Why is obtaining a title deed indispensable for the security of real estate transactions?
When someone in Hungary decides to purchase one of the more than 4.5 million residential properties recorded in the real estate register (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2022), the first and most important step is to clarify the legal status of the property concerned. Under the public authenticity of the Hungarian real estate register (Act V of 2013, Section 5:165 of the Civil Code), the law accepts the data appearing on the title deed as true until the contrary is proven. This means that a good-faith acquirer may rightfully rely on the content of the register.
However, public authenticity also entails that no one may claim not to have known about a registered right or fact, or even about an application recorded as a pending entry in the real estate register (Act V of 2013, Section 5:171 of the Civil Code). Consequently, failing to obtain the title deed is a serious legal risk. If a buyer pays earnest money or signs a sale and purchase agreement without having checked the property’s legal status immediately before concluding the contract, they cannot subsequently rely on good faith against enforcement rights, mortgages, or prohibitions on alienation and encumbrance already registered on the title deed.
The statistical data also highlight that the share of owner-occupied properties among Hungarian households ranges between 84 and 86 percent (Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 2020). This is an outstanding proportion compared with other European countries. Thus, in Hungary the question of the public authenticity of the title deed may be of significance in the everyday life of Hungarian citizens.
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How does obtaining a title deed work on the E-ING platform?
E-ING, the electronic platform created for the full digitalisation of the Hungarian real estate register, is gradually taking over from the former paper-based methods of administration. For citizens and legal representatives alike, the E-ING platform provides the fastest access to authentic data.
Obtaining a title deed in the electronic space can be accomplished in the new specialised system through the following strictly defined steps:
- Opening the E-ING platform: As a first step, the user must open the electronic real estate register interface in their browser.
- Navigating to the query function: The process is launched by clicking the “Proceed to title deed copy query” button on the home page.
- Specifying the municipality: The exact name of the municipality concerned must be entered, and in the case of Budapest, selecting the district is also mandatory.
- Completing KAÜ (Central Identification Agent) identification: The system requires secure electronic identification, which may be carried out using Ügyfélkapu+ (Client Gate+) or Digital Citizenship (DÁP).
- Redirection to the central portal: During the query process, the E-ING system redirects the user to the Magyarorszag.hu platform, where the title deed request must be selected as the case type.
- Selecting the copy type: The user must decide whether they need an extract or a full e-certified title deed copy.
- Property search: The search can be carried out on the basis of the exact address or the lot number, but using the lot number guarantees a significantly more accurate and faster result.
- Specifying the details: The location of the property (inner area/belterület, outer area/külterület, or closed garden/zártkert) and the exact lot number must be entered.
- Payment of the fee: To close the transaction successfully, online bank card payment (SimplePay) must be made, or the deferred settlement payment system may also be used.
Following successful payment, the system immediately generates the e-certified PDF document, which can be downloaded straight away and used without restriction in digital form.
How can someone request all properties in Hungary registered in their name?
To map all the properties registered in a person’s name, the lawful option is not the title deed but a request for the owner’s property list (a list of lot numbers) (Act C of 2021 on the Real Estate Register, Section 80). The application must be submitted via the e-Papír platform, logging in through the Client Gate, to the Lechner Knowledge Centre, whose data supply fee is HUF 320 per lot number.
This data supply procedure is excellently suited to providing citizens with an accurate and up-to-date list of all their properties in inner and outer areas registered in their name. An important financial rule, however, is that in addition to the HUF 320 payable per lot number, a one-off administrative service base fee of HUF 20,000 per data supply must also be paid to the Lechner Knowledge Centre (Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development, 2024).
What are the main differences between the extract, the full and the transactional title deed?
Title deeds that can be requested from the real estate register fall into three main types: the extract, which records the current status; the full copy, which also contains deleted entries; and the transactional title deed used by attorneys, which reveals detailed personal data.
When is an extract title deed sufficient?
The extract title deed copy shows exclusively the data in force, the registered rights in rem and the recorded legal facts that are valid on the day – and in the very second – of the query. This document does not show former owners, or mortgages that have already been satisfied and subsequently deleted, at all.
In everyday real estate market practice – for example when viewing a flat or handing over the earnest money – this version is perfectly sufficient for checking the property’s basic legal status. Its use is practical, since deleted entries often make the title deed difficult to follow, especially for laypersons, while in the above situations they contain no useful information.
In which cases is it essential to request the full title deed copy?
The full title deed copy reveals the entire history of the property and its past in terms of rights in rem, since in addition to the currently valid data it also contains all previously deleted entries. Rights that have already ceased and encumbrances that have been deleted (for example repaid bank loans or deleted usufruct rights) appear clearly visibly, struck through, on the document.
