Although the Cadastar is separate from the Land Register, the two systems act in parallel, and are closely interconnected.
There are some 112 Cadastar offices throughout Croatia. As they are not part of the judicial system, they are not necessarily in the same building as the Land Registry offices. In Supetar on Brač the Cadastar office is within the Court building, conveniently sited near the ferry port and the town's main centre. On Hvar there are two Cadastar offices, one in Hvar Town, and the other on the outskirts of Stari Grad.
From the Cadastar office one can obtain land maps of local areas showing plot numbers and locations; possession documents for properties of all kinds; confirmatory documents showing that a building existed before 1968 0r 1911 - these are needed, for instance, in respect of building permits, or applications to legalize buildings constructed without permits. The Cadastar also issues house numbers for new buildings and for older buuildings whose numbers were no longer in use, as was the case for most of Hvar until a few years ago.
The 'Organised Land' website now provides easy online access to information relating to the Cadastar. One can also obtain Cadastar documents through the website, instead of having to visit a Cadastar office.
The Cadastral Plan Review section on the website gives access to the land maps covering the whole country. You can use the 'smart search' option in the upper right corner to find a particular plot, village or region. Type in the name and a drop-down menu will identify it: for instance 'Jelsa' gives the alternatives of Stari Grad or Karlovac; click on the version you are looking for and the map will hone in on it. If you have typed in a plot number, it will be outlined in yellow on the map. If you cited a place, you will see first a land map, zooming in will show the plot numbers. From the plots marked on the map you can also access details about the plot and the owner(s) registered on the Cadastar.
The section titled 'Find a Cadastral Parcel' gives the details of property plots as they appear on the Cadastral register. To access the information, you need to know the relevant District office, which is Split in the case of Hvar Island properties, the branch office (Stari Grad), the 'Cadastral municipality' (the name of the village or town where the property is situated) and the plot number - remembering that if the property is a building, the number must be preceded by an asterisk (eg *598/1). If you know it, you can enter the Property Deed (Possession Document) number instead of the plot (parcel) number.
When you have filled in these details correctly, clicking on 'View' will open up the details of the property, including the name of the person registered as being in possession. By clicking on the box titled 'Unofficial public document' you can then choose the option to obtain the Property Deed or Possession Document. This is for information only, and is not valid for legal pšurposes. To obtain a legally valid official version of the Property Deed using the option 'Generate public document', you have to register into the 'e-citizens' system. You can also obtain the relevant Land Registry (LR) entry document using these two options for generating documents.
In the Property Deed, anyone registered as possessor of the property is listed in the first section of the document, while the second section ('Podaci o katarskim česticama') shows the details of the plot. If there is more than one possessor, each has a percentage of the whole property.
The Property Deed is not in itself proof of ownership. It should tally with the Land Registry entry, which is proof of ownership, but often does not. If you buy a property in Croatia, you should register your possession as soon as your ownership is accepted and inscribed in the Land Registry. Lawyers do not always do this step automatically, so you may have to ask for it to be done, unless you can do it for yourself.
© Vivian Grisogono 2016, updated 4th January 2023..
