Liens and charges in a Portuguese judicial sale: what lapses and what stays

Updated on 12 November 2026

Short answer

In a Portuguese enforcement sale, the property passes to the buyer free of mortgages, seizures and other security rights: article 824 of the Civil Code moves those rights to the sale proceeds. The buyer remains bound by rights in rem registered before the earliest seizure or security, such as a usufruct or an easement.

Legal review pending. This guide is general information, not yet reviewed by a lawyer, and does not replace legal advice.

What liens and charges are

Liens () and charges () are other people's rights that weigh on a property and limit what the owner can do with it, or what it is worth. The most common ones at auction are:

a mortgage (): security that entitles the creditor, usually a bank, to be paid from the value of the property ahead of other creditors (Civil Code article 686);
a seizure (): the attachment of the property in a case, so that it can be sold to pay a debt;
a usufruct (): the right to use and fully enjoy someone else's property for a time (article 1439);
a right of habitation (): the right to live in someone else's house (article 1484);
easements (servidões): for example, a neighbour's right of way across the land;
a lease (), which is not a right in rem but affects the use of the property.

Most of these appear in the land registry (), the public register that shows who owns each property and which rights exist over it.

The core rule: article 824 of the Civil Code

Article 824 of the Civil Code has three short rules:

A sale in enforcement transfers to the buyer the rights the debtor () had over the property.
The property passes free of the security rights that burdened it. It also passes free of other rights in rem that were not registered before any attachment, seizure or security. The exception is rights created earlier that are effective against third parties even without registration.
Rights that lapse move to the sale proceeds. The creditor no longer has a right over the property and instead has a right to be paid from the money.

This is why a property carrying a mortgage larger than the price can be bought at auction without the buyer inheriting that debt. The bank is summoned to the case to claim its credit (CPC article 786) and is paid from the price, in the order set in the case.

What lapses and what stays

Right over the property	What happens on sale	Legal basis
Mortgages (voluntary, legal or judicial)	Lapse. The creditor is paid from the proceeds.	Civil Code, 824(2) and (3)
Seizures and attachments, from this or other cases	Lapse.	Civil Code, 824(2)
Usufruct, right of habitation or easement registered before the first seizure, attachment or security	Stay. The buyer must respect them.	Civil Code, 824(2)
Usufruct, right of habitation or easement registered after	Lapse.	Civil Code, 824(2)
Lease	Not treated like the rights above. See its own section.	Civil Code, 819 and 1057
Missing licence, unlicensed works, condition of the property	These are not registry entries to cancel: they stay with the property.	CPC, 833(6); e-Leilões FAQ

"Lapses with the sale" does not mean "does not matter". A usufruct registered before the mortgage stays, and it can keep the buyer out of the house for decades. The date of each entry decides.

Illustrative example

A flat shows the following entries in the land registry, in this order: a usufruct in favour of a person (2005), a mortgage in favour of a bank (2012) and a tax authority seizure (2023).

The mortgage and the seizure lapse with the sale.
The usufruct was registered before both: it stays. The buyer acquires ownership without use (bare ownership, nua-propriedade) until the usufruct ends.

If the order were mortgage (2005), usufruct (2012), seizure (2023), the usufruct would lapse, because it was registered after a security.

Leases are a separate matter

Leases are not listed as "lapses" or "stays" because the answer depends on dates and on the type of proceedings.

Whoever buys a let property becomes, as a rule, the landlord (Civil Code article 1057).
A lease signed after the seizure cannot be relied on against the enforcement (Civil Code article 819).
For insolvency sales, the Supreme Court of Justice has ruled that a lease signed after the mortgage does not lapse (Ruling 2/2021).
An unregistered lease of more than six years is not effective against third parties beyond that period (Land Registry Code, article 5(5)).

The guide Occupied property: what to do after buying covers this in detail.

Debts that are not in the registry

Condominium fees

Condominium charges falling due after the transfer belong to the new owner. For earlier debts, responsibility is, as a rule, determined by when they should have been paid (Civil Code article 1424-A).

Before bidding on a unit (: a flat, shop or garage in a building under horizontal property, ), ask the condominium manager about the fees and whether there are debts or approved works.

Taxes and utilities

Municipal property tax (IMI) is owed by whoever owns the property on 31 December of each year (IMI Code, article 8). For water, electricity and gas, check with each supplier what is needed to open a new contract in your name.

Licences and building works

The e-Leilões platform warns that goods carry no warranty and that properties are not assured to have a use licence, or a licence that matches what actually exists on site (FAQ, questions 4 and 5). For sales by private negotiation (), the law says expressly that legalisation is the buyer's burden (CPC article 833(6)).

This is not a registered lien, but it is a real cost. The town council (câmara municipal) can provide information on a building's planning status.

How to check charges before bidding

Get the land registry certificate. The shows, in date order, the owner, mortgages, seizures and other registered rights. The listing gives the registry description (, the property's number at the registry), which is what you need to order it at Predial Online.
Sort the entries by date. Find the earliest seizure, attachment or security. Any right of use registered before that stays.
Read the listing and the sale notice. On e-Leilões the listing must state "the existence of charges that should not lapse with the sale" and any holders of pre-emption rights known in the case (rules, article 6).
Compare with the tax record. The is the tax authority document showing area, use and the taxable value (). Differences between the tax record, the registry and what exists on site are a sign to clarify.
Ask about anything unclear. The enforcement agent () or the tax office answer questions about the case. A lawyer or solicitor can read the certificate with you.

After the purchase: who cancels the entries?

In civil enforcement, the enforcement agent notifies the registry of the sale and sends the transfer title (). The registry records the purchase and cancels, of its own motion, the entries for rights that have lapsed (CPC article 827(2)).

In a tax sale, lifting the seizure and cancelling lapsed entries is ordered by the tax enforcement body, if the buyer has not already requested it (CPPT article 260).

In both cases, order a fresh certificate a few weeks later and check that the property is in your name and the old entries are gone.

What if an unannounced charge turns up?

The law allows the sale to be annulled in these cases:

Civil enforcement. If, after the sale, a charge or limitation is found that was not taken into account and exceeds normal limits, or an error about the property because it does not match what was advertised, the buyer may ask in the case for annulment and compensation (CPC article 838).
Tax sale. The request must be made within 90 days when it is based on a right in rem that was not taken into account and has not lapsed, or on an error about the object or its qualities (CPPT article 257).

A sale can also be set aside for reasons unrelated to the buyer, for example if the property turns out not to have belonged to the debtor (CPC article 839). In those cases the law provides for the return of the price and expenses.

Insolvency and bank sales

In insolvency (), the sale is run by the insolvency administrator (), preferably by electronic auction (Insolvency Code, article 164). The same article allows, in specific cases, an asset to be sold with a security that remains (paragraph 5). Always check the sale conditions and ask the administrator what lapses.

Properties sold directly by banks are not judicial sales: they are ordinary sales and article 824 does not apply. Check on the registry certificate and with the seller which charges exist and how they are cancelled before the deed.

In short

Mortgages and seizures lapse with an enforcement sale.
Rights of use registered before the first seizure or security stay.
Leases follow their own rules.
Licences, works and condominium debts do not show in the registry and need their own questions.
The land registry certificate, read in date order, answers most doubts.

Leiloeiro listings show the charges mentioned in the sale notice and link to the official listing. See active auctions.