Guide Property 20 October 2026 · 6 min read

Your car has a history report. So does the home you're about to buy.

A VIN check tells you what a car's seller didn't mention. A home leaves a paper trail as well, and in Latvia, Poland and Slovenia most of it sits in public registers. Here's what to look up before you sign, and when a detailed report saves you the legwork.

Anna

Vehicle history research

MrVIN the bear holding a magnifying glass up to a block of flats, next to a parked blue car

A home's history is on record. You just need to know which register to ask.

We spend our days pulling up the history behind cars: the mileage readings, the damage records, the auction photos a seller hoped nobody would find. The idea behind it is simple. The seller knows more than you do, and the official records close that gap.

The same is true of the biggest purchase most people ever make. A flat can look spotless at a viewing and still carry a mortgage, a court seizure or a pile of unpaid management bills. None of that shows in the listing photos.

The short version

Every property in Latvia, Poland and Slovenia has an entry in a land register that shows who owns it and what is secured against it.
In Latvia, the buyer of a flat sold after 31 December 2025 can be held liable for the seller's unpaid management, utility and repair fund bills from up to three years back.
In Poland, anyone can read a land and mortgage register online for free if they know its number.
Poland and Slovenia publish what nearby properties actually sold for, which is a better guide than asking prices.
A detailed property report pulls these records into one place, which helps most when you're buying in a country whose registers you don't know.

3 yearsof unpaid flat bills a Latvian buyer can take on

Freeto read a Polish land register online with its number

2007the year Slovenia's public sale price records begin

Skip ahead: what to look for and check a car now

What a history report actually does

A history report doesn't tell you whether to buy. It tells you what's on record, so you can ask the right questions while you still have leverage.

For a car, the key is the 17 character VIN. For a property, it's a register number: the cadastral number in Latvia, the land and mortgage register number in Poland, and the parcel or building number in Slovenia.

Ask the seller or the agent for it before the viewing. A seller who won't share it is telling you something.

What to look for in a property's history

Whatever the country, these are the records that matter before you sign:

Ownership. Who the registered owner is, and whether that matches the person selling to you. Joint owners, heirs and companies all need to agree to a sale.
Mortgages and charges. Loans secured on the property, and how much. A mortgage that isn't cleared when the sale completes stays with the property.
Restrictions. Court seizures, bans on sale, insolvency notes and rights of way that limit what you can do with the property.
The building itself. Floor area, land plot and building data from the cadastre, so you can compare them with the listing.
What similar homes sold for. Real sale prices nearby. Asking prices only tell you what sellers hope to get.
Unpaid bills. Debts to the building manager, the utilities and the repair fund, which in Latvia can now pass to you.

Latvia: check the debts as well as the deed

Latvia's Land Register (Zemesgrāmata) records the owner and the legal basis of ownership, mortgages and pledges, rights of way, insolvency notes and restrictions on sale. Only what is in the register has legal force.

You can search it by cadastral number or address for free. Viewing a property's full entry costs a small fee.

The State Land Service runs the cadastre at kadastrs.lv, with land, building and ownership data. Since October 2025 it also has a map of encumbrances and building ownership for users who sign in.

The bigger change for buyers came on 1 January 2026. Under amendments to the Apartment Property Law, when a flat is sold voluntarily after 31 December 2025, the new owner answers for the seller's unpaid building management costs, utility bills, repair fund contributions and land use fees, plus late payment interest.

The limit is three years: the buyer answers for debts that arose in the three years before the flat changed hands. Anything older stays with the seller.

These debts don't appear in the Land Register. Before you sign, ask the building manager for a statement of what is owed on the flat. The law lets you claim the money back from the seller afterwards unless your contract says otherwise, but chasing it is then up to you.

A clean Land Register entry doesn't mean a flat with no debts. In Latvia, the unpaid bills now follow the keys.

Poland: the land and mortgage register is open to everyone

In Poland, a property's land and mortgage register (księga wieczysta) can be read online for free on the Ministry of Justice site ekw.ms.gov.pl, as long as you have the register number. The online view is for information only.

