Favourable settlements in cases concerning payment of annual fees for perpetual usufruct

The Law Firm’s lawyers represented the Client in two court cases in which the Municipality demanded that the Client pay annual fees for perpetual usufruct of a building.

The dispute was related to the fact that the Client had previously entered into an agreement under which the client acquired, for consideration, the right of perpetual usufruct together with the right of separate ownership of the building located on the plot. On the date of conclusion of this agreement, the land and mortgage register kept for the property indicated that the building erected on the land was the separate property of the perpetual usufruct. However, this was due to an error made during the migration of the land and mortgage register to the electronic system, which resulted in the status revealed in the land and mortgage register did not correspond with the actual legal situation.

The subject of the agreement concluded with the first holder of perpetual usufruct was the transfer of perpetual usufruct not only of the land, but also of the building located on it. Under the legal regime in force at the time, it was possible to specify in the agreement establishing perpetual usufruct that the building located on the land remained part of the land property, and thus such a building (like the land itself) could be the subject of perpetual usufruct.

The above was the subject of other court proceedings in which the Client demanded reconciliation of the content of the land and mortgage register with the actual legal status, citing, among other things, the public credibility of the land and mortgage register.

In a situation where the Client obtained a favourable ruling in the above case, in disputes in which the Client was represented by the Law Firm’s attorneys and legal advisors, the municipality proposed settlements aimed at concluding these cases.

In such circumstances, the cases were concluded quickly and on terms favourable to the Client.