What is included
- The Public Registry extract for the property's cadastral code, ordered by the lawyer and read line by line: owner, area, type, shares, encumbrances.
- The seller's identity and authority: whether the seller is the registered owner, whether a power of attorney is current, notarised and specific, and who may sign for a company seller.
- The ownership history and anything in it that needs explaining before a buyer relies on the title.
- For a new build: whether the developer holds rights to the land, whether the construction permit matches the building on sale, the permit's status, and any pledge of the land.
- The contract: reservation, preliminary or sale, in Georgian against the translation, for price and payment, delivery and penalty, specification, area tolerance, changes, refunds and missing clauses.
- The land category for houses and plots.
- A written summary in your language: what was found, what must be fixed before signing, and whether the lawyer would sign, in a form your own advisers can act on.
Who this service is for
Every buyer, including buyers who found the property themselves, who are buying through another agency, or who are being told by a seller that "the documents are in order". The check is the one part of a purchase we do not let a client skip, and the one part most worth ordering on its own. It is especially important for an off-plan purchase, where the registry extract cannot show the apartment and the protection is the developer's paper and the contract, and for any house or plot, where the land category decides whether a foreigner can own it and whether it counts for a residence permit. It is for buyers abroad as much as buyers in Georgia, because the summary is written to be read without the lawyer in the room.
Timeline
Instruction
You send the cadastral code, the seller's or developer's documents as you have them, and the draft contract. The quote for the check is approved.
Registry extract
The lawyer orders the extract for the cadastral code. The registry's own processing speed applies and its fee is a third-party cost.
Reading and requests
The extract, the seller's documents, the permit and the contract are read; the lawyer asks the seller or developer for what is missing and notes what is not supplied.
Summary
You receive the written summary with findings, required fixes and the lawyer's conclusion.
Fixes
If something must be fixed, the lawyer says how and by whom, and confirms each fix by seeing the document before the next step.
Reading the extract: what the lawyer looks for
| Owner | The registered owner's name and identifier, compared with the seller's passport or company registration. A different name is the first thing to explain. |
|---|---|
| Shares | Whether the property is owned jointly and in what shares; every co-owner must sell, or consent, and a spouse's consent may be needed. |
| Area and type | The registered area against the listing and the contract, and the registered use: residential, commercial, land, agricultural. |
| Encumbrances | Mortgages, seizures, tax liens, rights of use, leases. Which can be cleared at the deal, which stop it, and how clearing is sequenced with payment. |
| History | How the current owner acquired the property, when, and whether anything in the chain is unresolved, such as an inheritance or a recent transfer that needs explaining. |
| Cadastral plan | For houses and plots, where the boundaries are and whether what is being sold is what is registered. |
For a new build: the developer's paper
When the apartment does not yet exist as a registered unit, the extract is for the land and the question shifts to the developer. The lawyer checks that the entity selling is the entity that holds the land rights and the permit, because brand names and contracting companies are often different; that the construction permit covers this plot, this use and this number of floors, so that the apartment being sold legally exists in the permit; whether the land is pledged to a bank and what that means for buyers if construction stops; and what the contract says about delivery, penalty, specification, stage payments, changes and what happens to money paid if the project fails. The developer's record, where we hold it, is added to the summary. A permit mismatch or a pledge that is not addressed in the contract is a reason not to sign, and the summary says so.
Reading the contract
The lawyer reads the Georgian text, because that is what binds, and compares it with the translation you were given. The summary lists the clauses that are present and weak, the clauses that are missing, and the wording the lawyer proposes for each, so that the negotiation has a text to work from. For a resale the key clauses are price and payment, the condition of the property, the date of possession, who clears which encumbrance and the sequencing of payment and registration. For a developer's contract they are the delivery date and the penalty for missing it, the specification annex, the area tolerance, the procedure for changes, the refund conditions and the registration of your right before the final payment. A reservation agreement is read first if that is where you are, with one question above all: what happens to the money if the check fails.
What we need from you
- The cadastral code, or the exact address if the code is not yet known.
- Whatever the seller or developer has given you: extract, plans, permit copies, draft contract, price list, payment schedule, in Georgian and any translation.
- Your instruction to order the extract, and payment of the registry's fee as a third-party cost.
