OFFPLAN NEWS

(03.07.2007 )
Property in Congo Registering Property in the Republic of Congo
STANDARDIZED PROPERTY
Property value: 25,992,727
City: Brazzaville

Registration Requirements:

Procedure 1. Buyer and seller draw up the sale-purchase agreement and notarize it 
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: 10% property value
Comment: The buyer can request that the sale-purchase agreement (l'attestation de vente) be notarized-a standard practice in a case like this. In this case, cost would be 10% of property value paid to the notary; the fees cover notarization of the agreement plus the notary's carrying out the remaining procedures on behalf of the parties. It is possible that the parties draw up the agreement on their own and it will still be a valid legal document, but it must be notarized. 
Procedure 2. Notary pays transfer taxes at the tax authorities
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: 15% property value (registration fee) + 5% of the registration fee + 0.5% property value (transfer tax)
Comment: 15% property value (registration fee) + 5% of the registration fee + 0.5% property value (transfer tax)
Procedure 3. Survey and evaluation of the property by a Town Hall Cadastre employee
Time to complete: 28 to 56 days
Cost to complete: FCFA 20,000 to 25,000 for the survey + FCFA 15,000 to 200,000 for permis d'occuper
Comment: Town Hall sends a Cadastre employee (geometer) to draw a ‘plan de bornage' or delimitation of the land. The Town Hall then delivers a ‘permis d'occuper' or occupancy permit to the parties. This document dates from colonial times when Congolese were not allowed to own land but merely occupy it. It is still used today in most cases, though Congolese can also own land.
Though the official cost for the survey is as noted above, one must usually pay about FCFA 100,000 due to unofficial costs.
During this process, the neighborhood committee in the surrounding area (comites de quartiers) has the opportunity to give their opinion on the delimitation of the property. If they are in agreement, they issue a statement, ‘attestation d'appreciation'.
After the geometer has conducted the verifications, the Registrar issues a request for registration of the ownership title (‘une requisition d'immatriculation) to the president of the First Instance Court. The registrar should include with the request the findings of the geometer, the occupancy permit and the sale-purchase agreement.
 
Procedure 4. Request ownership title from the Property Registry (Conservateur des hypotheques et la propriete fonciere)
Time to complete: 1 day
Cost to complete: FCFA 20,000 (per copy)
Comment: Though the official cost for the request is as noted above, one must usually pay about FCFA 200,000 due to unofficial costs.
Documents required:
1. occupancy permit (permis d'occuper)
2. Sale-purchase agreement (l'attestation de vente)
 
Procedure 5. The transfer is published at the local paper and at the Land Registry to allow contestation
Time to complete: 60 days (publication period) + 1 day (registrar orders transcription of registration)
Cost to complete: FCFA 20,000 (publication) + FCFA 5000 (drafting fee) + FCFA 10,000 (court fees) + FCFA 20,000 (fee to post the notice)
Comment: The notice of the request for registration of the ownership title is published in the Official Gazette, on the wall of the town hall, the tax authorities, the registry, the seat of the arrondissement, and one of the weekly legal journals. The Land Registry waits two months to receive any contestations to the registration. After this period the registrar writes a certificate of contestation or no contestation and gives the relevant file to the president of the court in the area where the property is located. In case of no contestation, the president of said court orders the registration and the transcription of the rights of the buyer to the property.
Official cost for publication is FCFA 20,000, but usually one pays about FCFA 300,000 due to unofficial costs.
The publication should include:
-the identity of the petitioner
-the geographic and cadastral references of the property
-the extract of the request to transfer
-notice of finalization of the delimiting survey (from procedure 3)
 
Procedure 6. File for registration at the Land Registry
Time to complete: 7 - 15 days
Cost to complete: (included in procedure 2) + 0.2% property value (registration fee)
Comment: After the court has conceded transfer, the registration is filed at the Registry.
Procedure 7. Land title is prepared and issued to the new owner 
Time to complete: 20 days
Cost to complete: (included in procedures 2, 5 and 6)
Comment: The Land registrar issues the buyer a copy of the land title and keeps the technical file. After publication, the land title is prepared and issued to the new owner in his name.
 
Note: Procedures sometimes take place simultaneously. Instances of this are marked with an asterisk (*).

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