Uknjižba, predbilježba, zabilježba: land registry entries

An uknjižba is a final entry in the land register: it acquires, transfers, limits or ends a right in a property unconditionally. A predbilježba is a conditional, temporary entry that only becomes final once it is later justified. A zabilježba is an entry of facts that affect whether the property can be sold or mortgaged, such as a lawsuit, bankruptcy or an owner who is a minor.

For a buyer the difference is practical. If you are registered by uknjižba, you are the owner. If you only have a predbilježba, your right still depends on a condition being met. If the property carries a zabilježba, someone or something may affect your purchase.

This page is general information, not legal advice. A notary or lawyer should confirm the details for your specific case.

Where entries are made: FBiH, RS and Brčko District

Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have one set of rules for the whole country.

• Federation of BiH (FBiH): the land register (zemljišna knjiga, often shortened to ZK) is kept by the courts. The rules are in the FBiH Land Registry Law and the FBiH Law on Property Rights. The law defines the land register as a public book and public register of rights in real estate and other legally relevant facts. Real estate means land, buildings, flats and business premises that are separate parts of a building, and other structures.
• Republika Srpska (RS): there is one combined register, the katastar nepokretnosti (real estate cadastre), governed by the RS Survey and Cadastre Law. The final entry is not called uknjižba there but upis stvarnih prava (entry of property rights). The terms predbilježba and zabilježba are kept. Rights are acquired, transferred and limited by entry in the register, and they end when the entry is deleted.
• Brčko District: the Brčko Law on Ownership and Other Property Rights confirms that a mortgage and a real burden can be acquired by predbilježba, provided it is later justified. The other rules on entries, and which office keeps the register, should be checked with a notary or at the land registry office.

If the relationship between the land register and the cadastre confuses you, we explain it in ZK extract, posjedovni list and cadastre: the differences.

The three entries at a glance

Entry	What it means	When it is final
Uknjižba (in RS: upis stvarnih prava)	A right is acquired, transferred, limited or ended unconditionally	Immediately, on entry
Predbilježba	The same, but conditionally	When it is justified
Zabilježba	Records facts relevant to selling or encumbering the property	It does not transfer a right; it warns

We have deliberately not matched these terms to English or other foreign legal concepts. Similar-sounding entries in other countries can work differently, so read the Bosnian term on the extract and ask a notary what it means in your case.

Uknjižba: the final entry of a right

Uknjižba is the goal of every purchase. Only when the buyer is registered as owner is the purchase complete in the register.

In FBiH, under the Law on Property Rights, a completed uknjižba takes effect from the moment the request was filed with the court. That is why the order of filing matters: entries in the same section of a land-register file (ZK uložak, the folio for one property) are ranked by order, so an earlier request generally has priority.

What is usually needed

• a valid document for the entry, most often a sale contract, a gift contract or an inheritance decision
• a clausula intabulandi, the previous owner's unconditional consent to the buyer being registered
• the previous owner must already be registered

In RS the law lists general conditions for any entry: the property must be registered, the previous right-holder must be registered, and there must be a document for the entry. If old entries on the property do not match reality, the uknjižba can stall. How to read the entries before you buy is covered in Land registry extract in Bosnia: checking ownership before you buy.

Predbilježba: the conditional entry

A predbilježba is entered in the place where the final entry of that right would go. It holds your position in the register, but you only acquire the right once it is justified (opravdanje).

When it is used

In FBiH a predbilježba of ownership can be requested when not all conditions for uknjižba are met, for example:

• the document lacks required elements
• the transfer depends on a condition not yet met
• the only thing missing is the seller's consent to registration (clausula intabulandi)

A mortgage (založno pravo or hipoteka) can also be created by predbilježba when the conditions for uknjižba are missing.

In RS a predbilježba is entered when:

• a private document lacks the consent to registration
• the consent has a condition or deadline not yet met
• an official document is not yet final
• the competent authority orders a predbilježba
• the property can be identified but is not precisely described

Justifying it

In FBiH a predbilježba is justified by later filing a complete request or by meeting the conditions within the deadline set. If only the seller's consent was missing, filing that consent is enough. Once justified, the predbilježba becomes an uknjižba, effective from the day the predbilježba request was filed.

In RS it is justified by removing the obstacles, or by later proving that the condition was met or the deadline passed. It then becomes a full entry, effective from when the predbilježba was entered.

