Anti-crisis measures in the area of and and mortgage registers in the countries associated in ELRA in response to the COVID-19 threats – preliminary study (Part I)

The author describes what anti-crisis measures have been taken in the real estate registers ofthe European Union Member States in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially inthe context of the important socially and economically important role they play in the real estatemarket. The study describes and analyse the results of the Special Measures COVID-19 in EULand Registries survey conducted in 26 European countries that have representatives inthe European Land Registry Association (ELRA) in Brussels. The research mainly referredto the solutions they used in the sphere of organizational change, law or financial issuesin connection with conducting anti-crisis policy. Due to the early and developmental stageof the pandemic, the research presented in the first part of the article is preliminary, and theannouncement of their continuation in the interval of several months gives the opportunity todevelop the topic in the second part of the publication. These studies should be deepenedby comparing the direction of development of the organization and legislative changes affectingthe area of and books in the chosen countries also with regard to the gradual return to regularwork after the end of the pandemic and mechanisms to prevent the effects of the economiccrisis arising as its result. The illustration and justification of the trend should be statistical dataillustrating the work of registers and the resulting trend in real estate transactions and interestin the mortgage market, including traffic in starting bankruptcy procedures.In the further part of the study, reference is made to the detailed solutions used in thesecountries, including the use of modern technologies, as an ally in the search for quick and effectivesolutions that enable the conduct of existing procedures with virtually no major changes.In addition, a downward trend in the impact of applications for entry in the land books of mostof ELRA countries that was recorded in property registers was described.Then, organizational and legal solutions were assessed in Polish land and mortgageregisters against a European background in order to come to the conclusion that the furtherprocess of computerization of land and mortgage registers should be quickly undertaken forimplementation. This is due to the belief that the stability of land registers in European countriesalso depends on the degree of their computerization and the ability to work using anelectronic procedure, based mainly on the digitization of land and mortgage register recordsand electronic documents.