You are buying membership rights and duties in a housing cooperative, not the apartment itself. The cooperative remains the building’s owner, and you acquire membership carrying the right to use the apartment. The transfer is therefore not entered in the land registry; it takes place through a membership transfer agreement. Unlike an ordinary cooperative, a housing cooperative does not require its board’s consent to the transfer.
The advertisement describes an apartment sale, the price is comparable to apartments owned outright, and the agent assures you it is “the same thing, just cooperative”. Legally, however, this is a very different transaction, taking place outside the land registry and involving different risks.
What are you actually buying?
The cooperative remains the owner of the apartment building. You acquire rights and duties associated with membership in a housing cooperative, carrying the right to use the apartment. Nothing therefore changes on the title sheet, and your name does not appear there.
This has three practical consequences: you pay no administrative registration fee, do not wait for the cadastral department’s decision, and receive no title sheet to present to a bank.
The transfer does not require board approval
For an ordinary cooperative, an agreement transferring membership rights and duties to another person requires the board’s consent, and the statutes may specify grounds preventing transfer (Section 229(1) of the Commercial Code). Housing cooperatives are an exception:
Unofficial English translation:
A transfer by agreement of rights and duties associated with membership in a housing cooperative does not require the board’s consent. Membership rights and duties pass to the transferee in relation to the cooperative upon submission of the membership transfer agreement to the cooperative, or on a later date specified in that agreement.
The same effects arise as soon as the cooperative receives the existing member’s written notice of the membership transfer and the transferee’s written consent.
The transfer therefore takes effect upon submission of the agreement to the cooperative, or on a later date specified in it, rather than upon signing or payment. This is why payment should be linked to the cooperative’s confirmation of receipt of the agreement, not the signing date.
What to ask before signing
- What the cooperative’s statutes say. They define the rights and duties you take over, including use and voting conditions.
- What arrears the member has. You acquire membership encompassing the transferring member’s rights and duties; debts to the cooperative are generally associated with it.
- Whether and when apartments will be transferred into individual ownership. Many cooperatives have begun this process, and it matters whether it happens in a year or never.
- Whether membership is subject to enforcement. Membership rights have economic value and can be affected even though nothing appears on the title sheet.
- How the land beneath the building is dealt with. This matters for a later transfer into individual ownership; see land beneath an apartment building and adjoining land.
The risk that most often proves costly
With an individually owned apartment, you can check the owner, encumbrances and pending-change markers on the title sheet. There is no equivalent public register for a cooperative apartment. Information comes only from the cooperative and the seller, making it easier to conceal a debt, dispute or earlier agreement transferring the same membership.
Checking directly with the cooperative before signing is therefore not a formality, but the only available equivalent of due diligence.
Membership can also end
Membership ends, among other ways, by written agreement, resignation, expulsion or a declaration of bankruptcy over the member’s assets (Section 231(1)). A member may be expelled for repeatedly breaching membership duties despite a warning, or for other important reasons in the statutes. They may appeal to the members’ meeting, and a court will declare the expulsion decision invalid on the member’s application if it conflicts with legislation or the statutes (subsections 3 and 4).
For the buyer, this means the value of what they acquire depends on compliance with duties to the cooperative, rather than an entry in the land registry.
How we can help
We prepare or review the membership rights transfer agreement and link payment conditions to its effects in relation to the cooperative through our cooperative share transfer service. We check the statutes, outstanding liabilities and restrictions on membership, replacing the checks performed for registered apartments through property legal due diligence. If the cooperative transfers apartments into individual ownership, an apartment purchase agreement follows.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 16 August 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
