Checking who owns a flat before you rent: the Croatian land register and the KPU

What to ask the advertiser for before you check

The public can't search the land register by the owner's name or OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary. Courts and the state attorney may, as may the Ministry of Finance, the Tax Administration and a few other bodies, and lawyers and notaries “neposredno pri obavljanju poslova iz svoje nadležnosti” (directly in the course of their own work). Anyone else may only if a court allows it after they show a likely legal interest (Zakon o zemljišnim knjigama, the Land Registry Act, Art. 28(1)–(3)). Art. 28 gives the public no such right, so be wary of sites offering a free search by name.

So you look a property up by its numbers: you need the “broj katastarske čestice i/ili zemljišnoknjižnog uloška i naziv katastarske općine” (the cadastral plot number and/or the land registry file number, and the name of the cadastral municipality; gov.hr). For a flat in the KPU (see below) you need its sub-folio number (broj poduloška). Ask the advertiser for:

• the name of the cadastral municipality (katastarska općina) the building is in
• the land registry file number (broj zemljišnoknjižnog uloška) or the cadastral plot number (broj katastarske čestice) of the building
• for a flat in the KPU, the sub-folio number
• if someone other than the registered owner signs the lease, the document they act on: the owner's power of attorney or consent to a subletSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary (see below)

The police advise checking ownership in the land register or asking to see the documents: “zatražite uvid u dokumentaciju (vlasnički list, kupoprodajni ugovor)” (ask to see the documents: the ownership sheet, the purchase contract; Bjelovar-Bilogora police, 30 September 2025).

Our advice: don't treat a copy of an ownership sheet or extract that the advertiser sends you as proof. Copy the cadastral municipality and the numbers from it and open the extract yourself, because a copy doesn't show whether the record is still the same today.

If you're shown a possessory sheet (posjedovni list) from the cadastre: where the land register and the cadastre differ, “mjerodavni su za knjižna prava podaci u zemljišnoj knjizi” (the land register's data govern book rights, Art. 11(5)). On our reading, a possessory sheet therefore doesn't prove ownership.

Checking on the Organised Land portal in four steps

“Zemljišna knjiga je javna i može se zahtijevati uvid u zemljišnu knjigu” (the land register is public, and anyone may ask to inspect it; Land Registry Act, Art. 7(1)). You may get an extract for a flat you don't own: “Možete, jer je zemljišna knjiga javna knjiga” (you can, because the land register is a public book), the portal's help says. We don't look anything up for you. You check it yourself, on the state portal Organised Land (Uređena zemlja):

1. 1On the land register review page, pick the court in the “ZK odjel/Općinski sud” field and the cadastral municipality in the “Glavna knjiga” field (for a flat in the KPU: “Knjiga položenih ugovora”). Enter the file or sub-folio number in the “Broj ZK uloška/KPU poduloška” field. According to the portal's help, you can also search by plot number. There's no field for the owner's name.
2. 2Click “Unofficial extract” (“Neslužbeni izvadak” in Croatian). It opens without logging in (checked on 19 October 2026).
3. 3Read sheets A, B and C (see below), and check the extract for pending-application marks (plombe, see below).
4. 4For an official extract, click “Generate extract” (“Izradi izvadak”) and log in with e-Građani. According to the portal's help, you then get it without waiting: “dobijete službeni zemljišnoknjižni izvadak” (you get an official land registry extract).

The portal's search box also takes an address: “Upišite adresu na kojoj je čestica … Rezultati će vas odvesti na područje gdje se nalazi čestica” (enter the address of the plot … the results take you to the area where the plot is). According to the portal's help, selecting the plot then gives you “podatke … o vlasnicima upisanim u zemljišnoj knjizi” (the owners entered in the land register). On our reading, for a block of flats that shows every registered owner, so still ask the advertiser for the numbers and check that the address in sheet A (Land Registry Act, Art. 11(1)) is the flat you viewed.

Land registry extracts “javne su isprave” (are public documents, Art. 8(1)). Of data seen through the ministry's websites, the Act says “takav podatak nema svojstvo javne isprave” (such data isn't a public document, Art. 26(1)). On our reading, that covers the free unofficial extract on the portal. An official extract is issued by “svaki sud neovisno o mjesnoj nadležnosti” (any court, whatever its area), a notary or a lawyer, and you can download one yourself through e-Građani (Art. 27(1)–(3)).

