Real estate lawyer in Georgia - ownership that is created by a registry entry, not by a handshake
In Georgia, ownership of real estate does not arise when a contract is signed - it arises at the moment of registration in the Public Registry. That single sentence explains most property disputes: a contract that never reached the registry is only an obligation, not a right; and the registry entry is presumed correct until the contrary is proved in court. Whoever relies on the entry and acquires the property is a bona fide purchaser and the law protects them - often at the expense of the former owner.
A real estate lawyer's work falls into two parts: before the transaction - making sure the right entry appears in the registry at the right price with the right guarantees - and after it, when the entry, the boundary, the developer or a co-owner has become a problem. This page covers both: what decides each dispute, which rules apply to land, apartments and commercial premises, how the four types of transaction differ, and what happens to property that is not in the registry at all. For foreign buyers - a large share of the market in Tbilisi and Batumi - there is a separate section on what is different and what is not.
Verified real estate lawyers
Active status in the register and real estate as the primary specialisation. The list marks who works on developer disputes, who on legalisation and who has experience with foreign buyers.
No published lawyers in this category yet
That does not mean we cannot help. Call us - we will match you with a specialist for a remote consultation or from a nearby city.
Call: 568 330 3186 property disputes in Georgia and what decides each
In a real estate dispute there are always three sources: the registry entry, the text of the contract and the actual situation on the ground. The case turns on which of the three differs from the other two, and in whose favour.
Dispute with a developer
Decisive: what the contract said about the deadline and the penalty - and what it did not. "Indicative deadline", "after commissioning", "by agreement of the parties" are phrases that effectively cancel the deadline. The lawyer checks who owns the land and holds the permit in the registry, and if it is not the developer - who you actually have a contract with. Remedies: the penalty, termination with a refund, or compulsory registration of your title to the apartment.
Boundaries and overlaps
Decisive: the cadastral survey and the history of the registry map. Overlapping plots are a mass phenomenon in Georgia - the result of surveys from different years with different accuracy. The dispute is often resolved without court through a registry correction if both sides agree; if not - an expert survey and a claim. The judge does not draw the plan - they rely on the expert.
Co-ownership
Decisive: the size and nature of the share - an ideal share (one half of the whole apartment) or a physically separated part. When a co-owner sells, the other co-owners have a pre-emption right - a share sold behind their backs can be challenged. If co-owners cannot agree, the court divides the property in kind or, where that is impossible, sells it at auction and distributes the proceeds.
Leases and eviction
Decisive: whether the lease is registered. A registered lease binds a new owner; an unregistered one does not. A tenant can be evicted only by court decision and through the Enforcement Bureau - changing the locks and removing belongings is self-help, which gives the tenant a damages claim even if they were not paying rent.
Easements and access
Decisive: the history of the plot. For a "landlocked" plot created by dividing a larger one, the law provides a right of way over the neighbour's land against compensation. An easement is registered and runs with the property - a new owner cannot cancel it. Running utilities (water, power, sewage) is resolved by the same logic.
Challenging a registry entry
Decisive: the underlying document - the contract, will or act on which the entry was made. A void basis means a void entry, but only by court decision and subject to the protection of a bona fide purchaser: if the property has already passed to a third party who relied on the registry, the former owner is often left with a damages claim against whoever fraudulently sold it, rather than the property itself.
8 rules of Georgian property law to know before any transaction
Real estate law in Georgia is liberal and fast - registration takes days. Speed also means a mistake is registered quickly. These eight rules underlie most disputes.
- Registration creates the right
- Sale, gift, mortgage, lease - every right arises on registration. An unregistered contract is an obligation between the parties and does not exist for third parties. The owner of an apartment sold twice is the one who registered first, not the one who paid first.
- A notary is not mandatory
- A real estate contract can be signed at the Public Service Hall with the signatures certified by a registry officer. Cheap and fast, but it means nobody reviews the text - whatever you sign is registered. A notary reads the text; a lawyer protects your interest in it. These are different functions.
- Foreigners and agricultural land
- A foreign national may buy an apartment, a house, commercial premises and non-agricultural land in Georgia without restriction. Ownership of agricultural land by foreigners is restricted by the Constitution - the exceptions are narrow and usually end in an obligation to sell. The category of a plot is stated in the registry extract and is the first line to check.
- Changing the land category
- Building on agricultural land requires a change of category, which is a separate administrative procedure and is not always granted. "Land to build a house on" with an agricultural category is the most common mistake when buying a plot outside the city.
- The homeowners' association
- In an apartment building the stairwell, roof, lift, yard and land are co-owned and managed by the association. Building on the roof, appropriating the basement or setting up parking in the yard without the association's decision can be challenged; a contract concluded by the association binds every owner.
- Pre-emption rights
- A co-owner and, in some cases, a tenant has the right to buy the share or the property on the same terms before a third party. A transaction concluded in breach of that right gives a claim for the buyer's rights and obligations to be transferred to you - that is, for you to receive the property.
- A mortgage follows the property
- Mortgaged property can be sold, but the mortgage stays with the new owner - the bank can realise the property even though the debt belongs to the former owner. The "encumbrances" field in the extract must be empty, or the contract must make release of the mortgage a condition of payment.
- Tax on sale
- The gain on the sale of residential property is taxed if you held it for less than two years; holding for more than two years is a ground for exemption. Writing a price lower than the real one "to save tax" is a double risk for the buyer: on termination only the written amount is refunded, and on a later sale your gain is artificially inflated.
