Technical issues in Belgium's Ministry of Finance are continuing to drag on, with repercussions for property buyers and those looking to take out loans.
The Notaries Federation, Fednot, warned in November 2023 that technical problems at the federal public finance department were causing delays in some files of property buyers or borrowers.
The glitch in the system is resulting in delays in issuing so-called mortgage statements. This is a procedure that requires notaries to verify whether a property is mortgaged or not, giving the buyer essential information about any charges and debts on the property.
The delay can cause problems. For instance, banks may attach certain conditions to a date. Fednot in November informed banks of the problems through the industry federation Febelfin.
"But this unfortunately also obliges notary offices to delay the execution of certain sale and loan deeds," said Jan Sap, Fednot CEO. "This is to ensure legal certainty of the transaction for citizens." Such delays have become more and more common in recent weeks.
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The problem is still not resolved and there is no clarity on when the issue will be fixed. Fednot wants clarity on the matter, as it is receiving "a lot of legitimate complaints from clients but also from employees of notaries and the notaries themselves".
Sap added that, under the current situation, some notaries are more busy postponing deeds than concluding them. "Their patience is gradually running out and we cannot offer any perspective to the waiting buyer".
Fednot stressed that, if delays are likely to occur, notaries will inform clients.