According to the portal's help, “Sudska pristojba za izvadak iz zemljišne knjige … se ne plaća” (no court fee is charged for a land registry extract). What a notary or a lawyer charges for one isn't stated in the sources we read.

The Act presumes that the register “istinito i potpuno odražava činjenično i pravno stanje zemljišta” (truthfully and completely reflects the factual and legal position of the land, Art. 8(2)), and it protects an acquirer (stjecatelj) who relied on the register in good faith (Art. 8(3)–(5)). Whether that protects a tenant is not confirmed: the article names only acquirers and people who registered a right.

Newly established and renewed land registers are the exception. Until the correction period set in the public notice ends, “upisi u zemljišnu knjigu ne smatraju se istinitima i potpunima” (entries in the land register aren't taken to be true and complete, Art. 195(1)).

Sheets A, B and C: what to look at in the extract

A land registry file has three sheets: “posjedovnicu (popisni list, list A), vlastovnicu (vlasnički list, list B) i teretovnicu (teretni list, list C)” (Land Registry Act, Art. 20(1)). gov.hr's English calls them the property register (sheet A), the proprietorship register (sheet B) and the charges register (sheet C).

• The property register (sheet A, posjedovnica) lists the property. If the building has KPU sub-folios, sheet A shows that they exist and their numbers (Art. 21(6)).
• The proprietorship register (sheet B, vlastovnica) shows ownership and the restrictions the owner is personally subject to (Land Registry Act, Art. 22(1)–(2)), such as minority, guardianship or the opening of bankruptcy (gov.hr). Compare the registered owner's name with the ID of the person signing the lease.
• The charges register (sheet C, teretovnica) shows third parties' rights in the property, among them a mortgage, a registered lease, an enforcement note and a ban on encumbrance and sale (Art. 24; gov.hr).

A flat in a building is entered in sheet B as ownership of a separate part, tied to a co-ownership share of the property, and the file carries the mark “Etažno vlasništvo” (ownership of separate units, Art. 23). Shares are written as fractions (Art. 36). On our reading, in the extract of a building with many flats you therefore look for the share tied to the very flat you're renting, and the name entered with it.

There are three kinds of entry: “Knjižni su upisi uknjižba, predbilježba i zabilježba” (Art. 34(1)). An uknjižba is a final entry. A predbilježba (pre-notation) is provisional, “pod uvjetom naknadnog opravdanja” (subject to later justification). A zabilježba (notice) makes certain facts visible (Art. 34(2)–(4)). A notice of dispute (zabilježba spora), for example, shows that a case that could affect the registered right is under way before a court or another authority (Art. 86(1)).

A plomba (pending-application mark) marks an application for an entry that the court has received but not yet decided. It's deleted once the entry is made (Art. 108(1) and (3)). The portal lists them with the file's details under “Aktivne plombe:” (“Active seals:”), with the date and time received and the journal number (Art. 108(1)). On our reading, a plomba means the record may soon change, so ask the advertiser what the application is.

Three things are not confirmed: whether a flat in the main book gets its own sub-folio number, whether the unofficial extract shows the owner's OIBOIB (personal identification number)Croatia's personal identification number, a permanent identifier used in official records. Croatians get it at birth; foreigners when there's a reason to.Source: Porezna uprava: Osobni identifikacijski broj (OIB), checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or address, and what a private person may do with the owner's data from the extract beyond this comparison.

A mortgage in sheet C and your lease

If a mortgage is entered in sheet C and the flat is sold in enforcement, the Enforcement Act (Ovršni zakon) says:

• Leases made and entered in the land register before the mortgage being enforced “ne prestaju prodajom nekretnine” (don't end with the sale of the property), and the buyer becomes the landlord (Enforcement Act, Art. 88).
• Leases not entered “prestaju pravomoćnošću rješenja o dosudi nekretnine kupcu” (end when the decision awarding the property to the buyer becomes final), and the tenant can't claim damages in the enforcement procedure (Art. 88).
• After the sale, the court orders the tenant to hand the flat to the buyer “u roku koji ne može biti kraći od tri mjeseca” (within a period of no less than three months, Art. 130(1)).

If the owner sells the flat themselves after handing it over to you, the buyer takes over your lease: “stjecatelj stupa umjesto najmodavca u prava i obveze iz ugovora o najmu” (the acquirer steps into the landlord's rights and obligations under the lease; Obligations Act, Art. 570(1)).

