How do you verify a property in Albania before paying? The checklist (2026)
Eight checks stand between a listing and a safe purchase: title and encumbrances at ASHK (5,500 lek for the three extracts), legalisation status, the building permit and the developer on a new build, who signs, how the deposit is framed, how the money moves, and the registration of your own title at the end. Each step below links the detailed guide, and the notary re-verifies the register before the deed.
Data compiled by Fedir AlpatovUpdated
The eight checks, in the order they happen
Work through the list before any money moves. The first two steps kill more bad deals than everything else combined.
| # | Check | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The seller is the registered owner | Fresh kartela from ASHK, Section B: the name selling to you, and how the title was acquired |
| 2 | No encumbrances block the sale | Kartela Sections C and D: a hypothec, seizure or the statutory mortgage of a legalised home must be released before you pay |
| 3 | The building is legal | Legalisation status for older and informal buildings: finished legalisation, or a plan with dates, never a promise |
| 4 | The permit and the developer (new build) | Building permit, the developer's record, and whether the project land or units are hypothecated to a bank |
| 5 | The off-plan contract protects you (under construction) | Stage payments tied to construction progress, delivery date with a penalty, exact unit specification |
| 6 | The right people sign | All co-owners at the deed, or a notarised power of attorney; your own PoA if you buy remotely |
| 7 | The deposit is a kapar, paid safely | Named kapar in a notarised preliminary contract, paid by bank transfer after checks 1 and 2 |
| 8 | The purchase is registered in your name | The notary files the deed at ASHK (5,000 lek); you are the owner when the register says so, not when you pay |
Sources · 7
- DATA-LEGAL-0034VKM 782/2020 (under Law 111/2018 Art. 13): Section A property data, Section B title data (owner and how acquired), Section B/1 preliminary registration, Section C real rights of third parties that do NOT restrict disposal, Section D data on rights and acts that DO restrict disposal (incl. the Art. 27 restrictions, e.g. a hypothec or a seizure), Section E other informative data, Section F internal actions on the card (not public).The kartela e pasurisë has six sections: C holds third-party rights, D the restrictions on disposalConfidence: HIGHPeriod: 2020-2026verified 2026-11-06VKM No. 782 of 7.10.2020 "Për miratimin e modeleve të akteve kadastrale…" (models of cadastral acts and the content of the cadastral map)
Read in the decision PDF on ashk.gov.al, part II point 4.
- DATA-LEGAL-0019Law 20/2020 Art. 22(10): a statutory mortgage stays on the legalised property until the plot price is paid in full. Art. 22(6): on private third-party land, ownership of the land passes only when the compensation decision enters into force; until then the building is registered without a relationship to the land. Art. 22(2)–(3): the legalisation act also transfers the plot, for a home up to three times the footprint and at most 500 m².A legalised home can carry a statutory mortgage or be registered "without the land"Confidence: HIGHPeriod: 2020–2026verified 2026-10-19Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes)
- DATA-LEGAL-0018Law 20/2020 Art. 17: buildings without a permit that appear on the national orthophoto made before the law entered into force; Art. 18: no legalisation where the building harms major infrastructure, national roads, public buildings, cultural heritage, strategic-investment areas or the coastline; Art. 21: ASHK decides within 60 days of qualification. Art. 16(1): every applicant may obtain an extract of their own application from the ASHK unpermitted-building database.Legalisation covers unpermitted buildings on the pre-2020 orthophoto; coastline and major infrastructure excludedConfidence: HIGHPeriod: 2020–2026verified 2026-10-19Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes)
- DATA-LEGAL-0004A buyer can be represented under a power of attorney. The deed must state the power of attorney's date, object, legal circumstances, validity and term, and a copy of it is attached to the deed; the cadastre records the representative's ID or passport number.Buying through a representative: power of attorneyConfidence: HIGHPeriod: Law 110/2018 Art. 99(2), Art. 102(1); ASHK Instruction 1557/verified 2026-09-09Law No. 110/2018 "Për noterinë" (On the notary), official text
- DATA-LEGAL-0032Civil Code Neni 601: kapari is a sum one party gives the other on account of the contract price, to prove the contract and secure its performance. Neni 602: if the contract fails through the fault of the party who GAVE the kapar, that party loses it; if through the fault of the party who RECEIVED it, that party returns double. The party at fault also owes damages, the kapar counting toward them, unless the contract provides otherwise.Kapari (earnest money): buyer in default loses it, seller in default returns doubleConfidence: HIGHPeriod: 1994-2026verified 2026-11-06Civil Code of the Republic of Albania (Law No. 7850 of 29.7.1994, consolidated up to Law No. 113/2016)
Read in the consolidated Albanian text (WIPO Lex), Kreu VI "Kapari dhe privilegjet".
