Real estate and construction
Our law firm provides services in this area to both corporate clients and individuals.
Our firm provides specialized legal services in the field of Real Estate, commercial property management, and real estate investment, tailored to the needs of corporate clients. With a team of experienced lawyers, we at advise and assist business clients—investors, entrepreneurs, construction companies, and other business operators—in the acquisition and disposal of real estate.
We perform a full audit of the assets of various companies, assist the accounting department of companies when needed, and provide the most tailored and elegant solutions for optimizing the revenue stream from the companies’ real estate. We assist business clients in concluding long-term real estate lease agreements, acquiring land plots for construction, establishing property rights, including building rights, regulating land plots, investment construction projects, and preparing strategic documents and policies for optimizing real estate revenue streams. Our mission is to provide the best possible business solutions with a tailor-made strategy for our clients in order to achieve high results.
Our services for corporate clients include:
- Complete property check, including research and retrieval of the oldest title deeds; building permits, certificates of tolerance, inheritance transmission over the years, research of encumbrances and other encumbrances in order to guarantee the completeness of trouble-free transactions in the future.
We analyze and provide a strategic action plan and procedural representation to secure property rights.
If necessary, we assist in removing tenants from the leased property, while providing legal representation to recover unpaid rent and maintenance costs.
We draft preliminary and final contracts for the sale and purchase of real estate. We assist in the acquisition of plots of land for construction purposes.
We assist business clients in bringing real estate properties into compliance with zoning regulations. We assist in optimizing the process of purchasing investment plots and prepare contracts for compensation to the owners of the plots. We prepare and review contracts for various types of related services – supervision, management, architecture, and others.
We represent builders before various administrative bodies. We appeal administrative acts. We defend clients in disputes related to breach of contract and construction defects.
We can assist our clients in purchasing real estate at various types of public auctions – organized by the National Revenue Agency, private enforcement agents, state enforcement agents, various ministries, state and municipal institutions, and banks. We prepare tender documentation and thoroughly check the ownership to ensure a smooth acquisition of the property.
We offer assistance in property management (lease agreements, partnership agreements with agents, maintenance and repair agreements, legal representation in eviction proceedings, legal representation in cases of unpaid rent and service charges, legal representation in cases of damage to property). Preparation of comprehensive documentation tailored to the type of property owned by the client, which accompanies the client at every step of the property management process.
When the client wishes to buy a home, we perform the following actions:
This verification is extremely important from the point of view that it is possible that the seller of the property is not the owner, or only owns a part of the ownership of the transferred real estate. This verification is extremely necessary to protect buyers from possible future foreclosure lawsuits. The verification involves pulling all deeds in the chain of transfers, tracing inheritances, checking for wills, and very often it turns out that problems only become apparent when pulling the earliest deeds. Very often clients come to the firm complaining that they are unable to transfer their property because of these problems, which were not found during the initial inspection.
Е.g. mortgage, foreclosures, limited property rights, etc.
Very often sellers (especially if they are also the builders of the respective site) sell homes by including the common parts and the ideal parts of the building rights on the respective site/land, thus artificially increasing the square footage of the apartment. This type of practice results in buyers paying more than they receive (for example, a buyer thinks he is buying a 120 sqm apartment, but it turns out that the area is only 90 sqm and the remaining 30 sqm are common parts and ideal parts of the building right on the land).
If one will be used to purchase the home.
When the client wants to buy a greenfield home we do the following:
We check the land ownership documents. In addition, we make the necessary inquiries in the relevant registers to ensure that there are no problems with the surveying of the plot and its boundaries. We investigate various regulatory requirements and urban planning rules to ensure that there are no problems.
Since the property is being purchased off-plan, the land on the plot must be carefully checked to see if it is mortgaged and, if so, in what way. In certain cases, the property may be purchased mortgaged because the mortgage on the plot extends to the property.
Often, the builder has clauses that protect only their interests. In our negotiations with builders, we have proven that the interests of the parties should be balanced. That is why, when we represent the buyer, we strive to achieve this balance to the maximum extent possible and to protect their rights. The most common clauses related to problems in construction contracts are: penalties payable by the builder at a certain stage of construction to the buyer so that the builder can then sell the property to another person at a higher price; lack of clear deadlines for the issuance of acts 14, 15, and 16; insignificant penalties in favor of the buyer in case of delay on the part of the builder; use of a force majeure clause that exonerates the builder in the event of non-performance; lack of clear and transparent conditions for area calculation; unclear rules on liability for construction defects in order to avoid the builder's liability; lack of penalties for the builder in cases of delay in preparing documents for the transaction before a notary public, and many others.
There are a huge number of construction companies in Bulgaria, but only a few builders have a solid reputation. Under Bulgarian law, a construction company can start operating as a limited liability company with capital of less than BGN 100. The lack of capital adequacy makes purchasing property from an unestablished builder risky. Our protection consists of carefully reviewing the builder's financial statements and all available financial documentation, as well as performing the necessary checks in the registers available to us as lawyers to determine the financial condition of the construction company and assess how good it is. The better the financial condition of the builder, the less risky the off-plan purchase.
If lending is required and a review of the mortgage loan agreement, drawing up the mortgage contract with the bank and its coordination with the bank and the notary.
Legaltera also has experience in the following areas of Real Estate Law.
Protection of the right to property through the filing of reivindication and negatory claims aimed at establishing ownership over the property, returning its possession, as well as overcoming all obstacles related to exercising the right to property.
Drafting of contracts for the transfer of ownership or establishment of limited property rights
Protection of possession and tenure
Reviewing the history of the property when buying it at public sale/auction
Drafting opinions in connection with the acquisition of immovable property by prescription or inheritance
Defending defendants in actions brought against them to protect a right in rem or possession
Partition
Repair works
Review and preparation of contracts for construction works
Prosecuting claims against companies and individuals who have carried out substandard repairs or failed to meet their obligations in relation to building works.
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