisions, etc.). Our system protects the security of legal transactions by making information accessible to the registry that has been supervised in advance by a notary public or official body to ensure that everything reflected in the document is true.

Public Documents and Property Rights

Therefore, once the property (farm) "exists" because it is documented as such in the relevant register, and we have a public document that refers to it (for example, a deed of sale with a mortgage constitution to ensure a bank loan), it will go to the Registrar for registration. This ensures that a third party can know who the new owner of the property is and who holds certain rights over that property, such as a mortgage in this case.

Effects and Efficacy of Land Registration

The effects or consequences of registration determine its efficiency. We distinguish between:

• Positive efficacy: Registered real rights affect and bind third parties.
• Negative efficacy: Unregistered real rights do not affect or harm third parties.

Legal Protection Under the Civil Code

The Civil Code establishes the principle of protection for the registered holder: the right to property and any other real rights over immovable property that are not properly registered in the land registry do not harm or remain effective against third parties who are unaware of these rights.

A third party in good faith for valuable consideration who acquires any right from a person appearing in the Register as the holder of the right will be maintained in their acquisition. This remains true once they have registered their right, even after the annulment or the termination of the right of the grantor for reasons that do not appear on the registration of ownership.

Criteria for Third-Party Protection

For the appropriate application of this efficiency, the third party must meet certain criteria:

• The third party must have acquired the right for consideration (valuable consideration).
• The third party must have acquired in good faith in two forms:

— The belief that the transferor owns the property and has the power to transmit it.

— Ignorance that the title of the transferor is capable of being annulled or rescinded for reasons that are not in the land registry.

• The third party must acquire from the former holder who is actually enrolled.
• The third party, in turn, must register the property right.

If the third party does not meet the above criteria, they cannot maintain their claim against the claim of the previous owner.