Ordinance on the Adjustment of Rights in Rem and the Introduction of the Federal Land Register (Adjustment Ordinance) (Bereinigungsverordnung) - Purpose

1. The rectification procedure aims to determine the legal relationships concerning all real properties and to establish a land register in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

2. The cantonal land register is to be rectified, and the necessary registers of the federal land register are to be newly created.

1. The Reconciliation of the Cantonal and the Creation of the Federal Land Register is conducted by

a. the Land Register Reconciliation Department;

b. the Reconciliation Commission;

c. the Land Registrar.

2. The Land Register Reconciliation Department is managed by the Head of Land Register Reconciliation.

3. The Secretariat of the Reconciliation Commission is managed by the Land Register Office.

1. The government council supervises the clearing.

2. It determines which municipalities are to be cleared at what time.

1. The Land Register Rectification Department establishes the schedule for rectification and submits the necessary applications to the Government Council.

2. It reports annually to the supervisory authority on the status of the rectification. A copy of the report must also be submitted to the Federal Department of Justice and Police.

1. Prior to the commencement of rectification procedures, a rectification dossier must be prepared by the Land Registry Rectification Department for each property to be rectified. In addition to including the property owner and the property description, all valid entries from the cantonal land registry must be recorded ex officio.

2. The parties' declarations and approvals for deletions must be officially recorded, the decisions and notifications of the Land Registry Rectification Department are to be filed, and the rectification result is to be finally determined.

3. The rectification dossier bears the number of the property.

1. The Land Registry Rectification Department issues a public notice in the Official Gazette for all public and private properties to be recorded in the land register. In this notice, holders of real rights to properties are requested to register these rights with the Land Registry Rectification Department, provided they are not already recorded in the cantonal land register.

1. The registration shall be made using an official form and must include

a. a precise designation and description of the asserted right;

b. the designation of the legal basis on which the individual claim is founded or the indication of when the exercise of the right can be proven;

c. the designation of the encumbered property;

d. for easements and land charges, also the designation of the entitled property or the entitled person;

e. for land charges, the estimated total value;

f. for mortgage rights, the indication of the pledged amount, the debtor, and the creditor.

2. All registrations must be recorded in the consolidation dossier.

1. The existing land register entries and the submitted registrations shall be reviewed by the Land Register Correction Department.

1. The following shall be deleted

a. Entries that have become redundant or legally insignificant (Articles 964, 976, 976a, and 976b of the Civil Code);

b. Rights that are not, or are no longer, eligible for registration or annotation according to the Civil Code; Article 11 paragraph 1 of this Ordinance is reserved;

c. Statutory ownership restrictions that, pursuant to Article 168h of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code, do not require registration;

d. Rights and obligations related to water and wastewater pipelines, as well as regarding pipes and lines for supply and disposal, insofar as these are already covered by the neighbor law provisions according to Articles 684 et seq. of the Civil Code.

1. The following must be determined

a. the total value of the encumbrances (Art. 783 of the Swiss Civil Code). If these can be registered as easements or notations, determining the total value should be waived. Hedge obligations without an agreed total value or corresponding redemption provisions must be deleted;

b. the type of co-ownership and the distribution of shares in joint ownership, as well as the foundational relationship in collective ownership.

1. Existing rights that are not capable of registration but are capable of being annotated must be referred to in the "Annotations" section.

2. Easements and charges previously registered unilaterally as rights are to be temporarily entered in the "Pre-notations" section on both the entitled and the allegedly encumbered land register sheet. The registration only becomes legally binding and can only be carried out under the "Easements and Charges" section once the owner of the encumbered property has given consent or a final court decision is available. If this is not provided within a reasonable period, the pre-notation must be deleted.

3. Entries that are unclear must be entered in an unambiguous form; incomplete entries must be completed.

4. Legal relationships of a proprietary nature established before the correction, such as amendments to statutory ownership restrictions (Art. 680 para. 2 Swiss Civil Code), endowments, charges, etc., must be checked by the Land Register Adjustment Department for compliance with legal forms. Missing legal forms must be supplemented. A subsequent announcement is unnecessary if the requirements for prescription (Art. 661 Swiss Civil Code) are met.

5. If the missing legal form is not supplemented and the requirements for prescription are also not met, the right will not be transferred to the federal land register.

