We are now in the last step of buying your property long distance. It is evident that you need to do some of the steps on the spot, and this is one of them. This is the step where you will finally become the owner of your property in Mexico. And this happens when you register your property at the Property Public Registry in Mexico. We have already mentioned the Property Public Registry in the previous articles, but let’s go a bit deeper.
What is the Property Public Registry in Mexico?
The Property Public Registry in Mexico is an institution designed to record, by means of registration:
- The titles by which the domain, possession, and other legal rights over real estate are acquired, transmitted, modified, encumbered, or extinguished.
- All documents relating to acts or contracts likely to have any impact in the field of real estate rights.
- The constitution of family assets.
- Private charitable foundations.
- And, in general, the titles that the law orders to be registered.
The public registry provides reliability and legal certainty to have legal effects against third parties and thus safeguard the information of the registries and those who are obliged to respect the rights generated by them. For this instance, a regulatory framework made up of various laws and regulations governs the dependency that concerns us.
This dependency allows us to see the legal status of the ownership and possession of real estate. Also, some legal acts on movable property, limitations, and encumbrances to which both are subject. As well as legal acts on the modification and constitution of commercial and civil associations.
Documentation necessary to register my home or property in the Property Public Registry in Mexico
The first thing you need is to make a request for registration.
Secondly, if your home or property has a previous owner who has already registered the property, you will need the purchase-sales agreement. This is to register the change on ownership and to ensure that all rights and titles are correctly transferred to your name.
Another option is to present the deeds of your property. They must be signed in the presence of a notary public.
Then, you must present a certified copy signed and sealed by your notary public in both cases.
Additional documents that you need to present at the time of registering your property:
1. Non- Encumbrance Certificate
2. Proof of non-debt of the property taxes.
3. Commercial appraisal of the property.
4. Income taxes and taxes on the acquisition of real estate.
5. Payment form of the procedure: this varies according to the type of property you are registering.
6. Official photo ID and copies of it.
7. Appointment for registration: Your legal representative or notary public can schedule this appointment.
Before making the request, you must pay the procedure for submitting your application.
Finally, if there are no inconsistencies in the registry, in 20 to 40 days, you will receive the document that certifies the possession of the property.
Non-Encumbrance Certificate
The Non-Encumbrance Certificate is the certification that the Property Public Registry in Mexico issues, concerning a given asset. It stipulates if the property is free of all encumbrances and limitations. It also indicates a brief history of ownership and sales of the good in question.
Final Note
Before I close this series, let me tell you an anecdote. I’ve been selling real estate for nearly twenty years down in Mexico. I remember going to the Public Registry, where all the documents and copies of the titles were filed physically.
The Public Registry of Cozumel used to hold these documents for many regions of Playa del Carmen real estate. Then they finally moved the Public Registry. They opened up another one to handle the properties of Solidaridad, the municipality of Playa del Carmen.
What was striking about that is that about seven years ago, you would go to the public registry to look up the copy of one of the titles, and it was all done physically. They had these boxes, and they had to look up your national file number for the title.
About five years ago, they started through this extensive process of digitalizing all the documents. Thus, now it is much easier to look up information regarding a property in Playa del Carmen.
I hope this series of articles have cleared all your doubts about buying your property long distance. And remember, at Top Mexico Real Estate, we make it happen.
