The Nordis Law: what it covers and where it offers no protection
Following the Nordis case, the law limited advance payments for off-plan homes and made registration of promises in the land register mandatory. It is a major step, but it covers only developers: if your advance payment goes to an individual, a plot of land or a rental, you are exactly where you were before. This guide shows both sides: what the law guarantees and what remains your responsibility.
- Law 207/2025 (the “Nordis Law”, in force from 11 December 2025) caps advance payments for off-plan homes: 5% on reservation, 50% in total, into a project-specific account.
- From 8 March 2026, developers' promises to sell are registered in the land register: a double sale becomes visible to anyone who requests a land register extract and knows how to read it.
- The gap in the law: sales between individuals (most of the market), land and rentals remain entirely outside its scope. These are precisely where advance payments were lost in the Ilfov and Cluj cases.
- Where the law does not reach, protection remains conventional: written terms governing the sum, registration of the promise (Article 906 of the Civil Code), and checks on the seller and land register BEFORE payment.
What to decide depending on who is selling
Law 207/2025 protects you only when buying off-plan homes from a developer. The first question before paying a deposit is who the seller is.
Verifi helps you prepare the right questions and identify important warning signs. For complex legal situations, clarify the decision to sign with your notary or lawyer.
The Nordis Law covers just one part of the market
Before relying on the safeguards in the new law, check whether your transaction actually falls within it.
If the seller is not a developer selling off-plan homes, you are outside the law's coverage: protect yourself as though it did not exist.
- 11 Dec. 2025 - entry into force of Law 207/2025 (the “Nordis Law”), for off-plan homes sold by developers (Legea 207/2025)
- max. 5% - advance payment under the reservation contract, which can last no more than 60 days (Legea 207/2025)
- max. 50% - total advance payments the developer can collect before completion, in stages, into a project-specific account (Legea 207/2025)
- 8 Mar. 2026 - from this date, the provisions on pre-division into individual units and cadastral registration apply; developers' promises to sell are registered in the land register (Legea 207/2025)
1. What the Nordis Law is and why it exists
Law 207/2025 is the legislative response to the largest recent property scandal: the Nordis case, in which, according to DIICOT, 850 people paid advance payments or the full price for undelivered flats, with estimated losses of 71-75 million euros. The law was dubbed the “Nordis Law” precisely because it was written to prevent such schemes from recurring among developers. It entered into force on 11 December 2025, while the provisions on cadastral registration and pre-division into individual units apply from 8 March 2026.
The full figures for the 2024-2026 wave of fraud, with sources and procedural stages, are compiled in the Verifi property fraud study: over 1,000 buyers affected and reported minimum losses of almost 80 million euros, as a minimum estimate from public sources.
References: Law 207/2025 (in force from 11 December 2025); Digi24 reports on its entry into force and juridice.ro analyses of the law's provisions. For your specific situation, check the law's exact wording with the notary or a lawyer.
2. What safeguards you receive when buying from a developer
For off-plan homes sold by developers, the law introduces rules that each buyer previously negotiated (or did not negotiate) individually:
Together, the rules target precisely the mechanisms in recent cases: huge advance payments collected without safeguards, money moved between companies and the same flat promised to multiple buyers without any public record.
References: Law 207/2025, presented by Digi24 when it entered into force and analysed on juridice.ro (5% reservation cap, dedicated account, pre-division into individual units from 8 March 2026).
3. The key strength: double sales now show up in the land register
The most underestimated change is not the advance payment cap, but visibility. In schemes such as White Tower or Oxy Residence 2, the same flat could be sold several times because the promises to sell were invisible: privately signed, registered nowhere, with each buyer convinced they were the only one.
From 8 March 2026, when buying from a developer, the chain becomes public: the promise is executed before a notary, entered in the land register, and pre-division into individual units gives each flat its own land register while still under construction. A promise registered for another buyer appears in Part III of the extract, alongside mortgages and prohibitions. In other words: a developer's double sale shows up in the land register, provided you know how to read it.
We explain how to read an extract, part by part, in the guide to the land register extract. To get the official document without travelling, Verifi delivers it by email, with its contents explained, from 60 RON.
4. The gap in the law: individuals, land, rentals
Law 207/2025 applies to professionals selling off-plan homes. That is all. Outside its scope are precisely the segments with the most transactions and the most “small” sums lost:
- Sales between individuals, which account for most of the residential market: existing flats and houses sold by their owners, without advance payment caps, a dedicated account or mandatory registration.
- Land, regardless of the seller: an advance payment for land within the built-up area or agricultural land benefits from none of the new law's safeguards.
- Rentals: rental deposits and advance payments, an entire area of scams involving “owners” who do not own the property, remain outside any new rules.
This is not a theoretical possibility. In Chiajna (Ilfov), 8 buyers paid approximately 330,000 euros for flats presented as unencumbered, although they were mortgaged, already promised or subject to a prohibition on disposal, according to Știrile ProTV; the preliminary contracts were privately signed, precisely the form the new law does not address for non-professional sellers. In Cluj, two young people paid an 80,000 euro advance to an individual seller who changed their mind and relisted the flat at a higher price, according to Ziarul Profit. Both cases, with sources and procedural stages, are in the lost advance payments tracker.
5. How to protect yourself where the law does not reach
Where the law leaves a gap, protection remains conventional, and it works only if it comes before payment:
The rules on advance payments and earnest money, conditions precedent and statutory safeguards (the prospective buyer's statutory mortgage, a judgment taking the place of a contract) are explained step by step in the guide to protecting your advance payment under a preliminary contract.
This guide is for information only and does not replace legal advice. For large sums or unusual situations, discuss the clauses with the notary and a lawyer before transferring money.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Nordis Law protect me if I buy a flat from an individual?
No. Law 207/2025 applies to off-plan homes sold by developers. The sale of an existing flat by an individual, which accounts for most market transactions, remains governed by the general rules of the Civil Code: advance payment caps, a dedicated account and mandatory registration of the promise do not apply.
Does the Nordis Law apply to land or rentals?
No. The law covers homes under construction or off-plan homes sold by professionals. Advance payments for land and rental deposits or advance payments remain outside its scope, even though these are precisely where money is often lost.
How much can I legally pay in advance for an off-plan flat?
Under the reservation contract, a maximum of 5% of the price, with a reservation period of no more than 60 days. Total advance payments collected by the developer before completion are capped at 50% of the price, in stages, and the money is paid into an account dedicated to the project, under Law 207/2025.
How can I see whether a developer's flat has already been promised to someone else?
In the land register. Promises to sell by developers are executed in authentic form, and the notary requests their registration in the land register; from 8 March 2026, pre-division into individual units opens a separate land register for each flat before the block is completed. A promise registered for another buyer appears in Part III of the land register extract.
The seller is an individual and asks for a large advance payment. What should I do?
The new law does not help here, so protection lies in documents and checks: explicitly identify the sum as an advance payment or earnest money, with written refund scenarios; request registration of the promise in the land register (Article 906 of the Civil Code); and check the seller (litigation, insolvency, enforcement) and the property (encumbrances in Part III of the land register) before any payment.