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Preliminary sale agreement template for Latvia

Preliminary agreement to buy real estate, with earnest moneyNekustamā īpašuma pirkuma priekšlīgums ar rokasnaudu

A written agreement in which seller and buyer commit to sign the purchase contract by a set date, at an agreed price and on agreed conditions. The buyer pays earnest money (rokasnauda). The Civil Law decides who keeps it or repays it double if one side fails.

Use it when the parties agree on the property and the price but cannot sign the purchase contract yet, for example while the bank approves a loan, the seller clears a mortgage, or the manager issues a debt statement. If nothing is pending, the parties can sign the purchase contract directly. A preliminary agreement can only oblige the parties to conclude the purchase contract. It does not transfer the property.

Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.

Official model: Zemesgrāmatu nostiprinājuma lūguma formas (forms P1 to P11)

The state publishes the corroboration request forms used after the purchase contract. There is no official model for the preliminary agreement or the purchase contract.

Key facts

Applies to
Whole country
Validity
Valid once it fixes the essential terms of the future contract, here the property and the price (Civil Law art. 1541).
Form
Written, because the purchase contract for real estate must be written (Civil Law art. 1483, point 3).
Buyer at fault
Loses the earnest money and pays any further loss (Civil Law art. 1730).
Seller at fault
Repays the earnest money double and pays any further loss (Civil Law art. 1730).
No fault, or mutual cancellation
The seller returns the earnest money (Civil Law art. 1730).
Agreed right to withdraw
If agreed, the buyer may withdraw by losing the earnest money, the seller by repaying it double (Civil Law art. 1731).
Co-owner pre-emption
Other co-owners can buy a share sold to an outsider first, within 2 months of receiving a copy of the contract (Civil Law art. 1073).
Flat transferred after 31 December 2025
The buyer answers for up to 3 years of unpaid building costs (Dzīvokļa īpašuma likums art. 13.1).
State fee
1.5% of the property value for a natural person, at most 50,000 euros (Cabinet Regulation No. 1250, point 5.1).

The document

Text shown

You sign the Latvian version. The English version helps you understand it. Your answers fill both.

Preliminary agreement to buy real estate, with earnest money

  1. 1.Parties

    1. 1.1

      Place of signature, Date of signature.

    2. 1.2

      Seller's full name, personal code or registration number Seller's personal code or company number, address and email Seller's address and email (hereinafter "the Seller"), of the one part, and Buyer's full name, personal code or personal details Buyer's personal code or passport data, address and email Buyer's address and email (hereinafter "the Buyer"), of the other part, conclude this preliminary agreement (hereinafter "the Agreement").

      Name every owner in the folio as seller. List each buyer and the share each acquires. Without a personal code, give date of birth and passport number.

  2. 2.Subject of the Agreement

    1. 2.1

      The parties undertake to conclude, no later than Deadline to sign the purchase contract, a purchase contract (hereinafter "the Purchase Contract") by which the Seller sells and the Buyer buys the real estate at Address of the property, cadastral number Cadastral number, recorded in Land Register folio, consisting of Composition of the property (hereinafter "the Property"), on the terms set in this Agreement.

      Copy the folio details from zemesgrāmata.lv. Flat: number, area, share of common parts and land. House: land area and buildings with cadastral designations.

  3. 3.Seller's statements

    1. 3.1

      The Seller confirms that the Seller's ownership of the Property is registered in the Land Register, that the Seller is entitled to sell the Property, and that no third party holds rights that could prevent performance of the Purchase Contract.

    2. 3.2

      The Seller confirms that the Property is not mortgaged, encumbered or let, that no prohibition notes are registered against it and that no dispute concerns it, except for the following encumbrances, which the Buyer accepts: Encumbrances the buyer accepts.

      Compare this with Parts II, III and IV of the Land Register folio. If a mortgage exists, keep the next clause.

    3. 3.3

      Optional

      If the Property is mortgaged, the mortgage is cleared from the purchase price by paying the required sum directly to the creditor from the escrow account or the notary's deposit, and the Seller provides the creditor's consent to delete the mortgage.

      Keep it when Part IV of the folio shows a mortgage.

  4. 4.Price

    1. 4.1

      The price of the Property is Price in euros, in figures EUR (Price in words, in Latvian euros). The price includes the buildings, the land and the undivided shares forming part of the Property, and their accessories.

  5. 5.Earnest money

    1. 5.1

      Within Days to pay earnest money after signing days of signing the Agreement, the Buyer pays the Seller earnest money of Earnest money EUR by transfer to account Seller's bank account (IBAN). The earnest money is given within the meaning of Civil Law art. 1725, as proof that the Agreement was concluded and as security for its performance.

    2. 5.2

      When the Purchase Contract is concluded, the earnest money is credited against the price.

  6. 6.Payment of the balance

    1. 6.1

      On the day the Purchase Contract is signed, the Buyer pays the balance of the price into Escrow arrangement for the balance. The sum is released to the Seller after the Buyer's ownership of the Property is registered in the Land Register and any mortgage is deleted.

      Use a bank escrow account (darījuma konts) or a named sworn notary's deposit. Ownership passes only with the Land Register entry (Civil Law art. 994).

  7. 7.Conditions

    1. 7.1

      Optional

      The Buyer pays Loan amount EUR of the price with a loan from a credit institution. If the credit institution refuses the loan by Latest date for the bank's loan decision, although the Buyer applied in good faith, the Buyer may withdraw from the Agreement, and the Seller repays the earnest money in full within 5 working days.

