Ordinance on the Establishment of the Federal Land Register - A. Legal Foundations

1. The establishment of the land register for those municipalities that have been newly surveyed based on the official survey in accordance with Article 950 of the Swiss Civil Code (SCC) of December 10, 1907, shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Articles 942-952 SCC, Articles 38 et seq. of the Final Title to the SCC (FT SCC), the Land Register Ordinance (LRO) of September 23, 2011, the Ordinance on the Management of the Land Register of September 26, 1995, and the following provisions.

1. The creation of the federal land register is based on the cantonal land register, the plans, and the area index of the cadastral survey.

1. The land register administrator begins the establishment of the federal land register for a municipality as soon as its entire area or an individual lot has been newly surveyed and the survey work has been enacted by the government council.

1. For the determination of the legal relationships concerning individual parcels of land, the land registry administrator shall issue a public announcement, calling upon claimants of real rights in land to register these rights with the land registry office within a period of 6 months.

2. The announcement must state

a) that the creation of the federal land registry for the relevant municipality is commencing, and that the land parcels will be included therein with the boundaries and areas as determined by the new survey;

b) that the entries of the cantonal land registry, as far as necessary, will be corrected, but otherwise will be transferred ex officio to the federal land registry;

c)* that real rights not registered in the cantonal land registry, which are not recorded in the federal land registry due to failure to register, can no longer be asserted against bona fide third parties from the time the latter enters into force (Art. 17 ff. and 44 para. 1 of the Transitional Provisions of the Swiss Civil Code, § 396 para. 2 of the decree Remaining Provisions of the Law of 10 December 1911 concerning the Introduction of the Swiss Civil Code of 10 December 1907).

1. The notice shall declare only those real rights as subject to registration which are not recorded in the cantonal land register.

2. The easements that were not registered during the regularization process in the years 1914-1916 are subject to the legal effects of Article 21 of the Transitional Provisions of the Swiss Civil Code and Section 396, Paragraph 2 of the Introductory Act to the Swiss Civil Code, and can only be entered in this process if the burdened party consents.

1. The land register administrator must conduct a substantive preliminary review of the in rem rights registered in the cantonal land register and those registered pursuant to § 4, based on the following considerations

a) Determination of entries in the cantonal land register that have become unnecessary or obviously insignificant, or that are inadmissible according to the provisions of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB);

b) Determination of entries pertaining to legal or neighborhood-related ownership restrictions that do not require registration;

c) Determination of rights that are not registerable according to land register law but are capable of being noted;

d) Determination of note-worthy public-law ownership restrictions (Art. 702 and 962 of the ZGB and cantonal special provisions);

e) Determination of the total value of encumbrances (Art. 783 para. 2 of the ZGB).

1. Property owners shall, as necessary, be personally examined on the matters referred to in § 6; if required, the land registry administrator shall also examine the entitled party or the encumbered party.

2. The examination particularly extends to

a) the statement of position regarding registered claims that have not yet been entered and the rights that have been entered to date;

b) the discrepancy between previous entries and the new survey work;

c) the deletion of non-recordable or obsolete rights.

3. The outcome of the examination shall be documented in the original land register record and signed by the parties involved and the land registry administrator.

1. The Settlement of Property Rights is Conducted According to the Provisions of §§ 9-17.

1. For properties not recorded in the land register, and for those whose owner is not apparent from the land register or where the registered owners in the land register can no longer be determined, the procedure pursuant to Article 662 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) must be carried out.

2. Public properties are excluded (Art. 664 ZGB).

1. If properties are not registered in the current owner's name in the land register, such as in the case of non-registration of the transfer of ownership by inheritance (note of death), the ownership and usufruct rights must be registered ex officio in the federal land register in accordance with the land register law.

1. Real rights established under cantonal law, which can no longer be constituted according to the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), shall be converted, with the consent of the parties, into a form that can be registered under land register law.

2. In the case of condominium ownership, efforts shall be made to ensure that the previous owners are registered as co-owners in proportion to the value of their previous exercise of rights, with the granting of transferable, personal servitudes associated with the individual co-ownership shares.

3. If an agreement cannot be reached between the parties involved for the reorganization of legal relationships in the sense of converting them into a registrable form, the land registrar shall proceed according to Article 45 paragraph 1 of the Transitional Provisions of the Swiss Civil Code.

1. Entries of real rights that have lost all significance, such as outdated laundry house, turf, and well rights, are not to be transferred into the federal land register (Art. 976 and 736 para. 1 CC).

**1.** Should the cantonal land register contain entries of mortgage rights that have become obsolete, such as those where the secured claims have long since ceased to accrue interest, and if the consent required for deletion from the persons entitled by the entry (Article 964 Swiss Civil Code) or their legal successors can no longer be obtained, the land registrar shall ex officio initiate a judicial determination of the extinction of the mortgage right and perform the deletion as directed by the judge.

**2.** If the mortgage document has the nature of a security, the special provisions regarding the cancellation of securities apply (Articles 870 et seq. Swiss Civil Code, Article 24 Transitional Provisions of the Swiss Civil Code).

**3.** In cases involving multiple similar instances, a judicial determination should be sought in a combined procedure.

1. If there is an interest of the entitled party in servitudes that is still present, but of relatively minor significance compared to the burden, the land registry officer should urge for a complete or partial redemption pursuant to Article 736 paragraph 2 of the Swiss Civil Code.