This may be significant where a historical overview of the entries is needed. For example, in probate proceedings or when settling court disputes relating to the property.
Why is the transactional title deed important in preparing electronic procedures?
The transactional title deed copy is the newest document type, designed specifically for the E-ING system, which, beyond the content of the full copy, contains all statutory identification data of the holders of rights (Government Decree 179/2023 (V. 15.)). It displays the address, place and date of birth and mother’s name of the owners and of those subject to encumbrances, information which the plain extract or full copy no longer contains for data protection reasons. This special document may be requested through the digital system only by the attorney or notary acting in the case, for the purpose of accurately preparing contracts.
For ease of reference, the table below summarises the most important differences between the three copy types:
| Copy type | Availability | Address data | Deleted data |
| Extract copy | For anyone | No | No |
| Full copy | For anyone | No | Yes |
| Transactional copy | Attorney/notary only | Yes | Yes |
What costs are involved in obtaining a title deed in 2026?
The legislator keeps the costs of land registry office and real estate register procedures within precisely defined statutory limits, ensuring transparent and uniform pricing throughout the country.
The table below summarises the most important fee items applicable in these procedures under Decree No. 1/2024 (I. 30.) KTM of the Minister of Public Administration and Regional Development:
| Type of procedure / service | Administrative service fee (HUF) |
| Electronic certified title deed (extract / full) | HUF 4,800 / property |
| Paper-based certified title deed copy | HUF 10,000 / property |
| Map copy (electronic or paper-based) | HUF 5,000 / property |
| Change monitoring service | HUF 4,000 / property / year |
| Fee for the general change registration procedure | HUF 10,600 / property |
| Registration and amendment of a mortgage | HUF 20,000 / property |
| Supplementary fee for expedited procedure | HUF 16,000 / property |
Administrative service fees in 2026 range from HUF 4,000 for change monitoring to HUF 20,000 for registering a mortgage.
Documents obtained in e-certified format qualify as public documents only in digital form, so once printed out they lose their evidentiary force. If a paper-based certified copy is indispensable for a transaction, it is issued in person, on paper bearing security features, by the competent district land registry office or the government window for an administrative service fee of HUF 10,000.
When analysing the costs arising in real estate transactions, it should be highlighted that the fee for registering the establishment of a condominium and for amending the deed of foundation is likewise HUF 10,600 per separately owned unit, with the statutory concession that the total amount payable may not exceed HUF 160,000. These amounts must always be paid in advance, since deferred settlement of fees is possible in the E-ING system only in exceptional cases, for law firms under contract.
Who is entitled to the allowance of 2 free title deed requests per year?
Under the law in force, two free title deed requests per calendar year are permitted in respect of properties in one’s own ownership (Act C of 2021 on the Real Estate Register, Section 90). This provision represents a substantial tightening compared with the rules of earlier years, when every Hungarian citizen could query the data of any property of their choice free of charge twice a year on the online platform. With this measure, the legislator’s aim was to curb mass, commercial and unjustified data queries, and to provide stronger protection for citizens’ personal data.
If someone makes use of the free query option without being entitled to it – for example by downloading free of charge the title deed of a property in which they hold no ownership or other registered right – the authority applies a financial sanction. Where an unauthorised query is revealed during an audit, the requesting party must pay, without prior warning, exactly 3 times the base fee (i.e. HUF 14,400) as a fine (Act C of 2021 on the Real Estate Register, Section 90).
Free inspection of the title deed
The law also distinguishes downloading a free copy from the institution of “free title deed inspection” (Act C of 2021 on the Real Estate Register, Section 78). Free-of-charge inspection is possible only in respect of one’s own property, via the land registry office’s computer equipment, or for the managing agent of a condominium in respect of the separately owned units belonging to that condominium.
The latter has very important practical significance. For example, if the condominium’s deed of foundation grants a right of first refusal to the co-owners of the individual units, the range of entitled persons can be established solely from the title deeds. As long as non-certified title deeds could be requested, the acting attorney was able to check this at a cost of HUF 1,000 per unit. Today this cost would be almost five times as much. In this way, the free inspection option is the only reasonable way to check the ownership of the separately owned units where a large number of properties have to be checked.
In which cases is obtaining a title deed free of charge?
The legislation also sets out certain cases of personal and subject-matter exemption from fees, in which the parties concerned do not have to pay the fee for the title deed copy:
- Personal exemption: The Hungarian State, budgetary bodies (where the request relates to their statutory duties), and ecclesiastical legal persons (exactly once a year per property).
- Subject-matter exemption: In certain official procedures, for example in probate matters, in administrative authority or court proceedings, in the course of terminating undivided joint ownership, and in the case of applications to credit institutions for state housing subsidies (CSOK, Rural CSOK), where the bank carries out the request on behalf of the applicant.