      Delete it only if you pay entirely from your own funds. Keep the bank's refusal letter: it shows the failure was not your fault (Civil Law art. 1730).

    2. 7.2

      By Seller's debt statements due by, the Seller gives the Buyer statements from the building manager, the service providers and the municipality that no debts exist for management, utilities, the reserve fund, the land use payment and real estate tax on the Property. If the statements show debts, the Seller pays them before the Purchase Contract is signed.

      On a flat transferred after 31 December 2025, the buyer answers for up to 3 years of these debts and can claim them back from the seller.

    3. 7.3

      Optional

      If the Seller sells an undivided share, the Seller provides, before the Purchase Contract is signed, the other co-owners' written waiver of their pre-emption right.

      Keep it for a share in co-ownership. Without a waiver, the co-owners have 2 months from receiving a copy of the contract to buy first (Civil Law art. 1073).

  8. 8.Buyer's statement

    1. 8.1

      The Buyer confirms that the bans on acquiring real estate set in the Law on Restricting Transactions that Threaten National Security do not apply to the Buyer.

      Since 3 July 2025 the ban voids acquisitions by Russian or Belarusian citizens and companies, and companies they control. Narrow exceptions exist (art. 2 to 4).

  9. 9.Purchase Contract and Land Register entry

    1. 9.1

      The parties conclude the Purchase Contract in writing, in line with the terms of this Agreement. At the same time, the parties sign a corroboration request to register the Buyer's ownership in the Land Register, and a sworn notary certifies the signatures.

      Land Register Law art. 60 requires a notary or an orphan's court to certify the signatures of private persons on a corroboration request.

    2. 9.2

      The Buyer pays the state fee and the office fee for registering ownership in the Land Register. The parties bear the sworn notary's costs as follows: Who pays the notary's fees. The Seller bears the costs of deleting any mortgage.

  10. 10.Handover

    1. 10.1

      The Seller hands over the Property and the keys to the Buyer on Handover date of property and keys, cleared of the Seller's and other persons' belongings and occupants. The parties record the handover in a handover and acceptance report, with the meter readings.

      Usually set after registration and payment.

    2. 10.2

      Until the handover, the Seller pays all costs linked to the Property, and after the handover, the Buyer pays them.

  11. 11.Failure to perform

    1. 11.1

      If the Purchase Contract is not concluded through the Buyer's fault, the Buyer loses the earnest money. If the Purchase Contract is not concluded through the Seller's fault, the Seller repays the earnest money double to the Buyer within 5 working days. In addition, the party at fault compensates the other party for all losses (Civil Law art. 1730).

    2. 11.2

      If the Purchase Contract is not concluded because the parties so agree, or because its conclusion has become impossible without the Buyer's fault, the Seller repays the earnest money to the Buyer within 5 working days.

  12. 12.Right to withdraw

    1. 12.1

      Optional

      Each party may withdraw from the Agreement by written notice to the other party. If the Buyer withdraws, the Buyer loses the earnest money. If the Seller withdraws, the Seller repays the earnest money double to the Buyer (Civil Law art. 1731).

      Keep it only if both sides want a priced exit. Without it, neither party may walk away, and the other can sue to conclude the Purchase Contract.

  13. 13.Notices and disputes

    1. 13.1

      The parties send notices to the addresses or email addresses stated in the Agreement. A notice is deemed received on the second working day after it is sent to the email address.

    2. 13.2

      The Agreement is governed by the laws of the Republic of Latvia. The parties settle disputes by negotiation and, failing agreement, before a court of the Republic of Latvia.

  14. 14.Signatures

    1. 14.1

      The Agreement is drawn up in two copies in Latvian, one for each party, or signed with a secure electronic signature. Signature of the Seller. Signature of the Buyer.

      Each owner and each buyer signs. If a spouse or co-owner must consent, add that person's signature.

Formalities

  1. Sign it in writing, on paper or with a secure electronic signature (drošs elektroniskais paraksts). Make one copy for each party.
  2. No notary is required, and the agreement is not registered in the Land Register.
  3. Pay the earnest money by bank transfer, so that the date and the amount are proven.
  4. The later purchase contract is also written. A private contract is valid.
  5. Ownership passes only when the Land Register records the buyer. For that, both parties sign a corroboration request (nostiprinājuma lūgums).
  6. A sworn notary certifies the signatures of private persons and can file the request electronically.
  7. On top of the state fee, the buyer pays an office fee.
  8. The Land Register uses the fiscal cadastral value if the contract states a lower value.

Common mistakes

  • Calling the payment "drošības nauda" or "avanss" with no rule for it. Name it rokasnauda and cite Civil Law art. 1725 to 1731, or state your own rule clearly.
  • Paying the full price to the seller before the Land Register records you as owner. Use a bank escrow account or a notary's deposit.
  • Signing without reading the Land Register folio. Mortgages, prohibition notes, registered leases and servitudes pass to you unless the contract deals with them.
  • Forgetting co-owners. If the seller sells only a share, the other co-owners can take your place within 2 months of receiving a copy of the contract.
  • Skipping the debt statement for a flat. Since 2026 the buyer answers for up to 3 years of the seller's unpaid management, utility and reserve fund payments.
  • Buying as a citizen of Russia or Belarus, or a company where their citizens hold 25% or more. Since 3 July 2025 this is void and the Land Register refuses it.
  • Leaving out a loan condition when you need a loan. Without it, the seller can treat a refused loan as your failure to perform and keep the earnest money.

Legal basis

Sources

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