- DATA-LEGAL-0009A property deed must state how the price is paid; the technical payment procedure is set by joint instruction of the Ministers of Justice and Finance, and the notary's special bank account can hold the funds. A notary may not handle cash above 150,000 ALL in notarial transactions.Payment of the price: stated in the deed; notary cash limit 150,000 lekConfidence: HIGHPeriod: Law 110/2018 Art. 105(4), Art. 68(3)verified 2026-09-09Law No. 110/2018 "Për noterinë" (On the notary), official text
- Confidence: HIGHPeriod: 2025–2026verified 2026-10-19Council of Ministers Decision (VKM) No. 462 of 31.07.2025 on ASHK service fees, amending VKM 389/2020
What changes with the kind of property
A resale flat in a registered building is the short path: steps 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8 do the work.
A new build adds steps 4 and 5, and they matter more than the rest: the commonest coastal losses are deposits paid to developers without a permit or on hypothecated land. A house adds the land and its boundaries to step 1, and any unlegalised extension to step 3. Land is its own world: a foreigner buys building land freely once the planned investment is at least three times the plot value, but never agricultural land directly, so read the land guide before step 1.
An informal or partly legalised house is bought only after step 3 is finished in the register, not on the seller's assurance that "the papers are coming".
Who does the checking: notary, lawyer, translator
The notary is not optional and not decorative: Albanian law makes the sale valid only as a notarial act, and the notary verifies ownership in the cadastre before authenticating it. That check is the system's backbone.
A lawyer is optional and often worth it on anything unusual: expect €500 to 2,000 for full due diligence, the figure our purchase-cost calculator counts. A buyer who does not speak Albanian must bring a sworn translator to the deed: the translator co-signs it, and the cost is small against the risk of signing what you cannot read.
How long it takes, and what the checking costs
The three ASHK extracts cost 5,500 lek together, about €60, and arrive in days. With clean papers the whole path, reservation to registered title, typically runs four to eight weeks: the checks are the cheapest and fastest part of the purchase, and skipping them is how the expensive weeks happen.
Use the interactive version of this checklist on our property-check page: pick what you are buying and from whom, and it builds the list for your case with the matching guides.
Questions and answers
Sources
- Civil Code of the Republic of Albania (Law No. 7850 of 29.7.1994, consolidated up to Law No. 113/2016). Kuvendi i Republikës së Shqipërisë (text via WIPO Lex), 1994-07-29 (accessed 2026-11-06)
- VKM No. 782 of 7.10.2020 "Për miratimin e modeleve të akteve kadastrale…" (models of cadastral acts and the content of the cadastral map). Këshilli i Ministrave / ASHK, 2020-10-07 (accessed 2026-11-06)
- Law No. 20/2020 "Për përfundimin e proceseve kalimtare të pronësisë" (completing transitional ownership processes). Parliament of Albania (FAOLEX copy), 2020-03-05 (accessed 2026-10-19)
- Law No. 110/2018 "Për noterinë" (On the notary), official text, 2018-12-20 (accessed 2026-09-09)
- Council of Ministers Decision (VKM) No. 462 of 31.07.2025 on ASHK service fees, amending VKM 389/2020. State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), 2025-07-31 (accessed 2026-10-19)