A lease can be entered in the land register (Land Registry Act, Art. 35(1)). A pre-notation of a lease “dopustit će se samo kad je ispravom dokazano i postojanje prava i volja stranaka da se to pravo upiše” (is allowed only when a document proves both the right and the parties' will to enter it, Art. 63). According to the portal's help, an application for an entry goes through a notary or a lawyer.

Two things are not confirmed: whether a tenant can claim anything from the landlord after an enforcement sale, and what steps and cost registering a lease means for a tenant.

The KPU (knjiga položenih ugovora): flats outside the main book

The knjiga položenih ugovora (KPU), which the portal's English version calls the “Book of Deposited Contracts”, is a separate register for lodging flat sale contracts “u slučajevima kada nekretnina (stambena zgrada na određenoj katastarskoj čestici) nije upisana u zemljišne knjige” (where the property, a residential building on a given plot, isn't entered in the land register; gov.hr's Organised Land brochure).

That the KPU holds flats bought under the former tenancy right (stanarsko pravo) isn't stated in any source we read. The rulebook on linking the two registers covers ownership of separate parts “stečeno po propisima koji su bili na snazi prije stupanja na snagu ZV i ZZK” (acquired under the rules in force before the Ownership Act and the Land Registry Act took effect; rulebook, Art. 1(2)–(3)). According to a 2018 presentation by the head of the Sesvete land registry filing office (HGK), that means before 1 January 1997.

KPU sub-folios belong to the file of the land the building stands on, and in sheet A of that file “učinit će se vidljivim postojanje i broj poduloška” (the sub-folio's existence and number are made visible; Land Registry Act, Arts. 20(2) and 21(6)). Whether sheet A also shows which sub-folio is which flat, we couldn't establish.

On the portal, the KPU uses the same field, “LR form number/BDC subform number” (“Broj ZK uloška/KPU poduloška”), and the unofficial extract works for sub-folios too. You can't search the KPU by plot number: “Kod pretrage knjige položenih ugovora nije moguć unos broja čestice” (a plot number can't be entered when searching the KPU; brochure). Our advice: ask the advertiser for the sub-folio number, and if you only know the plot, ask the land registry court.

No rule we read sets a date when the KPU ends, for Croatia or for Zagreb. On our reading, it closes building by building or cadastral municipality by cadastral municipality:

• Linking the KPU with the land register is a special procedure (Land Registry Act, Art. 98(2)), and until the minister issues new rules, the 2013 rulebook as amended in 2018 applies where it doesn't conflict with the Act (Art. 239).
• Linking goes building by building. The building managerBuilding manager (upravitelj zgrade)simplifiedThe company or registered trader the co-owners choose to run the building. It allocates and collects the reserve fund and organises maintenance and emergency repairs.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 41., 49.–52., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary must start it for all co-owners, and any co-owner may. When it succeeds, the KPU sub-folios are closed with a pointer to the main book file, such as “Preneseno pod Z – … u zk.ul. …” (transferred under case Z … to file …; rulebook, Arts. 1(4), 2(1), 2(3) and 15).
• The KPU also closes when a new land register is opened for a cadastral municipality: “zatvara se cijela ili dio zemljišne knjige, knjige položenih ugovora i kartona zemljišta” (all or part of the land register, the KPU and the land cards are closed; Land Registry Act, Art. 193(4)). In a renewal of the land register, the court moves the KPU entries over itself (2018 amendments to the rulebook, Art. 14.a(1)).

According to the same 2018 presentation, “Određen broj stanova i poslovnih prostora upisan je u obje evidencije” (a number of flats and business premises are entered in both registers), which is why the KPU should be closed. How many such flats there are today, we don't know. Our advice: if the flat is in the KPU, check whether the building also has a file in the main book, and the other way round.

The portal keeps a list of inactive KPU books. Which KPU books for central Zagreb's cadastral municipalities are still active is not confirmed. If your building isn't linked yet, look the flat up in the KPU by its sub-folio number.

