How to buy at a bailiff’s auction.

Find the property

Bailiffs publish the auctions in the REPES register of the National Union of Bailiffs. From the public list BidTerra shows on the map the address, the position, the starting price, the deposit, the date and the bailiff’s office, with a link to the official notice.

• Filter by county (județ), locality, property type and value.
• The price is in lei (RON); the amount in euro is an indicative equivalent at the ECB reference rate, with its date.
• The link on the sheet leads to the official page of the notice in REPES, where the documents are too.

A property can have several successive auctions: check whether the lot is at the first, second or third auction (the price differs).

Read the sale notice

The notice contains the enforcement file number, the bailiff, the identification of the property with its cadastral number and land register number, the price at which it was valued, any usufruct, use, habitation or easement rights with which it is sold, and the place and date of the auction (art. 839 CPC).

• Note the file number and the bailiff’s details: that is where you get the documents (land register extract, valuation report).
• The sale date is no earlier than 20 and no later than 40 days after the notice is posted (art. 838 CPC).
• If the notification or publicity deadlines were not respected, the bailiff postpones the sale (art. 845 CPC).

Check the land register and the encumbrances

Ask for a current land register extract at the cadastre office (OCPI/ANCPI). Find out which mortgages, usufructs, easements or notations burden the property and who occupies it.

• Usufruct, use, habitation or easement rights entered after a mortgage may be sold free or burdened; the notice must say which applies (art. 839, 846 CPC).
• The land register number and the cadastral number in the notice describe the property: use them for the extract.
• Check whether the property is occupied and by whom; vacating it can take time and money.

The debtor cannot bid, either in person or through intermediaries (art. 843 CPC).

Lodge the 10 % deposit

Whoever wants to buy must lodge, at the unit provided by law and at the disposal of the bailiff, a deposit of 10 % of the starting price of the auction in question. The purchase offer and the proof of the deposit must be filed at the latest on the day before the auction; on the day of the auction only offers at least equal to the starting price can be filed (art. 844 CPC).

• The deposit is calculated on the starting price of the auction you take part in: at the second auction, 10 % of the 75 % price.
• The deadline is the day before the auction: do not wait for the morning of the auction. Ask the bailiff’s office into which account and in what form it is lodged; keep the proof of payment.
• If you are not awarded the property, the bailiff orders the deposit to be refunded (art. 852 CPC); if you are, it is deducted from the price (art. 850 CPC).

Sort out the financing

The rest of the price is paid within 30 days of the sale at most (art. 850 CPC). A bank needs time and, as a rule, a charge over the property.

• Talk to the bank before the auction and ask whether it finances purchases at auction.
• At the successful bidder’s request and with the parties’ agreement, the bailiff may set payment by instalments (art. 853 CPC).
• Allow reserves for taxes, renovation and any vacating of the property.

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Take part in the auction

The auction is public; it is held at the bailiff’s or the court’s seat, at the place of the property or at another place stated in the notice (art. 842 CPC). It begins with the reading of the notice and the offers received (art. 846 CPC).

• Anyone with full legal capacity may bid; an agent needs a special notarised power of attorney (art. 843 CPC).
• Bring your identity document and the proof of the deposit.
• The bailiff draws up minutes on the conduct and the result of the auction (art. 847 CPC).

The price at the first, second and third auction

The first auction starts at the valuation price. If not even that price is offered, the sale is postponed by 30 days at most; the second auction starts at 75 % of the first price. At the creditor’s request a third may follow, starting at 50 % (art. 846 CPC).

• At the second auction, if the starting price is not reached and there are at least two bidders, the property is sold at the highest price offered, but not below 30 % of the price of the first auction.
• At the third auction, if the starting price is not reached and there are at least two bidders, the property is sold at the highest price offered.
• The sale can take place even if only one person appears and offers the price at which the auction starts.
• Pursuing creditors cannot be awarded the property below 75 % of the starting price of the first auction (art. 843 CPC).

Payment of the price and the deed of adjudication

The successful bidder pays the price at the bailiff’s disposal within 30 days of the sale at most, taking the deposit into account (art. 850 CPC). After full payment (or of the advance, if paying in instalments) the bailiff draws up the deed of adjudication (art. 854 CPC).

• If you do not pay on time, the property is put up for sale again at your expense, and you pay the costs and any price difference; the deposit is retained first (art. 851 CPC).
• One copy of the deed serves as your title of ownership; after handing over the deed the bailiff asks at once, ex officio, for entry in the land register at your expense (art. 856 para. (1) CPC).
• The deed of adjudication takes the place of a contract: you do not need a notary.

Challenge, registration and possession

The auction minutes, which record the award, are noted in the land register, and within one month of that entry they can be challenged by an objection to enforcement (art. 849 CPC). When the deed of adjudication is handed over, the bailiff at once, ex officio, requests the entry of your right in the land register (art. 856 CPC).

• Entry in the land register is at your expense (ANCPI fees, unverified, indicative in the calculator).
• Possession is requested from the bailiff; if the property is occupied, vacating it can take time and money.
• Income tax on the transfer of the property (art. 111 Fiscal Code) is, as a rule, owed by the seller and may be withheld from the price; check with a tax adviser.
• VAT: if the debtor is a taxable person, the sale of a new building or building land may attract VAT of 21 %, possibly with reverse charge (art. 331 Fiscal Code); the bailiff’s notice says whether the price includes VAT.