In order to complete a purchase of property, a number of documents are required and must be delivered to the Notary’s office at least one week before the date booked for signing the Deed of Transfer known as the Escritura. These are:

1) A registration certificate. This is issued by the Land Registry (Conservatório do Registo Predial and is valid for six months and shows who is the owner and if there are any mortgages or encumbrances registered on the property.

2) A tax office certificate (Caderneta Predial). This is a stamped document issued by the Tax office confirming the property’s tax status. It is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. If the property has not been registered with the tax office, a duplicate of the registration application. This document is called Modelo 1 of I.M.I. and is stamped by the tax office.

3) A receipt for the payment of the property transfer tax (IMT) This tax must be paid by the purchaser and can be done at any tax office (Finanças) before the transfer takes place or by Internet. The IMT is levied on the value of the property in accordance with the tax rates, as shown in the section on buying costs.

4) A Habitation Certificate (Licença de Habitação) The notary public must verify that the building is registered with the Tax office and that the habitation certificate was granted by the municipal authorities. If a building is newly constructed and no habitation certificate has yet been issued, this may be replaced by the construction license or building permit, if:

. The vendor can prove that he has already applied for the habitation certificate for the building or the part referred to.

. The vendor states that:

       the construction has been completed

       the construction was neither embargoed by municipal authorities nor the construction license withdrawn

       the habitation certificate had been applied for over 50 days before completion and the vendor has not yet been notified of any response to his application.

5) A Property Passport (Ficha Técnica de Habitação).

If the property is new and no habitation certificate was issued before the 15th August 2004, then the Notary will need to see the Property Passport that must be obtained and certified by the local authority.

6) Also the seller has to provide the “Telas Finais”, the final drawings of the property as approved by he local Town Council. This document will be issued in line with the last Habiiation License issued.

7) Power of Attorney.

If either party does not attend the Notary Office in person, then the person appointed to sign the Deed of Transfer on their behalf must have a Power of Attorney in their favour, signed before a Notary, expressly granting them power to do so. The Power of Attorney may be signed abroad and written in a foreign language, but if so, it must bear an Apostille in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1963 and be translated into Portuguese. Alternatively, a Power of Attorney may be signed at a Portuguese Consulate. During 2006, the law is being amended to allow Official Portuguese Chambers of Commerce to certify signatures, and this will often be more convenient.

Completion - The Escritura or Deed of Transfer The transfer of real property in Portugal must be made by a Notarial Deed known as the Escritura de Compra e Venda.

A Notary will not sign and seal a deed unless all the necessary legal requirements are satisfied and the required documents are in order.

A Deed of Transfer may take place in any Notarial Office in Portugal and, whilst drafted by the Notary, will reflect the contents of Promissory Contract.

The Escritura or Deed of Transfer is written in the Notary’s records and the purchaser may obtain (on paying the appropriate fees) as many legalised copies as are required. The equivalent of ‘English Deeds’ and original documents only exist in Portugal in the form of Notarial records. These are kept in the Notarial Office concerned.

A purchaser either attends the Notarial Office in person or can appoint an Attorney to sign the Escritura on his behalf. In case he intends in person the Notary will require that an official interpreter will translate the deed in your presence.

The Escritura confers ownership of the property to the Purchaser, but until this is registered, it can only be enforced against the Vendor, and not against third parties. This means that a dishonest Vendor could enter into another Escritura, or create a mortgage on the property, so an application to register the transfer of ownership must be made immediately.

If an authorised lender grants a loan to finance the purchase of residential property, a private contract will be sufficient to acquire the property. However, the signatures on such a private document must be certified by a Notary Public. Registration, at the local land Registry, of ownership of property is necessary in order to secure the Purchaser s interest. To do this, the required land Registry form must be completed, as well as a legalised copy of the Escritura and the property tax certificate produced.

It may be several months before the purchase is recorded on the property s title, depending on delays in the local land Registries. Notary fees are approximately 1% of the sales value and Registration fees are about € 250 Euros including the cost of certified copies.