If the person letting the flat isn't registered as its owner

A buyer becomes the owner by entry in the land register, with effect from the moment the application reached the court (Zakon o vlasništvu i drugim stvarnim pravima, the Ownership and Other Real Rights Act, Art. 120(1) and (3)). The portal's help puts it plainly: “Ne, vlasništvo se stječe upisom u zemljišnu knjigu” (no, ownership is acquired by entry in the land register). If the building isn't in the land register, ownership passes “polaganjem u sud ovjerovljene isprave sposobne za uknjižbu” (by lodging a certified deed fit for registration with the court, Art. 120(4)); on our reading, that's the KPU. Possible explanations, and what to look at:

• A recent purchase: look for an active plomba in the extract (see above). An application's progress can be followed if you know the name of the land registry court and the Z case number (gov.hr's Organised Land brochure). The police advise asking to see the purchase contract.
• An inheritance: the heir acquires ownership “u času otvaranja nasljedstva” (at the moment the succession opens), without registration, and can have the right entered later (Ownership and Other Real Rights Act, Art. 128(1)–(2); Land Registry Act, Art. 15(3)). Which document to ask to see in that case, we don't know: we didn't read the Inheritance Act.
• Neither owner nor heir: ask on what basis they're letting the flat (a power of attorney, a subletSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or an agency's brokerage). Each case is covered below.

Our advice: until you've seen a document that explains why the owner registered in sheet B isn't the person you're signing with, don't pay a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or any rent.

Several owners: can one co-owner let the flat alone?

If sheet B lists several co-owners of the flat, each with a share, they decide ordinary management by majority: “Većina glasova računa se po suvlasničkim dijelovima, a ne po broju suvlasnika” (the majority is counted by shares, not by the number of co-owners; Ownership and Other Real Rights Act, Art. 40(1)–(2)).

Business beyond ordinary management needs the consent of all co-owners, and the Act lists among it “davanje cijele stvari u zakup ili najam na dulje od jedne godine” (letting the whole thing for more than a year, Art. 41(1)). “U sumnji se smatra da posao premašuje okvir redovitoga upravljanja” (in doubt, a matter is taken to go beyond ordinary management, Art. 41(2)).

Whether a let of a year or less is ordinary management, the Act doesn't say. Only on our reading might a majority of shares then be enough. Our advice: have every co-owner in sheet B sign the lease, or have the one who signs hold the others' written power of attorney.

The building's other flat owners are a separate question. A flat owner exercises their rights “kao da je posebni dio samo njegovo vlasništvo” (as if the separate part were theirs alone, Art. 66(1)–(2)), so on our reading a long-term letLong-term letting (dugoročni najam)simplifiedLetting a flat as someone's home under the Housing Lease Act. It also decides the property-tax exemption: the flat must be let for at least ten months of the year.Source: Zakon o lokalnim porezima (NN 115/16 … 152/24), čl. 27., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary needs no consent from the building's co-owners. The prior written consent of a two-thirds majority of co-owners and of all neighbours whose walls, floors or ceilings border the flat is needed for short-term lettingShort-term letting (kratkoročni najam)simplifiedLetting a flat or part of one as temporary accommodation for less than 30 days, for example to tourists. In a block of flats it needs the co-owners' written consent.Source: Zakon o upravljanju i održavanju zgrada (NN 152/24, 47/26), čl. 4., 34. i 58., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary and for housing more than four adults who aren't related in the direct line or siblings (Act on the Management and Maintenance of Buildings, Arts. 34(1) and 35(1)).

Someone else signs: a power of attorney and the notary

“Ugovor o najmuLease (ugovor o najmu stana)simplifiedThe contract by which a landlord lets a flat to a tenant for rent. It must be in writing; having it certified by a notary isn't compulsory today.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3.–5. i 26., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary nekretnine sklapa se u pisanom obliku” (a lease of real property is made in writing; Obligations Act, Art. 552; Housing Lease Act, Art. 4(2)). The form the law prescribes for a contract also applies to a power of attorney for it, and the power of attorney may be electronic (Obligations Act, Art. 314(1)–(2)). On our reading, a written power of attorney is therefore enough for a lease. No source we read requires it to be certified, and whether a notary or the police would ask for certification is not confirmed.

A contract signed by someone without authority “obvezuje neovlašteno zastupanog samo ako on ugovor naknadno odobri” (binds the person represented only if they approve it afterwards). If the owner doesn't approve it, even within the time you give them, the contract is taken never to have been concluded (Art. 312(1) and (3)).

A general power of attorney covers “samo pravne poslove koji ulaze u redovito poslovanje” (only legal transactions within ordinary business, Art. 315(2)–(3)). Whether letting a flat counts is an open question. Our advice: ask for a power of attorney that expressly covers letting this flat, and compare the grantor's name with the owner in sheet B.

