Certidão Permanente: How to Check Ownership and Charges on a Portuguese Property

Before you sign anything for a property in Portugal, you need to know two things: who really owns it, and whether anything is registered against it, such as a mortgage or a court seizure. The answer is in the Certidão Permanente do Registo Predial, the official online certificate from the Portuguese land registry.

For UK buyers it is the equivalent of the official copies of the register from HM Land Registry. For US buyers it replaces much of what a title search does, with one important difference: there is no title insurance in Portugal, so reading this certificate correctly, usually with your lawyer, is your main protection.

What is the Certidão Permanente?

The Certidão Permanente is a digital certificate issued by the land registry (Conservatória do Registo Predial), part of the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN). Instead of a paper extract, you receive an access code that lets you view the always-current registry entry online for six months. Every time you open it, you see the latest status.

The land registry in Portugal is public: anyone can request the certificate for any property, without the owner’s consent. This is what makes it so useful before you make an offer.

What the certificate shows

• Description (descrição): the registry number, parish and municipality, the composition of the property (for example a house with garden), its areas, its boundaries and its matrix article in the tax register.
• Ownership (aquisição): who is registered as owner, and how they acquired it (purchase, inheritance, gift).
• Charges (ónus e encargos): mortgages, court seizures (penhoras), usufruct rights, rights of way and other encumbrances.
• Pending applications (apresentações pendentes): requests that have been filed but not yet registered, for example a new mortgage or a sale to someone else.
• Annotations (averbamentos): later changes to existing entries, such as a cancelled mortgage.

What to check before you buy

1. Owner: is the seller the registered owner? If several owners or heirs are listed, all of them must sign.
2. Mortgages: an existing mortgage is normal, but it must be paid off and cancelled at the deed. Your lawyer arranges this with the seller’s bank.
3. Seizures and court actions: a penhora or a registered lawsuit is a serious warning sign.
4. Pending entries: anything pending can change the picture, so check the certificate again just before signing.
5. Description vs. reality: do the areas and composition match the tax record (Caderneta Predial) and what you see on site? Pools, extensions and annexes are often missing.
6. Rural land: since 2026, sales of rural or mixed land also require a georeferenced map from BUPi.

Certidão Permanente and Caderneta Predial complement each other: the certificate shows legal ownership and charges, the caderneta shows the tax situation. Before a promissory contract (CPCV), both should be checked against each other.

Inheritance and lifetime gifts

In Portuguese families it is common for a property to pass to one child during the parents’ lifetime. How this shows in the certificate depends on how it was done. If the property was given as a gift (doação), the recipient is registered as the new owner, with the gift as the reason for acquisition. If the parents kept the right to live in or use it (reserva de usufruto), this usufruct appears as a charge, and the usufructuary must also take part in a sale. A will, by contrast, leaves no trace in the registry during the owner’s lifetime. After the death, the deceased remains the registered owner until the heirs have been formally identified (habilitação de herdeiros) and the estate divided (partilha); until then, all heirs must sign. One more point for buyers: Portugal has forced heirship. If a lifetime gift exceeded what the donor could freely dispose of, the other heirs may claim a reduction after the donor’s death. If the property was gifted within the family recently, ask your lawyer to check this risk.

How to order it online

1. Go to the official registry portal and choose the land registry certificate (Registo Predial).
2. Identify the property, usually with the municipality, parish and registry description number, which you can find on an earlier certificate or ask the seller for.
3. Pay online. The cost is around €15, and access is valid for six months.
4. You receive an access code by email. Enter it on the portal to view and download the certificate as a PDF.

You don’t need a lawyer to order or view it. To interpret it correctly, especially charges and pending entries, a lawyer is strongly recommended.

If the seller is a company

If you buy from a company, you also need to know who may sign on its behalf. The commercial registry certificate (Certidão Permanente do Registo Comercial) shows the company’s legal name, registration number, share capital, managers and changes over time. Access costs €25 for one year, or €55 for one year including the company documents.

How we can help

As your buyer’s agent, we order and review the Certidão Permanente and the other documents with your lawyer before you commit. Book a free consultation.