Buying Property at an Enforcement Auction in Romania: What You Really Get, What It Costs and What to Check Before Bidding

A property offered at auction in Romania often looks like an opportunity: the starting price is set by appraisal, and after an unsuccessful auction it drops significantly. But a forced sale is a different kind of transaction. There is no seller who knows the property and gives you undertakings, there is no negotiation over terms, and the timetable is set by law.

This guide deals only with what is specific to an auction: who sells, what passes to you on the day you win, which costs and risks are not reflected in the price, and what to check before lodging a deposit. We set out the general review of any property in Romania in our guide to legal due diligence before signing.

1Who sells property at auction in Romania, and under which law?

There are two main actors. Most forced sales are run by a court bailiff (executor judecătoresc), acting for a creditor, usually a bank, under the Code of Civil Procedure, Law 134/2010. Properties seized for tax debts, and state-owned properties, are sold by the Romanian tax authority (ANAF) under the Fiscal Procedure Code, Law 207/2015.

Since 2026 the tax authority has been selling through its own online platform, and the rules there are set by the authority's regulations. So for such an auction, read the notice and the terms on the platform itself. The rest of this guide focuses on the bailiff auction, whose stages are set out in the Code. A sale of property within a company's insolvency proceedings is subject to different rules and is not covered by this guide.

2How is the price set, and what happens when no one bids?

The starting point is market value. The bailiff determines it himself or appoints an appraiser (Article 835), and the appraisal becomes the starting price (Article 836). The auction is scheduled no earlier than 20 days and no later than 40 days after the notice is posted (Article 837).

1. First auction. The price is called three times, starting from the highest bid above the appraisal, or, if there is none, from the appraisal itself (Article 845(5)).
2. Second auction. If no one bid the appraised price, a new auction is set within 30 days at most, opening at 75% of the first price. Where there are at least two bidders, the property may be sold to the highest bid, but not below 30% of the first price (Article 845(8)).
3. Third auction. At the creditor's request it opens at 50% of the first price, and with two or more bidders the property is sold to the highest bid, even if it is lower than the debt (Article 845(9)).

At the second and third auctions even a single bidder offering the starting price can win, and where bids are equal the holder of a pre-emption right prevails (Article 845(12)). The debtor may not bid, not even through another person (Article 842(2)), and creditors may bid only from 75% of the first starting price (Article 842(5)).

3What do you get on the day you win, and what not?

This is where the main difference between an auction and an ordinary purchase lies. The law clears the property of debts: you are the owner from the day of adjudication, and from the day your ownership is registered the mortgages and other charges are deleted, and the creditors are paid out of the price you paid (Article 856). The debts stay with the money, not with the house. On the other hand, there are things the auction does not give you:

• A warranty against hidden defects. In a forced sale there is no such warranty, and the sale cannot be challenged on the ground that the price was too low (Article 857; Civil Code, Article 1707(5)).
• A viewing. When the owner does not allow entry, the appraisal is made on the documents alone (Article 835(8)), and you too may not get inside before bidding.
• Vacant possession. The adjudication document is an enforceable title against the debtor and against anyone occupying the property without a right that can be asserted against you (Article 852). Eviction is possible, but it is a further procedure through the bailiff, and time must be planned for it.
• Release from a tenant. A lease signed before the enforcement was entered in the land book binds the buyer, unless the rent is one third or more below the market rate (Article 827).
• Clearance of every right. A right of use or an easement registered after the mortgage may remain or be deleted, according to what was set in the auction (Article 845(6) and (7)).

4Deposit, balance and late payment: what happens to the money?

• Before the auction: lodge 10% of that auction's starting price with the State Treasury, CEC Bank or another bank, in favour of the bailiff, and attach the confirmation to your bid (Article 843).
• If you did not win: the bailiff orders the deposit to be returned to you (Article 850).
• If you won: pay the price less the deposit, within 30 days at most (Article 848). Payment in instalments is possible only with the consent of the creditor and the debtor (Article 851).
• If you did not pay on time: the property is put up for sale again at your expense. You bear the cost of the new auction and the price difference, and the amount is collected first from your deposit (Article 849).

Thirty days is a short time for a mortgage. Anyone who intends to finance through a bank needs a written answer before bidding: whether the bank finances an auction purchase, and on what timetable. Anyone transferring money from Israel should prepare both the transfer and the documentation of the source of funds in advance.

5When is the property really yours?

1. After full payment the bailiff draws up the adjudication document (actul de adjudecare), which is your title deed and can be registered (Article 852).
2. A copy is sent to the land registry office for provisional registration (Article 853).
3. From the day of provisional registration, the debtor, the creditors and any interested party have one month to challenge the adjudication document in court (Article 854). If it is set aside, your money is returned to you.
4. If no challenge was filed, or it was finally dismissed, the bailiff orders final registration and, at your request, also puts you in possession (Article 855).

In addition, a third party claiming ownership of the property may sue within 15 days of the sale, and sometimes also in a separate action later, subject to the rights you acquired (Article 714). The practical conclusion: do not renovate, do not let on a long-term basis and do not resell before the challenge window has closed.

6Buyers from Israel: who may bid, and can you take part remotely?

The bidder needs full legal capacity and also the capacity to acquire the specific property (Article 842(1)). For an apartment this is usually not an issue. For a house with land, the rules on acquisition of land by non-EU citizens come into play, so the acquisition structure is settled before bidding, not after winning.

You can take part without travelling. At a bailiff auction you bid through an agent, under a special power of attorney in notarial form (Article 842(4)). At a tax authority auction the bid is submitted online. The submission, the review of the file and the registration are carried out by a lawyer or notary licensed in Romania.

7What should you check before lodging a deposit?

1. The notice and the file number. The notice details the property, the land book number, the appraisal, the date and the deposit (Article 838). For a property worth more than 250,000 lei, a summary is also published in a national newspaper. Read in it what remains on the property after the sale.
2. An up-to-date land book extract. An extract for information costs 20 lei on the ANCPI website. In Part III, look for leases, rights of use and entries that predate the enforcement.
3. The property on the ground. Even if you cannot get inside, see it from the outside, talk to neighbours and find out who lives there.
4. The planning position. Whether the building is registered in the land book and whether it was built with a permit. An unregistered addition does not disappear at auction, and it passes to you.
5. The enforcement file. An independent lawyer in Romania reads the whole file and checks whether there are grounds to challenge the sale.
6. A full budget. The deposit before the auction, the balance within 30 days, and separately registration, repairs, legal support and possibly eviction.

8What to do before submitting a bid?

At an auction the decision is made quickly, so the preparation must be ready before an interesting notice even appears: a clear acquisition structure, financing that can meet 30 days, and a power of attorney if you will not attend. We accompany Israeli buyers in reading the notice and the land book extract, pricing the risks and planning the money, together with lawyers and notaries licensed in Romania, who submit the bid and handle the registration.

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The information in this guide is general in nature and does not constitute legal or tax advice on any specific transaction. Every transaction is assessed on its own facts.