Legal Requirements

In order for foreign purchasers to complete a sale, their country of origin must have a reciprocal agreement with Serbia & Montenegro. The selling and buying of properties is without restriction in Montenegro and is regulated by law.  Foreign buyers are legally entitled to own and register in their private names: buildings (apartments, houses, ruins, commercial premises), however the purchase of any bare land requires a foreign buyer to form a Montenegrin Limited company in order to register their ownership.

The legal procedure is as follows:

To complete the purchase of a property and confirm ownership, it is necessary to fulfill two conditions; "justus titulus" legal entitlement to the property, and "modus aquirendi" the registration of the property with the Land Property Registry.

In order to do this a written contract is required which is signed by both the buyer and seller, or authorised representatives to act as signatories (on provision of certified authorisation).  Signatures of both parties or their representatives must be certified by a court in Serbia or Montenegro.

Once the contract is finalised and certified in court then a legal basis of ownership has been established. After the agreed amount of money has exchanged hands the purchase is complete.

Following this the acquired property is valued by a representative from the Inland Revenue Office to determine the value of the property and how much Purchase Tax will be paid. Purchase Tax is set at a rate of 2% of the valuation given by the Inland Revenue Office.

After the payment of Purchase Tax has been made and has been confirmed on the contract with a stamp, the contract needs to be given in evidence to the local Land Property Registry in order to register the property.