How to Find Out Whether You Own Property in Hungary?

Do you know which property you are looking for?

Start with the information you already have.

A Hungarian land registry number is called a helyrajzi szám, often abbreviated to hrsz. It identifies a property within a municipality.

For an apartment, identifying the building alone may not be enough. You need to establish which separately registered apartment - or other ownership interest - the documents concern.

What is a Hungarian title sheet?

A tulajdoni lap is the land registry record for an individual property. It is often translated into English as a “title sheet” or “land registry extract”.

It helps answer questions such as:

• Is my name registered as an owner?
• Do I own the entire property or only a share?
• How is the property described in the register?
• Are any mortgages, enforcement rights or usufruct rights registered against it?

The title sheet concerns one identified property. It is not a nationwide list of everything owned by a particular person.

This distinction matters if someone offers to obtain a title sheet for you: they first need to know which property to search for.

Can I search for all Hungarian properties registered in my name?

Hungarian legislation provides for a document called a tulajdonosi földkönyv. In this article, we refer to it as a personal property ownership list.

Under section 83 of Hungary’s Land Registration Act, this document contains land registry numbers identified through a search using personal identification details or a personal identifier. By agreement, it may also include the specified title-sheet copies.

The legislation separately provides for individuals to request a list of their properties, including land registry numbers and addresses, through the Digital Citizenship mobile application, known as DÁP.

The existence of these provisions does not mean that a working search facility is already available. At the time of writing, the E-ING ownership-list service has not been activated. You should therefore not assume that signing in will reveal a complete list of your Hungarian properties.

The statutory provisions appear in section 83 of Act C of 2021 on Land Registration.

Why do older guides tell me to apply to the Lechner Knowledge Centre?

Older guidance describes a service through which individuals could request a nationwide search using their personal details. The Lechner Knowledge Centre issued an official certificate reporting the result.

Its August 2024 guidance described applications through e-Papír, by post and in person.

That former application route is no longer available. The old instructions, application fees and menu selections should not be treated as a current guide to obtaining a property ownership list.

If you cannot find the application option described in an older article, this does not necessarily mean that you have selected the wrong menu.

There is also a distinction in the legislation between a search result and an official certificate. Section 83 provides for a certificate on request in the circumstances specified in subsection (3), but expressly excludes that provision where a DÁP search returns no results. An empty DÁP search result would therefore not itself be an official certificate.

What can I do if I do not know the address?

Start by reconstructing the history of the property.

Useful documents may include:

• an old sale or gift agreement;
• an inheritance decision or Hungarian probate document;
• a land registry decision;
• an earlier title sheet;
• correspondence with the lawyer who handled the transaction;
• letters identifying the property or referring to its address.

Keep both the Hungarian originals and any translations. A land registry number may appear in the Hungarian document even if it was omitted from an informal English summary.

Write down what you remember: the approximate year, the town or Budapest district, the parties involved and the name of any lawyer or notary.

If the property still cannot be identified, ask the land registry authority what enquiries or data services are currently available for your circumstances. Legal assistance may also help establish which documents or proceedings could provide the missing information.

There is no basis for promising that an unknown property can always be found through an immediate online name search.

Can a Hungarian lawyer find the property for me?

A lawyer may help review your documents, identify missing information, investigate the legal background of a purchase or inheritance, and interpret the title sheet once the property has been identified.

However, a lawyer’s professional access does not automatically provide an unrestricted nationwide search for every property registered in someone’s name. Nor does it make an inactive service available.

Before instructing anyone, explain whether you need help identifying a property, checking ownership, resolving an inheritance issue or preparing a sale. These are different tasks and may require different steps.

If you live abroad, also explain which documents you hold and whether you have access to Hungarian electronic identification services.

I have found the property. Can I sell it?

Finding your name on a title sheet is an important starting point. Before marketing the property, establish exactly what you own and whether anything needs to be resolved.

For example:

• A co-ownership share: owning part of a property does not mean you can sell the entire property yourself.
• A usufruct right: another person may have a registered right to use the property and receive its benefits.
• A mortgage or enforcement entry: the sale may require arrangements to address the registered burden.
• An unresolved ownership issue: further documents or legal steps may be needed before proceeding.

The property’s practical circumstances matter too. Who has the keys? Is it occupied? Can someone arrange access for a valuation, photographs and viewings?

Clarifying these points early helps avoid advertising a property on terms that cannot be delivered.

Planning to sell a Hungarian property from abroad?

Once the property has been identified, the next step is to understand its legal position, likely market value and practical sale requirements.

At e-ingatlanközvetítők.hu, our lawyer–real estate agent colleagues can help you assess the steps needed to prepare a Hungarian property for sale.

When contacting us, tell us the location, whether you have a title sheet, whether the property is occupied and whether you own it alone or jointly. If you are still trying to identify the property, explain that at the outset so the appropriate next step can be considered.

Contact us about selling your property in Hungary!