4 types of real estate transaction and the clause that costs the most in each
Every transaction has its weak spot - the one clause that, drafted wrongly, turns into years of litigation. A real estate lawyer starts the contract from exactly that clause.
Legalisation and unregistered property - when the house exists but the title does not
Thousands of houses, extensions and plots in Georgia are not in the registry: a Soviet-era technical passport, land allocated by a collective farm, a house built in the 1990s, a yard "handed down" orally through generations. Such property cannot be sold, gifted, mortgaged or inherited without passing the problem to the next generation. Legalisation is the procedure for bringing this property into the registry, and it is a large part of a real estate lawyer's work.
The route depends on the type of property: actual possession of state-owned land is legalised through a municipal commission; an old technical passport and allocation order may serve as a basis for registration; a building erected without a permit first pays a legalisation fine and is then registered - if it can be legalised at all. The lawyer's first task is to reconstruct the property's "biography": the archive, the technical bureau, the municipality, the consent of neighbours and co-heirs.
A separate category is the systematic registration reform running since 2016, which registered many plots free of charge - but often with errors, overlaps or a wrong area. Correcting such an entry is not a new registration but a separate procedure, requiring the neighbour's consent or a court decision. Foreign buyers of village houses and coastal plots meet this problem more often than any other.
Buying real estate in Georgia as a foreigner - what is different and what is not
Georgia is one of the most open markets for a foreign buyer: there is no special permit, registration takes the same few days, the price may be set in lari, dollars or euros, and the transaction can be completed from abroad under a power of attorney. The only firm restriction is agricultural land. For a foreign client the real estate lawyer adds three things: a power of attorney worded so that the registry does not reject it, a bilingual contract in which the Georgian text prevails and the buyer knows it, and a bank route for the funds that will pass the source-of-funds check.
Owning property in Georgia can also become a basis for residence: real estate worth a set amount (currently the equivalent of USD 100,000) gives the right to apply for a residence permit, with the value confirmed by an accredited appraiser. This is where two fields - property and immigration - intersect, and the transaction must be planned so that the appraisal and the contract price do not contradict each other. Rental income from the property, and its taxation as a non-resident, is the third question most buyers ask only after completion.
Questions about real estate lawyers in Georgia
The developer is late delivering the apartment. Should I claim the penalty or a refund?
It depends on whether you still want the apartment. If construction is progressing and the delay is months - the contractual penalty, or statutory interest if none is written. If construction has stopped or the developer no longer owns the land - termination, refund and damages, urgently and with a freezing order on the developer's assets, because one stalled project means dozens of claimants and your place in the queue matters.
I am a foreigner - can I buy an apartment and register it in my name?
Yes, without restriction - an apartment, a house, commercial premises, non-agricultural land. Title is registered in your name on your passport; no residence permit is needed. The prohibition applies only to agricultural land, which is why the category is the first thing checked when buying a plot outside the city.
My neighbour has moved the fence onto my plot. What do I do?
First compare the registry plan with a fresh survey - the fence is often correct and the plan wrong, or vice versa. If the registry is on your side, a written demand and then a negatory claim to move the fence and for damages. If the plans overlap, the dispute is about correcting the registry, not the fence, and it is not resolved without an expert survey.
An apartment belongs to two brothers and one refuses to sell. Can the other sell me his half?
He can, but he must first offer it to his brother on the same terms - the pre-emption right. If the brother refuses or does not reply in time, the share is sold to you and you become a co-owner. Before buying, bear in mind that an ideal share is not a specific room, and agreeing the rules of use or a partition with the other co-owner is a separate process.
There is a mortgage on the apartment. Can I buy it?
Yes, if the scheme is built correctly: part of the price goes directly to the bank to repay the debt, the bank issues consent to release the mortgage, and the release and the transfer of title are registered simultaneously. If the mortgage remains after registration, the bank can realise your apartment for someone else's debt.
The apartment was sold twice - I have a contract, someone else has the registration. Who owns it?
The one with the registration, if they acquired in good faith - that is, did not know about your contract. Your claim remains against the seller: refund, penalty, damages and, if intent is proved, a criminal case for fraud. This is exactly why the lawyer asks for the claim to be registered before payment.
My grandmother's house is not in the registry, we only have a technical passport. How do I register it?
The technical passport and allocation order are often a sufficient basis if the property does not belong to the state and the chain of inheritance can be documented. If the land is state-owned - legalisation through the municipal commission. The procedure takes months, and before it can start a certificate of inheritance must be issued, which has its own deadlines.
The seller asks me to write a lower price in the contract. What is the risk?
For you - the entire difference. On termination or annulment only the written amount is refundable; on a later sale your "gain" is artificially inflated and taxed; and for a bank loan the property's value is based on the written price. The seller's tax problem should not be solved through your contract.
Real estate lawyer by city
A property dispute is heard by the court where the property is located, and legalisation runs through the local municipality - Batumi's construction boom, Tbilisi's old districts and rural plots in the regions each call for different experience.
Adjacent practice areas
Realisation of a mortgage and disputes with a bank belong to banking law, registration of inherited property to inheritance law, and residence through property ownership is an immigration matter.
Apartment, plot, developer - one call before you sign
Within 15 minutes the coordinator will contact you and match you with a real estate lawyer who reads the contract before you sign it, or tells you the first step in a dispute that has already begun.