What does a notary check before you buy a property in Malta?

Dr. Michael LaferlaNotary · Notary, Notarial Council of Malta

ProceduresReviewed: 6 July 2026

The short answer

The notary's most important job is to run the searches — investigating the seller and the previous owners to confirm the property is safe to buy. The notary verifies that the seller is the true owner, that they haven't already sold it to someone else, and that there are no hypothecs, privileges or charges registered against the property in favour of anyone else. In short, that the property carries no legal issues before you commit.

The searches are the heart of the notary's job

As Dr. Laferla puts it, "the most important role of the notary is to vet the searches over the vendors and the prior owners." Before you buy, the notary investigates the property's history and the people who have owned it, working back through the chain of ownership. This is the protective work a notary exists to do.

What the notary is confirming

The searches set out to establish three things:

The seller is the real owner — the person selling genuinely holds title to the property.
It hasn't already been sold — the seller hasn't transferred the same property to a third party.
It's free of charges — there are no hypothecs, privileges or other charges registered in favour of third parties over the property.

In Dr. Laferla's words, the aim is to confirm "that the property has no legal issues."

Why it protects you

This is the work that stands between you and buying a problem. A hypothec or a defective title doesn't disappear when the property changes hands — so confirming there are none, before the final deed, is how the notary protects your money and your ownership.

Sources

Dr. Michael Laferla — Yitaku Asks video (searches over vendors and prior owners; real owner; no hypothecs/privileges/charges)
Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act, Chapter 55 — the notary's duty to investigate and ensure good and valid title
Civil Code of Malta, Chapter 16 — hypothecs and privileges as registered charges over property
Maltese notarial practice — title searches at the Public Registry and Land Registry