The Austrian legislator is moving forward with the digitalisation of the notary's office. From 1 July 2022, it will be possible to have hybrid deeds notarised and to establish hybrid notarial acts. Austria is thus expanding its already leading role in Europe in the digitalisation of the notary's office. The use case with the greatest potential: the certification of pledge deeds when buying real estate.
Hybrid deeds
Hybrid deeds are a mix between analog and digital deeds. A hybrid deed is characterized by the fact that one party signs it digitally (e.g. in an online procedure) and another party signs it in analog form in person at the notary's office. The notarization of such hybrid deeds has not been legally permissible until now.
Change in the legal situation
As of 1 July 2022, a Amendment of the Notarial Code in force. After this amendment, notarization of hybrid deeds will then be permitted. In addition to notarization of hybrid deeds, notarial deeds can also be established in hybrid form. This leads to greater flexibility for the parties. Each party can thus choose the method of execution that it prefers.
Common Usecase: The Deed of Pledge for the Real Estate Loan
A perfectly emerging usecase for this is the notarization of a pledge deed as a hybrid deed. A deed of pledge serves as collateral for a real estate loan by granting a lien on the financed property. This is a standard for every real estate loan in Austria. However, the vast majority of banks have not yet developed processes that allow them to use a digital signature at notaries. In this respect, borrowers could also have the pledge deed notarized online. If you would like to have a pledge deed conveniently notarized online, please feel free to contact us. Our partner notaries will be happy to help you. Here learn more about how online notarisation is handled.
Conclusion
From our point of view, the changes in the legal situation are extremely welcome. By making the possibilities more flexible, online proceedings will become attractive to even more people. It also takes greater account of the individual needs of the parties. Austria thus continues to prove that it has a very modern framework for online visits to notaries.
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