The Nordis Law, explained for everyone: what changes when you buy a new apartment

What the Nordis Law is and why it appeared

Law no. 207/2025, known in the public space as the “Nordis Law”, was adopted by Parliament in 2025 to protect buyers of new homes, especially those who purchase “off-plan”, that is, at the project stage or during execution. The direct trigger was the scandals in which buyers paid substantial down payments for apartments that existed only on paper or were sold several times over.

It is the first legislative package that tries to reduce this risk by limiting down payments, requiring certain entries in the land registry and setting clear rules on how the money paid by buyers can be used. The law also amends the framework on construction quality and real estate publicity, in order to create a safer path from reservation to the signing of the final sale contract.

The essence of the Nordis Law: no buyer will any longer pay large amounts for a legally “invisible” apartment, without authorization and without clear traces in the land registry, and down payments are phased, limited and supervised through dedicated bank accounts.

The down payment and the preliminary agreement: how much you can still pay before the building is completed

One of the most important chapters of the Nordis Law concerns the down payments that developers can request when signing promises to sell or buy. According to the analysis published by Digi24, the law limits to a maximum of 5% of the contract value the amount that the developer can collect as a standard down payment at the time of the preliminary agreement, when the construction is not completed.[1]

There are also situations in which the down payment may exceed 5%. According to the same source, the developer can request a higher down payment only if it has an insurance policy or another guarantee mechanism that covers the completion of the project, so that the buyer does not remain with only a promise on paper in case the developer fails.[2]

In addition, the law treats as a “down payment” any amount paid in connection with the future apartment, regardless of whether it is called a reservation, blocking fee or otherwise. The rule prevents developers from bypassing the 5% cap through apparently separate reservation contracts which, in practice, function as a disguised down payment.[3]

Land registry and pre-apartment registration: how you can see the future apartment “on paper” in advance

Another major pillar of the Nordis Law is related to the land registry. Until now, many off-plan projects were sold based on a registered plot of land, but without the future apartments having any clear counterpart in the cadastral records. The buyer practically had nothing to check, apart from the building permit and the promises made in brochures.

The law explicitly introduces the developer’s obligation to register the building permit in the land registry and to open provisional land registry files for each future housing unit, a process called “pre-apartment registration”. Radio România Timișoara explains that the preliminary agreements concerning these units must be noted in the land registry of each “future asset”, which creates a clear legal trail of the promise to sell.[4]

The changes have also been taken over in the technical rules on the land registry. A recent order published in the Official Gazette clarifies that the notation of preliminary agreements concerning units in a construction as a “future asset” is made only in the land registry of the respective unit, based on the pre-apartment/apartment registration deed and on the land registry extracts for the land and the individual units, as applicable.[5]

Specifically, before you pay the down payment for an apartment in a building under construction, you will be able to request a land registry extract not only for the land, but also for the future apartment, where the promise to sell must be recorded. In the absence of this notation, the risk that the same apartment will be promised to several buyers decreases, but does not disappear; however, the developer is no longer complying with the legal framework, which may attract sanctions.

How preliminary agreements and the money paid as down payment are concretely protected

The Nordis Law does not start from scratch, but overlaps with the general rules in the Civil Code on bilateral promises of sale and purchase. AGERPRES recalls, in a guide dedicated to secure transactions, that the promise to contract gives rise to a firm obligation, and if the seller unjustifiably refuses to conclude the final contract, the court may issue a decision that replaces the sale contract.[6]

What the Nordis Law brings new is a closer link between this promise, the land registry and a special regime for the down payment. The normative act provides that the amounts paid by the buyer as down payment under promises to sell or buy are deposited in a bank account opened in the developer’s name, dedicated exclusively to that project. The money can be used only for the development of that project and only on the basis of the site manager’s approval.[7]

In addition, the law makes the use of the down payment conditional on reaching certain physical stages of execution. Specialist legal analyses emphasize that, for example, for the structural part of the construction a certain percentage of the price may be used, and for the installations part another cap, after their completion.[8] The aim is for your down payment to “follow” the actual progress of the construction site, not to be fully spent in the first few months.

Another key element is the treatment of reservations: any amount paid in connection with the future apartment falls under the rules on down payments, must go through the dedicated account and is subject to the same use restrictions.[3]

Sanctions, risks and what you should do as a buyer

The Nordis Law does not stop at theoretical rules but also introduces significant sanctions. Using down payments for purposes other than the development of the project can be punished with proportional fines, including up to 1% of the developer’s turnover, according to analyses published in specialized media.[3]

In practice, however, real protection also depends on the buyer’s vigilance. A few concrete recommendations in light of the new law:

• Check that the building permit exists and is registered in the land registry of the land.
• Request a land registry extract for the future apartment and check that the promise to sell is noted.
• Do not agree to pay more than 5% of the price as a down payment, unless a clear insurance policy or another guarantee mechanism admitted by law is presented to you.
• Make sure that payment is made into the bank account dedicated to the project, expressly mentioned in the preliminary agreement.
• Carefully assess the clauses on delivery deadlines, delay penalties and termination conditions.

Last but not least, the new rules will also affect the market. Recent economic analyses show that limiting the possibility for developers to finance themselves from buyers’ large down payments and the requirement for dedicated accounts may lead to higher financing costs and, implicitly, higher final prices for new homes.[9] For the buyer, this means a balance between a slightly higher price and a significantly higher level of legal safety.

What remains to be clarified and how to prepare for future projects

Even if the Nordis Law marks an important step in the professionalization of the residential market, legal experts point out that some new concepts, such as pre-apartment registration, still require detailed technical rules and better correlation with the rest of the legislation on urban planning and construction.[8]

As a future buyer of an apartment in a new project, your protection strategy should now include at least:

• Reviewing the urban planning documentation and the building permit.
• Carefully checking the entries in the land registry, including for the future asset.
• Analyzing the preliminary agreement together with a lawyer specialized in real estate.
• Monitoring compliance with construction stages before agreeing to any additional payments.

The Nordis Law gives you better tools, but it does not replace your personal due diligence. With careful verification and an understanding of the new rules on down payments, preliminary agreements and the land registry, the risk of repeating the dramatic cases of the past decreases significantly, and the chances that the “off-plan” apartment will become your actual home increase considerably.

Sources

• Digi24 – Parlamentul a adoptat Legea „Nordis”
• Digi24 – Limite stricte pentru avansurile cerute de dezvoltatori
• Lege5 / Legeaz – Legea 207/2025 („Legea Nordis”): reguli noi pentru avans și rezervare
• Radio România Timișoara – Noi reguli pe piața imobiliară. Ce aduce Legea Nordis
• Portal Legislativ – Reglementări ANCPI privind notarea antecontractelor pentru bunuri viitoare
• Lexeto – Analiză juridică Legea nr. 207/2025 (Legea Nordis)
• AGERPRES – Ghidul complet pentru tranzacții și litigii imobiliare sigure
• Economedia – Legea Nordis: cum va influența prețul noilor apartamente