Iceland Land and Property

Iceland

Mortgage Records (Veðmálabækur)
Research use: Records give places of residence, and family relationships, particularly of value before church records.

Record type: Records of property and real estate transactions; the sale, transfer, or leasing of property. In many cases these records give details of family relationships.

Time period: The earliest records date from 1781; most date from the 1820s to present.

Contents: Information regarding real estate conveyances, mortgages, agreements, contracts, etc., which sometimes contain such genealogical data as names of persons, residences, and relationships.

Location: National Archives and local county offices [sýslumaður].

Percentage in Family History Library: 75% up to the cut-off date of 1840; records for 17% Iceland are available up to 1900. For one county the library has records up to 1952. These were filmed at the National Archives in 1953. Additional records have likely been deposited in the National Archives. There may still be quite a few in the local county offices.

Population coverage: 5 to 10%.

Reliability: Very good.

Accessibility: Many records are accessible on microfilm through the Family History Library. Records are also accessible through a researcher or through on-site examination.