Another “kick” on the free trade has been adopted by the Bulgarian government. As from July 1st 2011 an amendment in the Notatrial Act regulates that property deals worth more than 5000 Euros has to be paid through the notary trust account or dedicated bank account. The full text of the ridiculous Art. 25 is here:

(9) (New - SG. 41 of 2011, in force since 01.07.2011) Upon performing transactions, which set up, transfer, amend or terminate real estate rights, participants in the notary proceedings declare that the amount stated therein is effectively agreed.

(10) (New - SG. 41 of 2011, in force from 01.07.2011) The payments under para 9 in total over 10 000 BGN are made through a special bank account of the notary or bank account chosen by the parties in the bank.

So how come this is bad, someone will ask. Well, the state basically limits the payment options. What if I want to pay cash or what happens if you want to make a property swap? This examples complicates the proceedings and are grounds for  different law interpretations by the different notaries. The result is destructive - no clear regulation and confusion on the property trade market. Lawyers will have to argue with notaries and since we are the ‘weak’ party in the process, the lawyer are forced to accept the notary interpretation. Which is often against common sense…