1. An unequivocal version shall be agreed upon for entries whose wording is unclear.

2. Legally incorrect designations shall be corrected.

3. If a previous insufficient entry is newly formulated, the new wording shall be recorded in a written declaration, signed by the parties involved and by the land register administrator.

1. Easements with the same content, basis of origin, and priority that extend over multiple properties, such as rights of way and utility rights, shall be consolidated into a single entry, specifying the various entitled or encumbered properties.

2. In entries on collective sheets, Article 38 of the Land Register Ordinance must also be observed.

1. Waiver of an Existing Right Must be Declared in Writing.

1. The orders of the land registry administrator regarding the exclusion of previous entries and the character of a previous right must be communicated in writing to the entitled party.

2. At the same time, the entitled party must be informed that they can file a complaint with the supervisory authority within 10 days against the order.

3. The type of resolution must be noted in the land registry document.

1. If there exists a dispute among the parties involved in the regularization process concerning the existence, content, scope, and priority of a right, which cannot be settled amicably, the land registry officer shall initiate the judicial resolution of the matter.

2. The land registry officer shall notify the party designated in paragraph 3 by registered mail, granting a period of no more than 2 months to assert their claim in court, warning them of the presumption of waiver of rights in the event of non-compliance.

3. The setting of the deadline applies

a) to the property owner who disputes the existence of a right registered in the cantonal land register or claims the existence of a right that has not been previously registered or differs from the existing entry;

b) to the current right holder if multiple parties seek an amendment without reaching an agreement on the content.

1. The federal land register is enacted upon request of the Department of Finance by the decision of the Executive Council.

1. The property shall receive in the federal land register the same number that it holds in the survey plan.

1. If there are discrepancies regarding the area measurement of individual properties between the entries in the cantonal land register and the measurements determined by the surveying work, the latter shall be recorded in the main register of the federal land register.

1. A reference to the land register document is made using a simple identifier, which, based on the existing retention regulation, enables rapid retrieval.

1. Real rights are assigned the registration date of their initial entry in the journal in the main register (Art. 972 para. 2 CC).

1. The types of pledges under cantonal law must be converted into those under federal law when establishing the federal land register.

2. The old pledge documents are to be nullified.

1. For the transformation, a written application by the property owner is sufficient.

2. Regarding the terms of interest, amortization, and repayment for the mortgage certificate, the parties involved must submit a written declaration.

1. The converted lien retains the rank of the former lien in the land register.

2. On the pledge certificates for debt certificates, the date of re-issuance is to be entered as the date of establishment.

3. In the new certificate, it must be noted which specific mortgage deed it has replaced.

1. The newly issued mortgage certificates must be signed by the debtor of the encumbered property.

1. If several liens are entered on a main ledger sheet, which can be consolidated with the involvement of the parties, the land register administrator shall endeavor to achieve such a consolidation.

1. If a property reallocation was carried out simultaneously with the new survey, the land association must apply to the land registry office for the deletion of the previous ownership status and the registration of the new ownership status that has become legally binding, by submitting the survey documents.

1. Easements, real burdens, pre-notations, and annotations are to be adjusted to reflect the new status.

2. Mortgage rights are to be restructured in accordance with Articles 802-804 of the Civil Code, maintaining the previous ranking and security of the mortgage to the greatest extent possible.

3. The mortgage creditors are to be informed of the restructuring of the mortgage lien, with the indication that it will become legally binding unless an appeal is lodged with the supervisory authority within 10 days from the date of delivery.

1. The lien titles must be demanded for the update of the new possession status (Art. 151 Civil Code).

1. If all principal ledger sheets have been established for a municipality or for a cadastral unit (§ 3), the land registry administrator shall report to the finance department.

2. He proposes the date on which the federal land register for the respective municipality or municipal area shall come into effect.

1. The Executive Council shall, upon the application of the Department of Finance, bring the Federal Land Register into force, subject to any legal disputes pending in court at that time.

1. The decision of the Council of State is to be published in the official gazette of the Canton of Solothurn.

2. This publication must be accompanied by a notice stating that all unregistered, but registrable, real rights cannot be asserted against bona fide third parties from the entry into force of the land register (Art. 44 Para. 1 Final Title Swiss Civil Code).

3. The Federal Department of Justice and Police must be informed of the issuance of this publication.

1. On the day the federal land register comes into force, the cantonal land register shall be closed.

2. It shall subsequently be stored in the archives of the land registry office.

1. Property owners are required to pay the fees stipulated in the fee schedule for the establishment of the federal land register.

2. No fees may be charged for the rectification of real rights (§§ 4 ff.) or for the notarization and registration of legal transactions carried out in the interest of the establishment of the federal land register to which the parties contribute without any legal obligation.

3. In cases of doubt, the government council shall decide.

1. The costs arising from the establishment of the federal land register, insofar as they are not covered by the fees (§ 38), shall be borne equally by the canton and the municipalities.

2. ...

1. This regulation shall enter into force following its approval by the Federal Council upon its announcement in the Official Gazette.

1. Upon the entry into force of this regulation, the provisions of previous cantonal regulations, decisions, and directives that conflict with it are repealed.

2. This regulation particularly repeals the regulation concerning the administration of the Solothurn land register and the operations of the district registries dated December 29, 1911, insofar as it governs land registry administration.