The municipality has recorded your land as its own: does that settle title?

A municipal ownership record is an official document, but Article 5 of the Municipal Property Act states that it does not itself create ownership. If the municipality has recorded land you claim as yours, the central question is the acquisition basis it relies on and how that relates to your title.

Examine the file, not just the extract

Request the record, earlier records and acquisition documents. Establish whether the municipality recorded your precise parcel or a part with a different historic identifier. Area discrepancies may require survey evidence; a similar address does not establish identity.

Removing an incorrect record

Article 64 provides for the mayor to remove incorrectly recorded property, or property whose recording basis has ceased, from the municipal records. A reasoned request should explain and document the error. This is not a purchase from the municipality and should not be confused with a municipal sale procedure.

A genuine ownership dispute

Where the municipality maintains a competing substantive right, the Act directs the dispute to the courts. The appropriate claim also depends on who controls the property. Administrative correction does not replace litigation where competing titles require determination.

A separate order to recover the property requires its own timely response. Do not assume a dispute over the ownership record automatically suspends every other procedure.