Part I describes the property, Part II shows the owner and the basis of title, Part III lists mortgages, annotations and seizures.
Part III reveals every encumbrance: bank mortgages, cautionary annotations, easements, seizures and contractual restrictions.
Missing permits, zoning changes, unpaid local taxes and service charges, long leases and utility problems don't appear in the CF.
Work from an Extract CF no more than 30 days old, with the ownership history, a tax certificate and owners' association clearance.
In one case, checks found an unremoved bank annotation and an unpermitted floor. The buyer avoided a risk put at over €80,000.
A good property deal doesn't start with how much you could make – it starts with how much you could lose if you don't check properly. Most investors check the price. Smart investors check the risks. A practical guide for Israeli investors – everything you need to know about the Extract CF, the Cartea Funciară and the mandatory checks before buying property in Romania.
Summary: Due diligence is the single most critical stage of buying property in Romania. In this article we explain how to obtain an Extract CF from the Romanian land registry, exactly what to look for in it, and which planning and legal checks must be completed before you sign – all from the perspective of an Israeli investor buying a villa, an apartment or a commercial property in Romania.
Why ask this question at all? At some point, almost every Israeli investor considering a property purchase in Romania asks us: "How do I know the property is really clean? That there are no debts, liens or legal problems that will surface later?"
It is a legitimate, important and entirely sensible question. It reflects the healthy instinct of every property buyer, Israeli or not. The difference is that in Israel most buyers know how to check (a Land Registry extract, betterment levy, zoning and building plans). In Romania, most Israelis simply don't know where to start.
So let's set things straight. At Compass Group RO we insist that no deal closes before the buyer has all of this information in hand – and even if you ultimately choose to buy through another company, this is information you should have.
The key tool: the Extract CF – the summary of the Romanian land registry entry
The most important document in a Romanian property check is called the Extract de Carte Funciară, or Extract CF for short. It is essentially a summary of the property's entry in the Romanian land register (Cartea Funciară) – the Romanian equivalent of an Israeli Land Registry (Tabu) extract.
The Extract CF is an official, computerised government document that can be obtained quickly from the land registry offices (ANCPI) or online. It is divided into three main parts ("Foaie" in local terminology), and each part reveals a different kind of critical information.
Part A: Description of the property (Partea I)
The first part of the Extract CF describes the property itself: the exact address, the cadastral identification number, the land area, the built area, the number of rooms and residential units. This is where you already uncover the most important fact of all – does what you are being shown on site match what is recorded in the document?
Our advice is always the same: take the Extract CF, go to the site and check with your own eyes. If the property is registered as a 180 m² villa but is actually 220 m², there is a planning problem that could blow up in the future.
Part B: Ownership and property rights (Partea II)
Here you see exactly who the registered owner of the property is, when they acquired it, and on the basis of which document (a contract, an inheritance, a court ruling). This is the place to confirm that the seller sitting across from you is indeed the registered rights holder – and not someone else claiming ownership.
If there is more than one owner (for example, spouses or business partners), each of them must be a party to the transaction. Israeli investors sometimes arrive at the negotiating table facing one person, without knowing that the wife or a silent partner must also sign.
Part C: The most critical data – liens, debts and annotations (Partea III)
This is the part where an experienced investor starts. Part C of the Extract CF reveals every encumbrance weighing on the property:
- Mortgages and liens (Ipotecă) – is there a bank loan for which the land serves as collateral?
- Cautionary annotations (Notare) – has anyone registered an objection or a claim against the property?
- Third-party rights – rights of use, easements, rights of way.
- Seizures – are there active enforcement proceedings?
- Contractual restrictions – sometimes restrictions set in a previous transaction are recorded.
This is the part where deals are made or broken. A property that looks perfect in the photos and on price can be legally "encumbered", and only the Extract CF will reveal it.
Before we go on – it is worth seeing what a real property check looks like in practice, and where most investors slip up:
*Moti Azulay interviewed on the Israeli Business Channel's "Potchim Shuk" programme with Dafna Shahar and Eylon Berles*
The critical difference: a "clean record" is not a "clean property"
This is a point that is essential to understand, and one that many agents in the Romanian market simply skip over:
A clean record is not a clean property.
In Romania there are quite a few cases of properties whose Extract CF looks "completely clean" – and yet behind the scenes there are planning, permitting or contractual problems that will not show up in a formal land registry check alone.
Real examples from the field:
- A villa built without a valid building permit, which may face demolition or future fines – the land registry entry does not reveal this.
- A property earmarked under the zoning plan (PUG / PUZ) for a change of use – residential turning commercial, or vice versa.
- Unpaid local property taxes and service charges (asociația de proprietari) attached to the apartment but not recorded in the land registry.
- Long-term lease agreements that may bind you even after the purchase.
- Problems with utility connections: water, electricity, sewerage – which do not appear in the land registration.
The conclusion is simple: due diligence in Romania must be both legal and planning-related, not just a land registry check.
