How to buy at an enforcement auction.

Find the property

Bailiffs publish auctions on the Portál dražeb of the Czech Chamber of Bailiffs. From the public lists BidTerra shows on the map the address, the position, the lowest bid, the estimated price, the deposit, the date and the bailiff’s office, with a link to the official page of the auction.

• Filter by region (kraj), municipality, property type and value.
• Prices are in koruna (CZK); the amount in euro is an indicative equivalent at the ECB reference rate, with its date.
• The link on the card leads to the official auction page on the Portál dražeb, where you find the auction notice, the expert report and the photographs.

A property can have several successive auctions: check whether it is a first or a repeated auction (the lowest bid differs). For repeated auctions BidTerra shows their order.

Read the auction notice

The notice states the date, time and place of the auction, the description of the property and its appurtenances, the number of the auction, the final price, the lowest bid, the amount of the deposit and how it is paid, and the rights that are not extinguished by the sale (§ 336b CCP (o. s. ř.)).

• Note the case number and the bailiff’s office details: that is where you get further documents and information about viewings.
• The auction is ordered for a date at least 30 days after the notice is issued (§ 336d CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• The auction may be held at the place of the property, at the court, elsewhere, or electronically on the Portál dražeb or on another portal named in the notice; you find it in the notice and on the auction card (BidTerra shows it as “Where the auction is held”).

Check the land register extract and the encumbrances

Get a current extract from the cadastre (access to the cadastre is public). Find out which pledges, easements, leases and other restrictions burden the property and who uses it.

• Easements, life-long rights of residence, lease, tenancy and pre-emption rights that are listed in the notice are not extinguished by the sale and pass to the buyer (§ 336a, 336b CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• Rights not listed in the notice or not announced by the court after the auction starts generally lapse on the day ownership is acquired, with exceptions such as an easement of residence (§ 336l CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• Find out whether the property is used, and by whom; vacating it can take time and money.

The debtor, the debtor’s spouse, judges and court employees cannot be bidders (§ 336h CCP (o. s. ř.)).

Register on the Portál dražeb

If the auction is held electronically on the Portál dražeb, you must be a verified user of the portal (if it is held on another portal named in the notice, follow that portal’s rules). Registration is free; you fill in a web form (as an individual, a legal person, into the spouses’ joint property or into co-ownership) and verify your identity.

• The printed registration form with an officially certified signature is sent to the portal operator; verification takes some time, so do not leave it to the last moment.
• The form of buyer chosen cannot be changed after the award: the entity named in the registration becomes the owner.
• Sign up for the auction at least a day in advance, so that the auctioneer can check your identity and the receipt of the deposit and admit you as a participant.

The portal’s help explains the procedure and the requirements: How to bid.

Pay the deposit

Only someone who has paid the deposit by the start of the auction can become a bidder, unless the notice says that no deposit is required (§ 336h CCP (o. s. ř.)). The court or the bailiff sets the amount of the deposit according to the circumstances, at most three quarters of the lowest bid (§ 336e CCP (o. s. ř.)).

• The deposit can be paid in cash into the court’s cash desk (if it does not exceed the legal limit for cash payments) or by payment to an account; a payment to an account is taken into account only if it was found to have arrived before the auction started (§ 336e CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• The account number and the variable symbol are in the auction details and in the notice; keep the confirmation of payment and pay well in advance.
• The deposit is credited to the successful bidder’s price; it is returned to the other bidders.

Arrange the financing

The balance of the highest bid is paid within the deadline set in the award order, at most 2 months from its becoming final (§ 336j CCP (o. s. ř.)). A bank needs time and usually a pledge over the property.

• If you want to finance the balance by a loan, the court establishes a pledge over the bought property in favour of the lender if you submit a loan agreement tied to that purpose; the loan must be paid to the court within the legal deadline (§ 336l CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• Ask your bank before the auction whether it finances purchases at auction.
• Allow reserves for renovation, vacating the property and incidental costs.

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Take part in the auction

At an electronic auction you sign up to the auction on the portal, confirm that you have checked your data and, once admitted, make bids. You expressly confirm each bid before sending it and it binds you. The auction lasts as long as bidders make bids, at most until the time stated for the auction and in the notice.

• If a bid is made in the last 5 minutes before the stated end, the end is moved by another 5 minutes from the last bid; this repeats as long as bids are made.
• In the last minutes calls (“Going once”, “Going twice”, “Third time”) are shown, and then the award is made.
• At an auction held on the spot, bids are made in person or through a representative with an officially certified power of attorney; legal persons act through their authorised persons (§ 336h CCP (o. s. ř.)).

The lowest bid at the first and repeated auctions

At the first auction the lowest bid is two thirds of the final price (§ 336e CCP (o. s. ř.)). If not even the lowest bid was made, a further auction is ordered at the request of the enforcing creditor, at the earliest after 3 months: at the second auction the lowest bid is 50 % of the final price, at the third 40 %, at the fourth 30 % and at the fifth 25 % (§ 336m CCP (o. s. ř.)).

• The award is made to whoever made the highest bid (§ 336j CCP (o. s. ř.)); if several bidders made the same highest bid, pre-emption or buy-back rights take precedence, otherwise a draw decides.
• Voluntary auctions are governed by other rules (Act No. 250/2023 Sb. on public auctions; see the box at the top): on the Portál dražeb they are marked as voluntary and these rules do not apply to them.
• If the property cannot be sold even at the fifth hearing, the court discontinues the proceedings.

Balance and deadline for payment

In the award order the court or the bailiff sets the deadline for paying the highest bid, which starts on the day the award becomes final and must not exceed 2 months (§ 336j CCP (o. s. ř.)). You pay the difference between the highest bid and the deposit paid.

• The highest bid can be paid in cash into the court’s cash desk (within the legal limit) or to an account (§ 336l CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• If you do not pay even within the additional deadline (at most 1 month), the award is cancelled and the auction is repeated; you are liable for the costs, the damage and any price difference, and the deposit is used for payment (§ 336m, 336n CCP (o. s. ř.)).
• Within 15 days of the publication of the award order anyone may propose a higher offer: to acquire the property for an amount at least a quarter higher (§ 336ja CCP (o. s. ř.)).

Ownership, cadastre and taking possession

The buyer becomes the owner of the property if the award order has become final and the highest bid has been paid, as of the date the award order was issued (§ 336l CCP (o. s. ř.)). You may take over the property on the day after the highest bid is paid in full, at the earliest after the deadline for a higher offer has passed.

• The right is entered in the cadastre on the basis of the court’s or the bailiff’s decision; check with the cadastral office whether an application is needed and whether a fee is paid.
• In the order the court or the bailiff orders the debtor to vacate the property; if the debtor does not, an application for eviction is needed.
• The real estate acquisition tax was abolished by Act No. 386/2020 Sb., so it is not paid when buying at auction. Any income tax on the sale concerns the seller (the debtor), not the buyer. For new buildings and building land VAT may be charged; the notice says whether the price includes VAT.