The structure of the title deed
In terms of its structure, the title deed consists of the header, the pending entries, and three parts separated by the numbers I–III. Below we summarise exactly how the document is built up and what data each section contains.
Header and pending entries
At the very top of the title deed are the identification data: the name of the municipality, the property’s unique lot number, and any pending entries (marginal notes), if there are unresolved applications relating to the property. A pending entry shows that some application relating to the property (e.g. registration of ownership, deletion of a mortgage) has been received by the land registry office and that its assessment in terms of rights in rem is still in progress, so that no final decision has yet been made.
Part I: Descriptive and numerical data of the property
The first part of the title deed records the physical and technical characteristics of the property. The following information can be found here:
- Lot number and exact address: The unique identifiers of the property.
- Size of the area: The size of the property, given in square metres (in inner areas) or in hectares and square metres (in outer areas).
- Cultivation category (művelési ág) or the nature of the property: For land, the cultivation category (e.g. arable land, forest, meadow) appears here, while for buildings it is the designation according to their purpose (e.g. dwelling house, yard, weekend house, farm building).
- Legal nature: Special characteristics are recorded here, for example if the property is a condominium, a mining plot, or is under national/local monument protection.
- Related rights: Easements or land use rights to which the current owner of the property is entitled.
Part II: Ownership information
The second part contains exclusively the data relating to the owners of the property and to the acquisition of ownership. It provides the following detailed information:
- Personal data of the owner(s): In the case of natural persons, the surname and forename, the birth name, the year of birth, the mother’s birth name and the address appear here (the visibility of the address depends on the type of copy – extract, full or transactional). For legal persons (e.g. companies), the company name, registered seat, company registration number and the name of the registering body are shown.
- Ownership share: Shows precisely what notional share the given owner holds in the property (e.g. 1/1 exclusive ownership, or in the case of undivided joint ownership, e.g. 1/2, 2/4).
- Legal title of acquisition: The legal basis for acquiring ownership, for example sale and purchase, inheritance, gift, or acquisitive prescription.
- Asset management data: In the case of property in state or municipal ownership, the name and data of the official asset manager are indicated here.
Part III: Encumbrances, restrictions and legally relevant facts
The third part contains all those rights and facts that encumber the property and that restrict the owner’s right of disposal or represent a security risk for the buyer. The following are registered here:
- Mortgage: Claims registered as security for bank or other loans.
- Prohibition on alienation and encumbrance: Frequently recorded to secure a mortgage, it prevents the sale or further encumbrance of the property without the consent of the beneficiary.
- Enforcement right: The land registry footprint of enforcement proceedings ordered on account of tax or other debts.
- Restrictions on use: Usufruct, the right of use, and the right to support or to a life annuity.
- Notice of litigation (perfeljegyzés): The fact that court or other ownership-related proceedings concerning the property have been commenced.
- Buyer’s right: Under the new act on the real estate register, the buyer’s right attached to the retention of title is also registered here as an encumbrance, providing the buyer with protection in rem until the purchase price has been paid in full.
The previously available option of requesting a non-certified title deed, which had no evidentiary force, ceased entirely with the nationwide introduction of the new electronic real estate register system (E-ING) and the renewal of the land registry database.
Below we summarise why the legislator took this decision and what has replaced the old system:
Why was the non-certified title deed copy abolished?
Non-certified copies in simple PDF format carried no official evidentiary force; neither printed nor in digital form did they qualify as public documents. Their phasing out was driven primarily by data protection and transaction security considerations: the legislator’s aim was to minimise abuses relating to properties and to ensure that parties involved in property transactions obtain information exclusively from data guaranteed to be current, authentic and verified.
Non-certified title deeds have been replaced by certified documents only, subject to strict identification. At present, the following two forms of certification are available:
- Electronically (e-certified PDF): After logging in to the new E-ING system (for which Ügyfélkapu+ (Client Gate+) or Digital Citizenship (DÁP) identification is now mandatory), an e-certified PDF document can be requested. This document bears an advanced electronic signature and a time stamp. Important limitation: this document qualifies as a public document only in digital form; once printed out it loses its evidentiary force.
- In person (paper-based certified copy): If a physical, paper-based certified document is indispensable for the transaction, it can be requested in person at the district land registry offices or at the government windows. Its fee is HUF 10,000, and the authorities print it, under strict accounting rules, on paper bearing special security features and a wrap-around seal label.
With the phasing out of non-certified documents, the real estate register has moved entirely into a secure digital space based on KAÜ identification, where every request is traceable, thereby protecting owners’ personal data and the security of property transactions.
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