The land and mortgage register

Księga wieczysta (land and mortgage register) — an official register kept by a court for each property. It is broadly comparable to a land register, but its legal effects are considerably stronger.

What is the register actually for?

The statute answers this in a single sentence. Article 1(1): land and mortgage registers are kept in order to establish the legal status of real property. It records who holds the property and what encumbers it — it is not an inventory of buildings or land.

What does the register contain?

Under Article 25(1), a land and mortgage register comprises four sections:

Section I — identification of the property and entries of rights attached to its ownership.
Section II — entries concerning ownership and perpetual usufruct. This is where you check who the owner is.
Section III — limited rights in rem other than mortgages, restrictions on disposing of the property, and other rights and claims.
Section IV — entries concerning mortgages.

The practical consequence is that encumbrances appear in Sections III and IV. Checking Section II alone tells you who owns the property, but not whether it is free of debts and third-party rights.

Key points

Registers are kept to establish the legal status of a property.
A register has four sections; the owner appears in Section II, mortgages in Section IV.
There is a presumption that a right disclosed in the register is entered in accordance with the actual legal status.
The public faith of the register protects a person who acquired a right from the person entered in it — in case of discrepancy, the content of the register prevails in their favour.

Can you rely on what the register says?

To a large extent yes, through two separate mechanisms. First, Article 3(1) creates a presumption: a right disclosed in the land and mortgage register is presumed to be entered in accordance with the actual legal status.

Second — and this is considerably stronger — Article 5 establishes the public faith of land and mortgage registers: where the legal status disclosed in the register differs from the actual one, the content of the register prevails in favour of a person who, by a legal transaction with the person entitled according to the register, acquired ownership or another right in rem.

Why this matters when the property is in Poland and you are in the U.S.

The register is the first document every property matter starts from — a sale, a division of an estate, or clearing up ownership. It allows the legal position to be established without an inspection on site, which matters greatly at a distance.

How we help

We examine all four sections of the register, establish whether the disclosed status matches the actual one, and identify what must be put in order before a sale or division. Under a power of attorney we act for you in Poland.

This article is general information about Polish law, not legal advice about your matter. Legal basis: the Act on Land and Mortgage Registers and Mortgages (consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2023 item 1984), Articles 1, 3, 5 and 25. The public faith of the register is subject to exclusions provided for in the statute, and a discrepancy between the register and the actual legal status calls for separate proceedings — all of which has to be checked case by case. Describe your situation if you would like to know how it applies to you.