From the field: the bargain that was priced right
Attorney Ilan Leibovitch recalls:
A seasoned investor who had built his career buying apartments below market price came to Bucharest and within a week found a three-room apartment in the city centre: an old building with high ceilings, within walking distance of everything, priced tens of percent below similar apartments in the area. He asked me to go over the contract quickly, before someone else beat him to it. I asked for two days.
Our team in Bucharest checked the building: it was classified in a seismic risk category. Bucharest has old buildings officially classified as prone to collapse in a strong earthquake, and some carry a red marking on the facade. The client had seen the marking during his visit; he simply did not know what it meant. Locals know: it is very hard to get a mortgage on such an apartment, good tenants skip the building, and on the day you sell, the only buyers will be other foreigners.
When I showed him the findings on Zoom, he said: “Wait. So the price was right.” He did not sign, and a few months later he bought another apartment, at full market price, in a building that had passed every check.
This apartment’s registration could have been perfectly clean. The risk was not in the land register; it was in the building itself, which is why due diligence does not stop at the extract.
The comprehensive checklist – what must be done before any purchase
Before you sign a contract to buy property in Romania, make sure the following checks have been carried out:
Legal checks
- An up-to-date Extract CF (no more than 30 days old).
- Ownership history (Historic de proprietate) – who has held the property over the past decade.
- A certificate confirming there are no tax debts (Certificat de atestare fiscală).
- Confirmation that there are no debts to the owners' association.
- A check that the cadastral identification is valid.
Planning checks
- A valid building permit (Autorizație de construire).
- An occupancy / handover certificate (Proces-verbal de recepție).
- Compliance with the local zoning plan (PUG/PUZ).
- A comparison of the actual condition against the approved architectural plans.
Technical checks
- A technical report on the property (Raport tehnic).
- An inspection of utilities – water, electricity, sewerage, gas.
- For villas with land – a physical check of the boundaries against what is registered.
A real-world example: how due diligence saved €80,000
About a year ago, an Israeli investor – let's call him David – approached us. He was considering buying a villa in a Bucharest suburb from a private seller. The price looked excellent, the villa was beautiful, and the seller was pushing to close quickly. David asked for our opinion, and we recommended that he commission full due diligence before signing any document.
The review uncovered two troubling findings. First, the Extract CF showed a cautionary annotation in favour of a Romanian bank that had not been removed, even though the seller claimed the loan had been repaid. Second, the planning review found that an entire floor of the villa had been built without a permit, turning the purchase into a ticking time bomb from a permitting standpoint.
David walked away from the deal. Three months later he bought a villa in our project (featured by Walla Nadlan, in Hebrew), with a clean Extract CF, full building permits and the immediate registration of a cautionary annotation (Notare) in his favour. The risk he avoided is estimated at more than €80,000 – not counting the legal headaches.
How does Compass Group RO handle this?
In our projects we follow a simple principle: complete transparency towards the buyer.
- Every buyer receives the Extract CF for their property before signing, not after.
- We provide all permitting documents, permits and occupancy certificates, translated into Hebrew or English.
- We encourage – rather than fear – independent due diligence by an independent Romanian lawyer of the buyer's own choosing.
- The contract is structured so that registration (Intabulare) is a fundamental condition, not a technical clause.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Extract CF and where do I get one?
The Extract CF is the summary of the property's entry in the Romanian land register (Cartea Funciară), the Romanian equivalent of an Israeli Land Registry extract. It is an official, computerised government document that can be obtained quickly from the land registry offices (ANCPI) or online.
How recent should the Extract CF be before signing?
No more than 30 days old. An older extract may not show a lien, a cautionary annotation or a seizure registered since, so ask for a fresh one close to signing.
What should I look for in Part C of the Extract CF?
Part C reveals every encumbrance on the property: mortgages and liens (Ipotecă), cautionary annotations (Notare), third-party rights such as easements and rights of way, seizures and contractual restrictions. This is the part where deals are made or broken.
If the Extract CF is clean, is the property clean?
Not necessarily. A villa built without a permit, a change of use under the PUG/PUZ zoning plan, debts to the owners' association, long-term leases and utility problems do not appear in the land registry. That is why due diligence in Romania must be both legal and planning-related.
What if the property has more than one owner?
Every registered owner listed in Part B, for example spouses or business partners, must be a party to the transaction and sign. Negotiating with one person when two are registered is a signal to stop and check.
The bottom line: Real estate due diligence in Romania is neither a luxury nor a formality – it is a prerequisite for a safe transaction. The Extract CF is the basic tool, but it is only the beginning. A smart investor asks questions, commissions checks and insists on transparency, exactly as they would in Israel.
At Compass Group RO, this is not an obligation we impose on you – it is a commitment we impose on ourselves.
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal or financial advice.
Before entering into a transaction, we recommend consulting local experts.
Compass Group Romania – guiding Israeli investors in Romanian real estate, from the first idea to the keys.
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This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