Deadlines and deletion

In RS a predbilježba is entered for up to 90 days, or for the period set in the authority's document. If it is not justified, it can be deleted. When a predbilježba is deleted, all entries made against the person who held it are deleted automatically, and entries against the registered owner it was burdening become unconditional.

In FBiH the law requires justification within a set deadline, but the sources available to us do not say how long that deadline is or what happens if it is missed. Read the deadline and the consequences in the court's decision on the predbilježba, or check them with a notary.

In Brčko District the deadline and the deletion procedure should be checked with a notary or the competent office.

Zabilježba: facts that affect a sale

A zabilježba warns you that a circumstance exists which may affect a sale, a mortgage or the owner's right itself.

Examples named in the law

In FBiH:

• personal status: being a minor, guardianship, extended parental rights
• bankruptcy
• a pending lawsuit
• expropriation proceedings
• reserved priority ranking (zabilježba prvenstvenog reda, a place held for a future entry)
• compulsory administration and other facts

In RS, among others:

• the owner's personal status
• reserved priority for a future entry
• a lawsuit to establish rights to the property
• enforcement proceedings
• challenges to a debtor's legal acts
• protection of natural resources
• other entries set by law

In RS, while the register is being set up, a zabilježba of pending administrative or court proceedings and a zabilježba banning sale or encumbrance can also be entered.

Zabilježba in the registration process itself

In FBiH some facts from the court's own work are also recorded by zabilježba. If a request is defective, the deadline for fixing it is entered, and that entry stays until the court decides on the request. Entries are never rewritten: changes and deletions get their own numbers, the wrong part of an entry is underlined in red, and the correction is made by zabilježba. That is why you will sometimes see underlined lines and references to other numbers on an extract.

A reserved priority holds a place for a future entry. How long that reservation lasts is not confirmed by the sources available to us, so check it for your case.

Example: a predbilježba that becomes an uknjižba

A buyer in Sarajevo (FBiH) buys a two-room flat of 54 m² for 309,000 KM (convertible marks), in line with the flats DMI currently has on offer. The contract is signed, but the seller has not yet given consent to registration because he is waiting for his bank to confirm his loan is closed.

1. A predbilježba of ownership in the buyer's favour is requested. His place in the land register is now held.
2. When the bank confirms the loan is closed, the seller signs the consent to registration.
3. The consent is filed with the court, the predbilježba is justified and becomes an uknjižba.
4. The buyer's ownership takes effect from the day the predbilježba request was filed, not from the day it was justified. Because entries rank by order, a request filed by a third party in the meantime should not overtake him.

The steps and order when selling a flat with a loan on it are covered in Selling a mortgaged flat in Bosnia: how the loan is paid off.

Common mistakes

• Treating a predbilježba as ownership. Until it is justified, the right is conditional. Before paying the full price, find out exactly what is missing and who has to provide it.
• Missing the justification deadline. In RS a predbilježba is entered for up to 90 days or for the period in the authority's document, and it can be deleted. In FBiH the court sets the deadline; check the consequences of missing it in the court's decision or with a notary.
• Ignoring a zabilježba. A zabilježba of a lawsuit, bankruptcy or enforcement means there are proceedings whose outcome may affect the owner's rights. Such a property is not necessarily unbuyable, but you should know what the proceedings mean for you before signing.
• Reading only the owner, not the whole extract. Mortgages and other burdens are in a separate section. How to read them is explained in How to check a Bosnian property for mortgages and burdens.
• Mixing up the entities' terms. On an RS extract you will not see the word uknjižba but upis stvarnih prava. Both mean the final entry.

What to check before you sign

1. Get a fresh extract from the land register or the katastar nepokretnosti, on the day of signing or as close to it as possible.
2. Check whether the seller is registered by uknjižba or only has a predbilježba.
3. Read every zabilježba and ask what each one means.
4. Check the burdens: mortgages, servitudes, bans on sale.
5. Make sure the contract contains unconditional consent to registration, or states exactly what the condition is and who must meet it.
6. Tie payment to registration, not only to signing the contract.

How DMI helps

DMI currently has eight flats on offer, all in Sarajevo. We visit every property in person and check its land-registry status, legalisation and photos before publishing it. When we show a buyer the extract, we explain what each entry means and whether there is a predbilježba or zabilježba that needs attention. For buyers abroad we offer video tours. For the legal details of your case we refer you to a notary or lawyer, and we make sure the documents arrive in time for registration.