When drawing up a notarial deed, and so when solemnisingSolemnisation (solemnizacija)simplifiedA notary confirms a contract: checks it, explains the consequences and gives it the force of a notarial deed. With an enforcement clause it becomes an enforcement title.Source: Zakon o javnom bilježništvu (NN 78/93 … 57/22), čl. 54. i 59., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary a lease, a notary “mora, ako je to moguće, ispitati da li su stranke sposobne i ovlaštene” (must, if possible, examine whether the parties are capable and authorised; Notaries Act, Arts. 57 and 59(2)). A notary who doubts a party's authority warns the parties, but may still draw up the deed, noting the warning (Art. 34(3)). When only certifying a signature, the notary “nije odgovoran za sadržaj pismena niti je dužan ispitivati da li su sudionici ovlašteni” (isn't responsible for the document's content and needn't examine whether the participants are authorised, Art. 77(4)). The sources we read don't say whether a notary checks the land register, so don't take even a solemnised lease as proof of ownership. Our guide to notarising a lease has more.

A tenant lets it to you: a sublet needs the owner's consent

If a tenant rather than the owner advertises the flat, they may subletSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary it to you only “uz suglasnost najmodavca” (with the landlord's consent; Housing Lease Act, Art. 28(1); Obligations Act, Art. 567(1)). Subletting without it is a ground for ending the main lease (Housing Lease Act, Art. 19(1) point 2), and “Podnajam prestaje u svakom slučaju kad prestane najam” (a sublease ends in any case when the lease ends; Obligations Act, Art. 569).

Our advice: ask for the written consent of the owner registered in sheet B, check when the main lease ends, and compare the landlord named in it with sheet B. Our sublet guide covers the rest.

An agency advertises the flat: what it must have

An agency may not advertise a property “bez prethodno sklopljenog ugovora o posredovanju s vlasnikom nekretnine” (without a brokerage contract signed with the owner beforehand; Real Estate Brokerage Act, Art. 22(2)). A brokerage contract “sklapa se u pisanome obliku i na određeno vrijeme” (is made in writing and for a fixed term), and an agency may not broker without one (Art. 17(2)).

Under the brokerage contract, the agency must “pribaviti i izvršiti uvid u isprave kojima se dokazuje vlasništvo ili drugo stvarno pravo na predmetnoj nekretnini” (obtain and inspect the documents proving ownership or another real right in the property, Art. 24 point 3). It owes this to its client, so to you only if you've signed a brokerage contract with it. The agency must act “s povećanom pažnjom” (with increased care, Art. 21), its fee covers “provjeravanje stanja nekretnina” (checking the state of properties, Art. 20(2)), and its insurance covers damage to the client “ili trećim osobama” (or to third parties, Art. 6).

Whether a renter with no contract can claim damages from an agency whose advertiser wasn't the owner is not confirmed. Our advice: even when an agency advertises the flat, ask for the file or plot number and check the owner yourself. Our agency fee guide covers the fee and the brokerage contract.

If the details don't match

Our advice: if the name in sheet B doesn't match the person you're dealing with, and nothing above explains it (a recent purchase, an inheritance, a power of attorney, a subletSubletting (podnajam)simplifiedWhen the tenant lets the flat, or part of it, to someone else. They need the landlord's consent; subletting without it is a ground for notice.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 19. i 28., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or an agency acting for the owner), don't pay a depositDeposit (polog)simplifiedMoney the tenant pays as security for unpaid rent, bills or damage, and gets back at the end of the lease. The lease sets the amount and when it's returned.Source: Zakon o najmu stanova (NN 91/96 … 105/20), čl. 3. i 17., checked 19 Oct 2026More in the glossary or any rent. The same goes if the numbers you were given lead to another building or another flat.

• Ask for an explanation and the document behind it: a power of attorney, the owner's consent to a sublet, or the purchase contract with an active plomba.
• If the advertiser dodges the question or rushes you, those are warning signs from our rental scams guide. It also has the steps to take if you've already paid.
• Paste the text of an ad you saw elsewhere into Check a listing: it shows the warning signs in the text and how the price compares with similar flats. To practise, try 8 situations from renting a flat.
• When everything matches, sign a written lease before you pay the deposit. Our lease checklist covers what it should say, and our deposit guide covers the deposit.

Frequently asked questions