ONRC, the Finance Ministry, ANAF, portal.just.ro, the BPI insolvency bulletin and the ANCPI extract. All online.
The tax identification number of the company signing with you. With it you can open almost every register.
On the Romanian Finance Ministry website you can see any company's turnover, profit, equity and employees, at no cost.
An online extract from ANCPI shows who owns the land, what is charged and whether the building permit has been registered.
The self-check filters, but does not replace an independent lawyer and a visit to previous projects.
Checking a developer in Romania: the short answer
You can check a Romanian developer yourself, without asking them a single question. In six official registers: the trade register (ONRC) for the company's identity and status, the Finance Ministry website for the financial statements, the courts portal (portal.just.ro) for lawsuits, the tax authority's (ANAF) list of debtors, the insolvency bulletin (BPI), and the plot's extract at ANCPI. Most checks are free, and all they need is the company name or its tax identification number (CUI).
I have written before about the five questions worth asking a developer. This article is the other side of the same coin: what you check without asking them, in registers they do not control. A developer can give you an excellent answer, but only an official register can verify it.
What you need before you start
Two details, which any serious developer will give you without a second thought:
- The full name of the company signing the contract, not the project's brand name. In Romania it is common for each project to be set up in a separate company (SRL), so that is the one to check.
- The CUI, the company's tax identification number. It appears on the contract, on the invoice and at the bottom of the website.
And if there is already a plot: the cadastral number or the land book number (Carte Funciară).
Six registers, in one table
| What you check | Where | Cost | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existence and status of the company | The ONRC trade register | Basic identification data free, full registration extract paid | Active company, date of incorporation, owners and directors |
| Financial statements | Finance Ministry website | Free | Turnover, profit, equity, number of employees |
| Large tax debts | ANAF list of debtors | Free | Whether the company is on the quarterly list |
| Lawsuits | portal.just.ro | Free | Cases where the company is a party, and what they are about |
| Insolvency | BPI bulletin via ONRC | Basic search free | Liquidation or reorganisation proceedings |
| The plot and the permit | ANCPI, online extract | 20 lei per extract | Who the owner is, mortgages, registration of the building permit |
1. The trade register: does the company exist at all, and since when
ONRC, the Romanian trade register, provides basic identification data: name, registration number, CUI, county and company status (active, in liquidation, struck off). The owners, directors and registered capital come in a "certificate of status" (certificat constatator) or a paid report.
What interests us: a company set up three months ago for a project of dozens of units is not necessarily a red flag, because that is how the market is structured. But then the question moves to the owners: who is behind it, and what have they built before.
2. The Finance Ministry: financial statements open to all
On the Romanian Finance Ministry website you type in the CUI and get figures from the financial statements of recent years: turnover, profit or loss, number of employees and equity. In Israel the accounts of a private company are not open to the public. In Romania they are, and that is an opportunity.
How to read them without being an accountant:
- Negative equity in the parent company or in previous companies of the same owners: a question that needs an answer.
- A project company with no turnover: normal before handovers. It is not a measure of quality, but a reason to check the owners.
- Previous companies of the same owners that closed quickly: worth checking why.
3. The tax authority: the list of debtors
Under Article 162 of the Fiscal Procedure Code, the Romanian tax authority (ANAF) publishes every quarter a list of companies with unpaid tax debts above thresholds set by law, including the amount of the debt. A search by CUI takes a minute. If the company appears there, it is not the end of the story, but it is a must-ask question before you transfer a deposit.
4. The courts: who is suing the developer, and over what
On portal.just.ro, the portal of the Romanian courts, you search by party name and get the list of cases, the subject, the hearing dates and the decisions. The search is free. Cases at the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) appear on a separate site, scj.ro.
15 minutes of checking do not replace a lawyer, but they filter out the developers not worth paying a lawyer to examine.
How to interpret it: an active company has lawsuits, and that is normal. What matters is the subject. Debt collection from a single supplier is routine. Dozens of claims by buyers over late handover, or claims to cancel contracts, are a different story. Also search by the owners' names and their previous companies.
5. Insolvency: the check you most must not skip
The insolvency proceedings bulletin (Buletinul Procedurilor de Insolvență, BPI) is published by ONRC. According to ONRC, you can search it free of charge by name or CUI, also through the European e-Justice portal, which connects the insolvency registers of several countries. A company in proceedings, or owners whose previous companies collapsed, are a reason to stop.
6. The plot: in whose name, and what is registered against it
The land register extract is the hardest document to fake. You order it on the ANCPI portal and check: that the company selling to you is the registered owner of the land, what is recorded in part three (a mortgage to the financing bank is normal, a seizure is not), and whether the building permit has been entered on the extract, as the law requires before works begin. For how to read each part, see our guide to the extract. For how to check the permit itself, see our guide to building permits and the PUZ.
What this check will not reveal
It is important to be fair: registers tell you about the past, not the future. A developer with clean accounts can run into difficulties, and a young developer with no track record can be excellent. Build quality, after-sales conduct and treatment of customers do not appear in any register either.
So the self-check is a first layer, not a substitute. After it come an independent lawyer, a visit to the developer's previous projects, and a conversation with people who already live in them. And in an off-plan project, the protections of Law 207/2025 on deposit money. 15 minutes of checking do not replace a lawyer, but they filter out the developers not worth paying a lawyer to examine.
I will mention it once
We welcome buyers who check us this way, in the Compass on the Lake project in Balotești and in every conversation. If a developer takes offence at a request for the CUI, that is important information in itself.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to check a Romanian company?
Most checks are free: financial statements on the Finance Ministry website, court cases on portal.just.ro, the ANAF list of debtors and a basic search of the insolvency bulletin. An online land register extract costs 20 lei. A full certificate of status from the trade register, with owners and directors, is paid.
I do not read Romanian. Can I still do this?
Yes, in most cases. The registers are built on tables and fixed fields, and automatic translation in the browser is enough to understand the company status, turnover and number of cases. The legal meaning of a case or of an entry on the extract is worth verifying with a local lawyer.
I found lawsuits against the developer. Does that mean I should run?
Not necessarily. Almost every active company has lawsuits. Check the subject, the number and the other party: many claims by buyers over delays or contract cancellations are a warning sign, a single debt-collection claim from a supplier usually is not.
Which is better to check: the project company or the parent company?
Both. The project company is the one signing with you, and its ownership of the land must appear on the extract. The parent company and the owners tell you about experience and stability. Also check previous companies of the same owners.
Does the self-check replace a lawyer?
No. It filters in advance and prepares you for the conversation with the lawyer, but it does not check the contract, the refund terms or the protections on your money. The full legal check is still needed before any signing.
The bottom line
In Romania, information about a developer is more open than most Israelis expect: financial statements, lawsuits, tax debts, insolvency and the plot's extract, all online and mostly free. A quarter of an hour of checking replaces a lot of gut feeling.
If you have checked a developer and something does not add up, or you would like us to go through what you found together, book a 30-minute call with me. We will go through the findings and prepare the questions for your lawyer.
Moti Azulay, Compass Group Romania
Sources and data: Romanian trade register (ONRC) · ONRC: free information from the insolvency registers · Romanian Finance Ministry: company information and financial statements · Romanian tax authority (ANAF) · Courts portal portal.just.ro · High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) · European e-Justice portal · ANCPI, online extract ordering.
This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Findings in public registers require professional interpretation, and do not replace a legal check by an independent lawyer before signing.
Now you know more.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult local professionals before any transaction.
