BRINEK: CITIZENS RESENT EXPENSIVE LAND REGISTER

Until July 2009, it was possible throughout Austria to file land register requests directly, informally and both orally or in writing with the competent court. Now, they will only be accepted in written form. Thus, the services of a notary, respectively a lawyer, are inevitable. In addition to these new costs, citizens frequently complain about insufficient communication and lack of explanations on behalf of the cadastre authorities. Such additional bureaucratic barriers and costs prompt many to address themselves to the Ombudsman Board.

Mr. Smith solicited a land register extract of his parcels at the District Court Melk in Lower Austria. Reading it he discovered a faulty designation for the type of land use. When he went to the court in person to have it corrected, he was referred to the Land Surveying Office St. Pölten, only to be sent back to the District Court Melk without further explanation. In his anewed interview at the cadastre authority he was told that “everything is in order again” regarding the designation for the type of land use. However, the proprietor was charged again with the administrative fee of nine Euros for the rectified land register printout.

From a legal point of view, the District Court Melk has acted correctly, nonetheless, Ombudswoman Brinek criticises that the Court did not explain the procedures and their stages to the persons concerned. By providing enough information the impression could have been prevented that citizens are referred from one authority to another for no obvious reason.