You Have Paid Off Your Mortgage in Romania: How to Delete It from the Land Book (radiere)

The day of the last mortgage payment feels like the end of a chapter. As far as the bank is concerned, the debt is closed. As far as the Romanian land book is concerned, nothing has changed yet: the mortgage, and sometimes also a prohibition on sale and encumbrance registered alongside it, continue to appear in the extract until someone applies to delete them.

This guide starts exactly there. We wrote about early repayment and switching to another bank in a separate guide, and about a developer's mortgage burdening a property you are buying in another.

1Is the mortgage deleted from the extract when you finish paying?

No. Article 2428 of the Romanian Civil Code provides that a mortgage on real property ends when it is deleted from the land book (radierea ipotecii), or when the property is entirely destroyed. Repayment is the reason that allows deletion, not the deletion itself.

The practical result is simple: as long as the mortgage appears in the third part of the extract, Part C, the bank's name is still registered on the property, even if you owe it nothing.

2Why deal with it now, even if you are not selling?

• Sale. The notary and the buyer's bank will read Part C. A registered mortgage, even if paid, means questions, delay or the need for a payoff letter on the day of signing.
• A new loan. A bank lending against the property wants to rank first. An old mortgage that is still registered slows the process down.
• The heirs. The more time passes, the harder it is to delete: banks merge, change names, and old files are not always available.

3What should you clarify with the bank before applying for deletion?

Three questions, and it is better to get the answers in writing:

1. Does the mortgage secure only this loan? Article 2428(3) allows it to be agreed that a mortgage will secure another obligation after the first has been repaid, and some contracts are drafted so that the mortgage secures several obligations to the same bank. If there is a further obligation, the bank will not release until that too is settled.
2. In what form will the consent be given? Practice varies between banks and between offices. The Civil Code refers to a creditor's consent in notarial form in the context of provisional deletion (Article 899(3)). Ask the bank which documents it issues and whether they are notarial.
3. Who files? Some banks file the application themselves after closing the loan. Ask whether your bank does so, and within how many days.

4Which documents are needed to delete a mortgage?

5How do you file the deletion application, step by step?

1. Documenting the closure. After the last transfer, download from the bank a statement showing a zero balance and put it in the file.
2. A written request to the bank. Ask in it for the two documents in the table, and include the question about further obligations.
3. An extract before filing. It shows which entries need to be removed and under which numbering, so that the application covers all of them, including the prohibition on sale and encumbrance if one was registered.
4. Filing with OCPI. The land registry office of the county where the property is located accepts applications on paper or online. Online, every document must bear a qualified electronic signature (Law 7/1996, Article 28^1).
5. One fee per operation. Under code 2.4.2 of the ANCPI tariff, the prohibitions registered together with the mortgage are deleted within the same operation.
6. The registrar's decision. Under Article 31(1), the decision reaches you within 15 days of the day it was given, and in any case within 30 days of registration of the application.
7. An extract after the decision. Only a new extract in which Part C no longer shows the bank closes the matter.
8. Archive. The bank's letters, the registrar's decision and the clear extract are kept together, because the lawyer of whoever buys from you in the future may ask to see them.

Anyone living in Israel does not need to fly for this. A lawyer or notary licensed in Romania can file on your behalf, and when someone signs in your place a power of attorney is required.

6How much does it cost and how long does it take?

7The loan was sold or the bank merged: what changes?

Banks sell loan portfolios and merge, so the mortgage may be registered in the name of the original bank while you have been paying a different entity. Two rules in Law 7/1996 help here:

• Who may file: anyone who, under the document, is to end a registered right (Article 28(6)). It does not have to be the bank.
• A new creditor who was not registered: if you paid an entity that bought the loan and was not registered in the land book, you may apply for deletion yourselves, with the original assignment document and the receipt for the payment (Article 28(9)).

So when the loan changes hands, ask the new creditor for a copy of the assignment document. Without it, the registrar sees a mortgage in favour of one bank and a release signed by a different entity.

8Can you sell the property before the mortgage is deleted?

Yes, and it is done. The bank issues a letter with the exact amount to close the loan, part of the price is paid directly to the bank at the signing, and the bank then gives its consent to deletion. Even so, anyone planning to sell is better off deleting first: a clear Part C is one question fewer for the buyer's lawyer and bank.

9What else should you close after repayment?

• Property insurance. Banks often ask to be registered as beneficiaries on the policy. After repayment, ask the insurer to remove the bank, so that future insurance payouts are paid to you.
• A loan under a government programme. If the loan was taken under a programme such as Noua Casa, ask the bank whether there is an additional registration, guarantee or consent that needs to be dealt with before the extract is clear.

10What to do before signing a sale or a new loan?

It is worth asking for the bank's documents in the month the loan is closed, ordering an extract, filing the deletion application and confirming in a new extract that Part C is clear, well before a buyer or a new bank asks to see it. We accompany Israeli property owners at this stage and check the extract before and after. The filing with the land registry office and the signatures under Romanian law are carried out by lawyers and notaries licensed in Romania.

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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.