1. The results of the review, the acknowledgment of the registered rights, and the approval of amendments, supplements, rewording, or deletion of previous entries must be documented, and must be signed by the entitled parties or their representatives if deemed necessary by the Land Registry Clearance Department. For the deletion of existing rights and the registration of new encumbrances, signing is indispensable.

2. The protocol regarding the clearance of the property, signed by the involved parties or their representatives and an employee of the Land Registry Clearance Department, shall have the effect of a public document.

1. The parties are obliged to participate in the execution of these settlements personally or through a representative upon invitation.

2. In the event of refusal, an order to that effect shall be issued. It may be accompanied by the threat of penalties provided for in Art. 292 of the Criminal Code.

3. The Land Registry Settlement Department and the Settlement Commission may enlist the assistance of the Land Registry Office and the surveyor in charge of cadastral update.

1. The result of the rectification and the related entries made in the land registry must be communicated to the parties involved in writing. The new land registry entries intended for the owner must be communicated to them at the same time.

1. An objection to the rectification result and the orders made can be lodged in writing and with reasons to the Land Registry Rectification Department within 20 days of delivery.

2. The Land Registry Rectification Department handles the objection. If an agreement is reached, the result must be recorded in the minutes and signed by the parties involved.

3. If no agreement is reached, the objection is to be referred to the Rectification Commission for consideration.

1. The Settlement Commission shall endeavor to reach an amicable settlement. Agreements concluded before the Settlement Commission and signed by the parties shall have the effect of public deeds.

2. The proceedings before the Settlement Commission are free of charge.

1. A disputed right may be secured by a provisional entry (Art. 961 Swiss Civil Code).

1. If no amicable agreement can be reached between the parties before the Settlement Commission regarding the existence, content, scope, or rank of a right, or the overall value of an encumbrance, it must bring about a legal resolution.

2. For this purpose, the president of the Settlement Commission shall set, by registered letter, a period of 20 days for the plaintiff party to pursue the claim through civil litigation, with a warning that failure to do so will be deemed a waiver of the right.

1. The Period for Filing a Lawsuit is Set as Follows

a. for the property owner who disputes the existence, content, scope, or rank of a right recorded in the cantonal land register;

b. for the claimant who alleges the existence of a previously unregistered right or a right that deviates from the previous registration.

1. The judicial authorities shall officially inform the Land Registry Adjustment Department of the filing of a lawsuit in the adjustment procedure and its final resolution.

1. Appeals against orders and other official acts of the Land Registry Rectification Department, as well as the land registry administrator in the rectification procedure, may be lodged with the government council in writing and with reasons given, within 20 days of delivery or knowledge, unless an objection under Article 15 of this ordinance applies.

2. The Land Registry Rectification Department must maintain a special register of appeal cases, in which the resolution is also recorded.

1. If the ownership rights recorded in the land register do not correspond with the actual ownership circumstances, they must be corrected. If the registered owner in the land register cannot be identified, the Land Registry Adjustment Department shall proceed according to Article 666a of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).

2. The involved parties as well as the local municipalities are obligated to participate in the correction of ownership conditions. The Land Registry Adjustment Department shall set an appropriate deadline for them to do so.

3. If the deadline expires without action, the registration will be carried out by the Land Registry Adjustment Department, which must first confirm, in the case of inheritance, that there is no renunciation and no public inventory has been ordered.

1. For properties that have not yet been recorded in the cantonal land register and for properties for which no ownership entry exists, the procedure according to Art. 662 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) must be carried out, provided that they are not public properties according to Art. 664 and 944 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).

1. Rights in rem that were established under cantonal law, which can no longer be constituted according to the Civil Code, must be noted in the land register.

1. The municipal communities are required to submit to the Land Registry Adjustment Department a list of public roads and paths (cantonal roads, municipal roads, public service roads) as well as those private roads and paths accessible to the public.

2. Paths over private property, which may be used by anyone, are to be recorded as a public easement (municipal servitudes) in accordance with Art. 781 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).

1. Easements and real burdens under previous law are to be treated as servitudes or real burdens on land, insofar as the existing land register entry or the act of establishment does not indicate their establishment in favor of a specific person.

1. The landowner, upon request, must provide a list of secured creditors for the purpose of conducting the lien clearance.

1. The holders of lien titles are obligated to submit the requested lien titles to the Land Register Correction Department against a receipt.

1. The pre-existing mortgage rights (Altgülten) must be converted into those of the new law.

2. For the issuance of the new instruments, a pledge agreement in accordance with Art. 799 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) is not necessary.

