Glossary of Portuguese property auction terms

Each term has a one-sentence definition, an explanation, an example and the legal basis with a link to the official source.

Autonomous unit (fração autónoma): A fração autónoma is an independent part of a building under horizontal property, such as a flat, shop or garage, which can have a different owner from the others.
Award (adjudicação): Adjudicação is the decision, taken in the proceedings, to assign the property to whoever made the best bid, once the price is paid and the tax obligations are met.
Base value (valor base): The valor base is the value assigned to the property in the proceedings, from which the lowest acceptable sale price is calculated.
Bid (lanço): A lanço is each price offer made at an auction, higher than the one before.
Bidding (licitação): Licitação is the act of offering a price at an auction in competition with others, with the highest offer winning.
Charges (encargos): Encargos are the obligations and costs attached to a property, such as condominium fees or taxes, and the word is also used together with ónus to mean everything that weighs on the property.
Co-ownership (compropriedade): Compropriedade exists when two or more people own the same property at the same time, each with a share.
Custodian (fiel depositário): The fiel depositário is the person responsible for keeping and looking after the seized property until the sale, and for showing it to anyone who wants to view it.
Debtor (executado): The executado is the person or company against whom the enforcement proceedings run, that is, the debtor whose assets are seized and sold.
Deposit (caução): A caução is a sum or bank guarantee handed in with a bid to show it is serious, and it is lost if the winner fails to pay the price.
Electronic auction (leilão eletrónico): A leilão eletrónico is a sale held online over a limited period, in which bidders raise the price and the highest offer wins.
Enforcement agent (agente de execução): The agente de execução is the professional who runs civil enforcement proceedings: they carry out seizures, decide on and conduct the sale, and issue the transfer title.
Enforcing creditor (exequente): The exequente is the creditor who started the enforcement proceedings to collect a debt through the seizure and sale of the debtor’s assets.
Horizontal property (propriedade horizontal): Propriedade horizontal is the regime in which a building is divided into independent units, each with its own owner, and common parts that belong to all.
IMT (property transfer tax): IMT (Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis) is the tax the buyer pays when acquiring a property, including at auction.
Insolvency (insolvência): Insolvência is the situation of someone who cannot pay debts that have fallen due, and the court proceedings in which their assets are sold to pay creditors.
Insolvency administrator (administrador de insolvência): The administrador de insolvência is the professional appointed by the court to manage and sell the assets of an insolvent person or company and pay creditors from the proceeds.
Insolvency estate (massa insolvente): The massa insolvente is the set of assets belonging to someone declared insolvent, which is used to pay the creditors.
Judicial sale (venda judicial): A venda judicial is the sale of a seized asset in proceedings before a court, in order to pay creditors from the proceeds.
Land registry (registo predial): The registo predial is the public register, kept by the land registry offices, showing who owns each property and which rights and encumbrances exist over it.
Land registry description (descrição predial): The descrição predial is each property’s file at the land registry, with its own number, identifying it physically, economically and for tax purposes.
Lease (arrendamento): Arrendamento is the contract by which the owner of a property lets another person, the tenant, use it for a period of time in exchange for rent.
Lien or encumbrance (ónus): An ónus is a right held by someone else over a property (for example a mortgage, a seizure or a usufruct) that limits what the owner can do with it or secures payment of a debt.
Minimum value (valor mínimo): The valor mínimo is the price from which the property can be sold, which in civil enforcement and on e-Leilões is 85% of the base value.
Mixed property (prédio misto): A prédio misto is a property with a rural part and an urban part where neither can be considered the main one.
Mortgage (hipoteca): A hipoteca is a security registered over a property that gives the creditor the right to be paid out of the value of that property ahead of other creditors.
Opening value (valor de abertura): The valor de abertura is the lowest amount the e-Leilões platform accepts as a bid, and it equals 50% of the property’s base value.
Permanent land registry certificate (certidão permanente): The certidão permanente is the online, always up-to-date version of a property’s land registry entry, showing who the owner is and which encumbrances are registered.
Pre-emption right (direito de preferência): The direito de preferência allows certain people, such as a co-owner or a tenant, to take the property instead of the auction winner by paying the same price.
Private negotiation (negociação particular): Negociação particular is a sale method in which a person appointed in the proceedings looks for a buyer and receives offers directly, without an auction.
Property tax record (caderneta predial): The caderneta predial is the Tax Authority document summarising a property’s tax data: register article, location, areas, use, taxable value and holders.
Redemption right (direito de remição): The direito de remição allows the debtor’s spouse, children or parents to take the property sold by paying the price of the best bid.
Right of habitation (direito de habitação): The direito de habitação is a person’s right to live in a home that belongs to someone else, to the extent of their own and their family’s needs.
Rural property (prédio rústico): A prédio rústico is a plot of land, usually outside built-up areas, used for farming, forestry or livestock, with no economically independent buildings.
Sale notice (edital): The edital is the official notice announcing the sale of a property, with its identification, value, deadlines and the conditions for bidding.
Sealed bid (carta fechada): A sale by carta fechada is a method in which each interested party submits a single secret bid and all bids are opened at the same moment.
Seizure (penhora): A penhora is the seizure of a debtor’s asset in enforcement proceedings so that it can be sold and the money used to pay the debt.
Stamp duty (Imposto do Selo): Imposto do Selo is a tax which, on a property purchase, amounts to 0.8% of the acquisition value and is paid by the buyer together with IMT.
Tax register article (artigo matricial): The artigo matricial is the number under which a property is entered in the Tax Authority’s property register, identifying it for tax purposes.
Tax sale (venda fiscal): A venda fiscal is the sale of assets seized by the Tax Authority in tax enforcement proceedings, to collect tax debts and other debts owed to the State.
Taxable property value (VPT): The valor patrimonial tributário (VPT) is the value the Tax Authority assigns to a property to calculate taxes, and in Tax Authority auctions it is the starting point for the base value.
Transfer title (título de transmissão): The título de transmissão is the document issued in the proceedings proving that the property has passed to the buyer, replacing the notarial deed in an auction purchase.
Undivided share (quota-parte): A quota-parte is the notional fraction (for example a half or a third) that one person holds in a property owned by several, without corresponding to any specific physical part.
Urban property (prédio urbano): A prédio urbano is a building fixed to the ground with the land serving as its grounds and, for tax purposes, any property that is not rural, including building plots.
Use permit (licença de utilização): The licença de utilização is the town council document certifying that a building or unit may be used for a given purpose, such as housing or commerce.
Usufruct (usufruto): Usufruto is the right to use a property that belongs to someone else and keep its income, for a set time or for the holder’s lifetime.
Vacant (devoluto): Devoluto means unoccupied: in listings it indicates a property with nobody living in it, and in tax law it designates an urban property or unit that has been unoccupied for a year.