- Your own situation where it affects the check: whether you will buy jointly, through a company, or for a residence permit application.
- Patience with the other side: the check is only as fast as the seller's or developer's answers to the lawyer's requests.
Price basis
We quote the check in writing, using the basis explained on the prices and fees page; it is normally a fixed fee that does not depend on the price of the property, because the work is the same whatever you buy. The registry's fee for the extract is a third-party cost paid by you at the registry's tariff. A check that finds a reason not to buy is paid as a check, because that is exactly what it is for; the summary is yours whatever its conclusion. A second check on a replacement property is quoted again.
To be added by the team: the fixed fee for legal due diligence, the quoted turnaround after documents are complete, and the registry extract fees by processing speed with their official source, to be supplied by the owner and the lawyer.
The summary, section by section
| 1. The property | Cadastral code, address, registered area and type, and whether what is being sold is what is registered. |
|---|---|
| 2. The seller | Who they are, whether they may sell, whose consent is needed, and whether a representative's power of attorney is sufficient. |
| 3. Encumbrances and history | What is registered against the property, what it means, and how each item is cleared or why it cannot be. |
| 4. The developer | For a new build: land rights, permit and its match, pledges, record where we hold it. |
| 5. The contract | Clause by clause: present and adequate, present and weak with proposed wording, missing with proposed wording. |
| 6. Required before signing | The list of fixes, each with who does it and by which step. |
| 7. Conclusion | Whether the lawyer would sign, in one plain sentence, and under what conditions. |
Special cases
Some files need more than the standard check and the quote says so when we see them. An inherited property may have heirs who have not been registered or who are abroad, and the chain has to be completed before a sale is safe. A company seller needs its registration and the authority of the person signing checked in the registry of legal entities, and a company in liquidation or with a pledge over its assets is a different seller from a trading one. Co-owners abroad must sell or consent through legalised documents, which takes time to arrange. A property bought for a residence permit application needs its land category and its likely appraised value considered in the check, because a clean title on agricultural land or a value below the threshold is a clean title for the wrong purpose. A property with a sitting tenant needs the lease read, because the tenant's rights survive the sale. None of these stops a purchase by itself; each changes what must happen before you pay.
Whose side the lawyer is on
The partner lawyer acts for you and only for you in your purchase; the lawyer does not act for the seller or the developer in the same deal and is paid for the check, not for a result. The summary is written so that your own lawyer at home can read it and, if they disagree, say so, and we welcome a second opinion. The lawyer's role on this site, reviewing the legal pages, is described on the partner lawyer's page; this service is the same person doing the same kind of reading for one buyer and one property. This page itself carries a review notice until the lawyer has confirmed its wording.
Frequently asked questions
The seller says the notary will check everything. Do I still need this?
Yes. The notary certifies signatures and identity; the notary does not judge whether the deal is in your interest, whether the developer's permit matches the building or whether you are protected by the contract. Only a lawyer acting for you does that.
Can you check a property I found through another agency?
Yes. The check is ordered on its own, with the cadastral code and the documents you have. We do not need to be involved in the purchase otherwise.
What does the summary look like?
A document in your language: what was found in the extract, about the seller, in the permit and in the contract; what must be fixed before signing and how; and a plain statement of whether the lawyer would sign. It is written so that another lawyer can follow it.
What if the check finds a problem?
The summary says whether it can be fixed, by whom and before which step, and the lawyer confirms each fix by seeing the document. Problems that cannot be fixed, such as agricultural land under a house, end the purchase, and the summary says so plainly.
Does the check cover an apartment under construction?
Yes, with the emphasis moved to the developer's land rights, permit, pledges and contract, because the apartment does not yet exist in the registry. The developer's record is added where we hold it.
How long does it take?
The registry's processing time for the extract, plus the time the seller or developer takes to answer the lawyer's requests, plus the reading time stated in the quote. A clean file with a responsive seller is fast; a file with an encumbrance to clear is not.
Is the check a guarantee that nothing will go wrong?
No. It is a careful reading of the documents as they stand on the date of the check, by a lawyer acting for you. It removes the problems that can be found on paper, which are most of them; it cannot promise a developer's future conduct or a market's direction.
Change log
- - Service page created; being reviewed by the partner lawyer; price basis to be supplied by the owner.