Real estate agency licensing: Bulgaria

No dedicated real estate brokerage act

Published in:

Instead, the Commerce Act (brokerage, arts. 49–51), the Obligations and Contracts Act and anti-money-laundering rules apply

In force since:

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There is no broker register or chamber. Agencies register as companies or sole traders with the Commercial Register (Registry Agency) and, as obliged entities under the Anti-Money-Laundering Measures Act (ZMIP, art. 4(18)), are supervised by the National Revenue Agency and the Financial Intelligence Directorate.

• Registering a company or sole trader with the Commercial Register (Registry Agency) — the only formal requirement for brokering.
• No mandatory professional exam or agent licence/certificate; there is only a voluntary vocational-education standard for the "broker" occupation (Ordinance No. 1 of 16 February 2024, in force since 1 March 2024), which is not a condition for practising.
• No statutory minimum professional indemnity insurance.
• Agencies are obliged entities under the Anti-Money-Laundering Measures Act (ZMIP, art. 4(18)) when brokering a sale or a lease at €10,000 or more in monthly rent — client identification, beneficial-owner checks, reporting of suspicious transactions.
• Two bills for a dedicated brokerage act (2023 and late 2024) have stalled in parliamentary committee and were not adopted.

Not required by law. Both bills (2023 and 2024/2025) would have made it mandatory, but neither passed — if an agency carries a policy, it does so voluntarily.

• No specific statutory requirements for the content of real-estate agency listings.
• The general ban on misleading advertising under the Consumer Protection Act applies, enforced by the Consumer Protection Commission.

The commission is freely agreed, with no statutory cap. In practice it runs 2–3% of the price from each side (about 3–6% total) on a sale, and typically one month's rent on a lease; it is common to pay half on the preliminary contract and the rest on the main one. Case law (the Supreme Court of Cassation, 2012) treats the brokerage contract as commercial intermediation under the Commerce Act (arts. 49–51) rather than as an ordinary service contract under the Obligations and Contracts Act (art. 280 et seq.).

There are no penalties for "brokering without a licence" because no licence exists. Fines exist under the Anti-Money-Laundering Measures Act for agencies that fail their client-identification and reporting duties, and general sanctions under the Consumer Protection Act for misleading advertising.