An official copy ordered online costs PLN 30 for a simple extract, or PLN 75 for a full extract that includes the register's history.

The register has four sections: the property description, the owner, other rights and restrictions such as easements and seizures, and mortgages. Read the last two carefully. That's where a loan secured on the flat or a bailiff's seizure shows up.

Since February 2026, Poland's Register of Real Estate Prices (Rejestr Cen Nieruchomości) is free to use on geoportal.gov.pl. Click a spot on the map and you can see what plots, buildings and flats nearby sold for.

Asking prices on listing sites tell you what sellers hope for. The price register tells you what buyers actually paid.

Slovenia: two registers and a public price map

Slovenia's land register (zemljiška knjiga) shows owners, mortgages and easements. You can search it online through the courts' e-Sodstvo portal by cadastral municipality and parcel or building number. Access is free, but you need to register first.

The Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS) keeps the real estate cadastre and the public records of property sales, which go back to 2007.

Its price viewer shows sales from the current and previous year, with the price, month of sale, property type, floor area and year built. Exact addresses are hidden, but each sale appears as a dot on the map when you zoom in.

Why a detailed report helps

Every register above is public, but using them takes work. Each country has its own portals, its own language and its own reference numbers. Some charge per view, some want you to register first, and none of them explains what the entries mean for your purchase.

That's the gap a detailed property report fills, in the same way a MrVIN report brings a car's records from many countries into one document.

Vericity.ai builds detailed real estate reports for properties in Latvia, Poland and Slovenia. If you're buying in one of those countries, and especially if you don't live there, it's a sensible step before you pay a deposit.

A report doesn't replace a notary or a lawyer. It tells you which questions to put to them.

Other history checks worth a minute

The company you're paying. If a deposit goes to a developer, a builder, an agency or a car dealer, check the business register first. Latvia's Register of Enterprises, Poland's KRS and CEIDG, and Slovenia's AJPES all let you look up a company's status and officers for free.
A van or a motorhome. They carry a 17 character VIN like any car, so you can check their damage and mileage history the same way.

A history report won't find what was never written down. A bill nobody chased or a repair paid in cash leaves no trace. What a report does show you is everything that was recorded, while your money is still in your pocket.

Frequently asked questions

What is a property history report?

A summary of what official registers hold on a property: the owner, mortgages and other charges, restrictions such as court seizures, data about the land and the building, and often what nearby homes sold for. It works like a vehicle history report, with a register number in place of the VIN.

How do I check who owns a property in Latvia?

Search the Land Register (Zemesgrāmata) by cadastral number or address. Searching is free, and viewing the full entry costs a small fee. It shows the owner, mortgages and restrictions, but not unpaid building bills, so ask the building manager for those separately.

Can anyone look at a Polish land and mortgage register?

Yes. If you know the register number, you can read it free of charge at ekw.ms.gov.pl. An official copy ordered online costs PLN 30 for a simple extract or PLN 75 for a full one.

Where can I see what properties sold for in Poland and Slovenia?

In Poland, the Register of Real Estate Prices on geoportal.gov.pl has been free since February 2026. In Slovenia, the price viewer of the Surveying and Mapping Authority shows sales from the current and previous year, with the price, floor area and year built.

Does a VIN check tell me anything about a property?

No. A VIN check covers vehicles only. For a home, use the land register of the country where it stands, or a detailed property report.

Sources

Amendments to the Latvian Apartment Property Law, Article 13.1 and transitional provision 13, likumi.lv
LV portāls, explainer on the principle that the debt follows the flat, 2025
European e-Justice Portal, land registers in Latvia, Poland and Slovenia
gov.pl, extracts and certificates from a land and mortgage register, fees
geoportal.gov.pl, Rejestr Cen Nieruchomości
gov.si, Trg nepremičnin, Slovenian real estate market records
LSM, kadastrs.lv map of building encumbrances and ownership, 9 October 2025