Mandatory Notary Declarations for Rural Real Estate Buyers Under “Lex Farmer” Proposal

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is advancing a new legislative project requiring real estate buyers to sign a formal notary declaration acknowledging nearby agricultural activities.

New Bureaucracy for Real Estate Purchases

Individuals planning to buy a house or a building plot must prepare for entirely new formalities. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working on a project referred to as “lex farmer”, which imposes an obligation on property buyers to submit a special declaration before a notary. This document aims to pave the way for protecting farmers against lawsuits concerning noise, odors, or machinery work in surrounding fields. However, lawyers and the notary community warn that the amendment will cause considerable confusion, generating additional bureaucracy and costly legal complications.

Government legislative work on the “lex farmer” project assumes a radical change in the real estate market transaction procedure. Anyone buying a house or plot will be required to submit a formal declaration before a notary. In it, the buyer will announce that they are fully aware of agricultural activities being conducted (or potentially being conducted in the future) on neighboring land.

This declaration preemptively assumes the acceptance of typical nuisances associated with the operation of a farm—including the emission of odors, generation of noise, domestic animal sounds, and increased traffic of agricultural machinery, also during nighttime hours. Signing the document will exclude the possibility of later pursuing claims in court under the title of so-called immissions.

Content of the Mandatory Agricultural Declaration

According to the prepared provisions, the declaration submitted at the notary’s office is to contain, among other things, the following wording:

“The buyer declares that they are aware that agricultural activity is conducted or may be conducted on neighboring properties, and therefore ordinary consequences of agricultural activity may occur, in particular noise, odors, increased traffic of vehicles and agricultural machinery, and the performance of field work, which may cause periodic disturbances in the use of the acquired property. The buyer further declares that the above circumstances are known and accepted by them.”

In practice, a signature under such a document will block new rural residents from the possibility of filing complaints about troublesome neighbors with law enforcement agencies or common courts.

Notaries Criticize the Project and Point to Massive Costs

The proposed solutions encounter decisive opposition from the notary community. Experts point out that so far, the role of a notary in a real estate purchase transaction boiled down mainly to verifying the legal status of a specific plot that is the subject of the agreement.

However, the entry into force of the “lex farmer” act in its proposed form will force the necessity of analyzing planning documents and the destination of land for the entire registration precinct, which often covers the area of an entire village. This in turn means a drastic extension of the preparation time for the notarial deed, an increase in the complexity of the procedure, and a significant increase in the costs of legal services for the transaction.

Legal Loopholes and Questionable Effectiveness

Representatives of the legal industry draw attention to a number of interpretive doubts and formal loopholes contained in the project. First of all, one can become the owner of real estate not only through purchase and sale, but also, among others, through inheritance or donation. Therefore, lawyers ask how the regulations will be enforced against heirs who did not submit declarations at the notary’s office.

For people planning to buy real estate in suburban and rural areas, thorough verification of local spatial development plans (MPZP) even before paying a deposit or down payment becomes crucial to avoid later unpleasant surprises when signing the notarial deed.