ᐅ Certificate of Non-Encumbrance / Negative Certificate in Land Purchase

What has been your experience with the negative certificate / negative clearance when purchasing a plot of land?

This type of certificate confirms that a municipality does not intend to exercise its pre-emptive right to purchase the property. The application for the negative certificate is usually handled by the appointed notary. The municipality charges a fee for issuing the certificate, which varies from one municipality to another. Attached is a sample.

It took quite a while, but it was free of charge.

What do you want to know, what is your question?
Since the notary handles it, this is usually a very routine and automated process for home builders.
So what exciting experiences should really come up? The city either exercises its right of first refusal or it doesn’t. Boring.

So, it was really exciting for us! The local authority only waived their right of first refusal if we signed an additional building obligation. We had no choice but to agree to this, which now forces us to build given the current surge in costs.

Schwabe23 schrieb:

So, it was really intense for us! The municipality only waived the right of first refusal if we agreed to an additional building obligation. We had no choice but to sign it, which now, with the current cost increases, forces us to build.

Is this legally possible? Have you tried to challenge it legally? Given the current cost and interest rate situation, this could definitely become problematic.

Normally, the right of first refusal must be well justified and also approved by the city or municipal council.

Apparently, yes. How this would turn out in the case of a legal dispute would have to be seen. The city always has a right of first refusal if the plot of land is within a valid zoning plan. We were simply relieved to have found a plot and did not want to take any risks. We could only agree to that. This was also at a completely different time, and a situation like today was simply unimaginable.