Who pays the notary fees: the seller or the buyer

How is the meeting with the notary going?

The first step to get to the meeting with the notary will be to find the property you want and talk to the owner. Then, depending on the financing method, you will have several options available: 

• If you buy the apartment entirely from your own resources, you can make an appointment with the notary together with the owner. You will submit the documents and sign the sale-purchase contract;
• If the apartment is purchased with the help of a loan, in most cases you will schedule a visit to the notary to sign first < /span>< span style="font-weight: 400;">pre-sale-purchase contract. Who pays the notary fees for the preliminary contract? It depends on the agreement made between the seller and the buyer. There is no rule regarding this aspect. From the moment the credit was granted, the contract can be signed at any time. Speaking of credit, find out what it refers to pre-approve him. 

What documents will be required at the notary

As I said above, at the notary's office, you will be accompanied by the seller, because he will have to present documents certifying his ownership of the property . Property documents mean everything: from the sale and donation contract, to the exchange or heir certificate and title, adjudication act or adjudication decision. 

Along with this act, the owner must provide the following: 

• cadastral file;
• closing of tabulation of the cadastral file;
• latest utility bills and related receipts;
• certificate provided by the association of owners of the building, signed by the administrator and president, certifying the payment of maintenance fees;
• fiscal certificate from the Directorate of Taxes and local taxes for each individual seller;
• energy performance certificate of the building/apartment. 

Of course, as a buyer, you will also have access to extract of land certificate. From there, you can find out all the relevant details related to the property, including about construction and finishes. 

The most important notary fees

We have already established who pays the notary fees when selling a property, so let's see what you have to pay, exactly. Notary fees for a sale-purchase contract include:

• The tabulation fee, paid to the Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising Office. The amount differs depending on the buyer. For natural persons, 0.15% of the sale price will be applied, but not below the amount of 60 lei for each cadastral number or 0.5%, in the case of the legal person, but, again, not below the amount of 60 lei for each cadastral number;
• Notary fee, regulated by the Order of the Minister of Justice and published in the Official Gazette. It contains a fixed part and a percentage part, calculated depending on the sale price. The amounts will be different depending on the sale price and there are several percentages and thresholds. 

How to calculate notary fees

Now that you have found out who pays the notary fees for sale-purchase, but also what they are, you want to find out how much money you will have to take out of your pocket. Although there is a notary fee calculator that will make your work easier, we will also show you what the notary fees are when buying an apartment/house, in what follows. 

The fees for the notary fee will be calculated according to the following formulas: 

• For a property worth between 15,001 and 30,000 lei, the formula is: 330 lei + 1.6% of the amount that exceeds 15,001 lei;
• For a property worth between 30,001 and 60,000 lei, the calculation formula is: 580 lei + 1.3% of the amount that exceeds 30,001 lei;
• For a building worth between 60,001 and 300,000 lei, the calculation formula is: 970 lei + 0.9% of the amount that exceeds 60,0001 lei;
• For a building worth between 300,001 and 600,000 lei, the calculation formula is: 3,130 lei + 0.65% of the amount that exceeds 300,001 lei;
• For a building worth more than 600,001 lei, the calculation formula is 5,080 lei + 0.44% of the amount that exceeds 600,001 lei.

If the chosen Notary Office is a VAT payer, then VAT is applied to the notary fee at the legal rate. The only taxes that are exempt from paying VAT will be the tabulation fees, as they are a state tax.

Both the registration fee and the notary fee will be calculated at the price declared by the parties as the real sale price, except for the case where the sale will be lower than the value of the Notary Grid that was published for the current year. 

In the event that the buyer will benefit from a mortgage for the purchase of the property, the mortgage fees will be different, as in the case of the sale, taking into account the amount of the loan.  

So, the registration fee will be calculated as a fixed amount of 100 RON for each cadastral number, plus 0.1% of the credit. 

Only the buyer pays the notary fees?

Yes and no. Although, in general, the payment of notary fees falls on the buyer, this fact is rather a result of practice, not an obligation. Thus, it is possible that both parties involved in the transaction decide to share the expenses or that they return to the owner. Obviously, the amount paid by the seller to the notary will then be covered by the amount paid for the property. 

What does the seller pay?

The seller undertakes to pay the land deed extract for authentication, and if the sale price exceeds the amount of 450,000 RON, the seller will also pay the income tax from sale, in the amount of 3% of the amount exceeding 450,000 RON. 

When determining the tax, the price of the apartment is taken into account, as well as the period of time during which the property was owned by the current owner. < span style="font-weight: 400;"> 

We hope that now you know who pays the notary fees for the sale of an apartment, why and how they are calculated.