3. The nominal value of the new instruments should generally be at least CHF 1,000 and divisible by 500.

1. The pledge titles shall, as far as possible, be consolidated and the pledge amounts shall be rounded up or down to whole numbers.

1. The Land Registry Clearance Department is authorized to issue a reissuance of pledge titles under the Civil Code when the titles no longer correspond to the cleared land registry entries or when this is desirable for reasons of clarity, particularly if the negotiability of a title might be impaired.

1. If a demanded title is not submitted and cannot otherwise be obtained, it shall be declared void by the Land Registry Clearance Division at the expense of the creditor or the landowner by applying Article 865 of the Civil Code accordingly.

2. For mortgage titles established after 1912, where the creditor has been unknown for ten years, the Land Registry Clearance Division shall initiate the nullification procedure pursuant to Article 856 of the Civil Code at the expense of the debtor.

1. For legacy charges that have been unclaimed for at least ten years and for which no interest has been demanded during this period, the Land Register Clearance Department, at the expense of the property owner, issues a notice in the official gazette to any potential creditors, inviting them to come forward within a period of six months and assert the claim by producing the pledge title.

2. The notice includes the old and, if different, the new designation of the collateral, the last registered creditor, the date of creation and recordation in the legacy protocol, as well as the current property owner.

3. If no presentation of the pledge titles occurs within the specified period, the Land Register Clearance Department declares them null and void. The entries in the land register and the old legacy protocol will reference the nullification. Lien rights whose titles have been declared null and void will not be transferred to the federal land register.

1. The Executive Council shall have the newly created ledgers and auxiliary registers reviewed by a designated specialist office or expert.

1. The newly established land registers shall be made publicly available for 30 days at the Land Registry Rectification Department, and the publication must be announced in the Official Gazette.

2. The announcement must indicate that any real rights not yet registered can still be filed with the Land Registry Rectification Department during the public consultation period, and that such rights will only have effect against third parties in terms of their existence, content, scope, and rank according to the entry in the land register.

1. During the public display period, any person who can substantiate an interest may file an objection with the Land Registry Rectification Department, asserting that transfers from the cantonal land register or the rectification protocol have been carried out inaccurately or incompletely.

2. For the objection procedure, Articles 16 et seq. of this regulation apply mutatis mutandis.

1. The Department of Economic Affairs establishes the date of entry into force of the federal land register for the affected properties after the completion of the rectification process and the public disclosure.

2. It publishes its decision in the Official Gazette and notifies the Federal Department of Justice and Police and the municipal council thereof.

1. On the day of the implementation of the federal land register, the cantonal land register, the old liabilities protocol, and the adjustment dossiers are to be closed and archived.

1. Upon the expiry of two years from the date of implementation of the land register for the affected properties, all real rights that are not yet registered, but are subject to registration, shall be extinguished, provided that they are not submitted for registration in the land register during this period, subject to Article 44 paragraph 1 of the Transitional Provisions of the Swiss Civil Code.

2. The Department of Economic Affairs must specify in its announcement the date from which this forfeiture period begins to run and must warn of the consequences of non-compliance.

1. The establishment of the land register is carried out in accordance with Articles 942 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code and Articles 38 et seq. of the Final Title of the Swiss Civil Code, in compliance with the provisions of the Federal Ordinance on the Land Register as well as the following provisions.

1. In the land register sheet, a reference must be made to the previous number of the cantonal land register.

1. The main register sheets to be created for the railway properties, which are directly used for railway operations (operational properties), shall be marked with the designation "Railway Property."

2. The section "Real Estate Liens" shall be locked.

1. The costs of the rectification procedure and the establishment of the federal land register shall be borne by the Canton. In special cases, the costs may be imposed on the landowner.

2. For land register transactions that arise in the context of the rectification but are not directly related to it, the ordinary land register fees are to be paid.

1. Until the federal land register comes into effect, the previous cantonal land register shall continue.

2. In addition, all legal changes that occur must be recorded in the adjustment books, as necessary.

3. Once a property is reconciled, any future transfer of ownership or creation of a mortgage must be based on the description of the surveying work and the result of the reconciliation process.

1. The land registry office must provide the documents required for the updating of the survey records to the cadastral surveyor for review during the land consolidation process.

1. The Government Council shall issue the implementing provisions necessary for the execution of this ordinance.