DOING BUSINESS 2009 - JOHN J. HADDAD, Ph.D.

REGISTERING PROPERTY 25Table 5.2Reducing the cost to register property—the most popular reform feature in 2007/08Reduced taxes or feesCombined and reduced proceduresComputerized proceduresSped procedures in the registryIntroduced time limitsIntroduced fast-track proceduresAllowed private valuers to complete valuationsSource: Doing Business database.and Rwanda reduced registration fees.Madagascar eliminated the stamp duty.Belarus was the top reformer inproperty registration. The governmenthad initiated the creation of a one-stopshop in March 2004. In early 2006 thelegal changes necessary for the one-stopshop to become operational took effect.To complete its implementationand to address remaining bottlenecksat the Land Registry, the governmentlaunched a broad administrative simplificationprogram in November 2007. Theprogram introduced strict time limits,computerized the registry and digitizedproperty records. The government’s ambitiousreform agenda paid off: the timeto register property in Minsk fell from231 days to 21. Belarus now ranks amongthe top 25 economies on the ease of registeringproperty.“Comparing the registry a few yearsBurkina Faso, Republic of Congo, DominicanRepublic, Jamaica, Madagascar, Rwanda, Serbia,ThailandAzerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia,Lithuania, MauritiusBelarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia,Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, ZambiaBangladesh, Egypt, former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia, Madagascar, Sierra LeoneBelarus, Egypt, SenegalAzerbaijan, HungaryRepublic of Congoback and today is like night and day.From waiting in long lines taking upto a few months, we went to a modern,efficient one-stop shop. They even havea webcam in the one-stop shop to checkthe waiting line,” says Alexander, a seasonedentrepreneur in Minsk.Rwanda was the runner-up reformer.A presidential decree in January 2008 replaceda 6% registration fee with a flatrate of 20,000 Rwanda francs (about $34),regardless of the property value. Before,the 6% registration fee applied to everyproperty transaction, and the RwandaRevenue Authority had to value the property,which took 35 days on average. Registeringproperty in Kigali now requiresonly 4 procedures and less than 1% of theproperty value (figure 5.3). Yet with theprocess still taking almost a year on average,there is room for improvement.Eastern Europe and Central Asiahad the most reforms in property registration.Azerbaijan introduced a one-stopshop and gave the State Registry of RealEstate sole responsibility for all propertyregistrations in the country. That requiredamending the civil code in April2006. Before, entrepreneurs had to registerland and buildings separately. Thismeant going through 7 lengthy procedures,including getting clearances from2 agencies and an updated inventory filefrom the Bureau of Technical Inventorylisting the property’s boundaries andtechnical features. Those requirementsare gone. With the new option of expediting2 of the 4 remaining procedures,it is now possible to register property inonly 11 days.Kazakhstan followed a similar path.By launching public service centers—local one-stop shops—Kazakhstan simplifiedproperty registration in its majorcities. Georgia, a repeat reformer for 4years in a row, launched an electronicdatabase. Registrars can now obtain abusiness registry extract, nonencumbrancecertificate and cadastral sketchonline. Before, these documents couldbe obtained only by visiting several differentagencies.Bosnia and Herzegovina was anothernotable reformer. The time neededto register a title in Sarajevo fell by 203days, from 331 to 128. Once the registryis fully computerized (80% of its fileswere as of mid-2008), the time is expectedto drop even more. The formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia spedTable 5.3Who regulates property registration the least—and who the most?Procedures (number) Time (days) Cost (% of property value)Fewest Most Fastest Slowest Least MostNorway 1 Greece 11 New Zealand 2 Bangladesh 245 Saudi Arabia 0.00 Congo, Rep. 16.48Sweden 1 Swaziland 11 Saudi Arabia 2 Afghanistan 250 Bhutan 0.01 Cameroon 17.79Bahrain 2 Eritrea 12 Sweden 2 Togo 295 Georgia 0.03 Central African Republic 18.55Georgia 2 Uzbekistan 12 Thailand 2 Solomon Islands 297 Belarus 0.04 Mali 20.31Lithuania 2 Ethiopia 13 Georgia 3 Rwanda 315 Slovakia 0.05 Senegal 20.61Netherlands 2 Liberia 13 Lithuania 3 Angola 334 Kiribati 0.06 Comoros 20.82New Zealand 2 Uganda 13 Norway 3 Gambia, The 371 Kazakhstan 0.08 Nigeria 21.93Oman 2 Algeria 14 Armenia 4 Slovenia 391 New Zealand 0.09 Chad 22.72Saudi Arabia 2 Brazil 14 Iceland 4 Haiti 405 Russian Federation 0.20 Zimbabwe 25.01Thailand 2 Nigeria 14 Australia 5 Kiribati 513 Qatar 0.25 Syria 28.05Source: Doing Business database.(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank