The Land That Wasn’t in His Name

“I don’t understand why I can’t sell the apartment!” He was practically barking at me down the phone.

“Remember when you bought the apartment, I explained that the land attached to it couldn’t be registered in your name because you’re not a local citizen. After talking it over with the agent, you agreed to have the land registered in her name.

I warned you back then that this could cause problems down the road, that maybe we should look for another solution, and that at the very least we had to get an irrevocable power of attorney from her. You said you trusted her and everything would be fine. So how is it my fault now that she isn’t answering you and you can’t track her down?” I shot back, angry.

The next day I sat down with the team. We found a solution, one that took longer and cost the client quite a bit of money. We went to court. We showed that the agent had left Romania several months earlier and hadn’t come back, the client declared that she wasn’t returning his calls, and we presented an email exchange proving that both sides intended the land to be registered in her name only formally, to meet the legal requirements, and that the client had paid the full price of the apartment.

After two hearings and more demands from the judge, in a fairly unprecedented step, the court issued an order instructing the land registry to register the sale in the name of whoever buys from our client, including the proportional share of the land.