When we refer to a farm we are talking about real estate, for example a house, an apartment or a plot of land. It means that each real estate property is identified with a property number within the Property Registry. Each farm is registered in a folio (page) and a volume (book) and in it you will find all the registry operations that have been worked on it, that is, the description of it, its owners, charges and encumbrances. Owners refer to the owners of the property. Liens refer to the obligations or debts that a property has, such as mortgages, liens, and easements.

In order to search the property registry system, we need the full name (with both surnames) of the main owner. In addition, if you know the property or cadastre number, you can enter it when completing your application, you can also send us the address where the property is located, we will need the complete physical address. If you don't know the address, then at least the town where the property is located.

The Property Registry is a public office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, attached to the Department of Justice, in charge of publicizing transactions related to real estate. It consists of an administrative office, located in the Department of Justice, and 29 offices known as sections, located in 17 locations throughout the island, namely: Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Bayamón, Caguas, Carolina, Fajardo, Guaynabo, Humacao. , Manatí, Mayagüez, Ponce, San Germán, San Juan, San Sebastián and Utuado. Each of these sections is assigned a defined territorial demarcation and is in charge of a Property Registrar, who is responsible for its administration.

The purpose of the Property Registry is to publicize transactions on real estate, such as a house, plot or apartment. Records are kept of the owners of the property and their charges or encumbrances, information that is public for those who are interested in verifying the legal status of the real estate.

The Property Registrar is an experienced lawyer, appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico for a term of 12 years and confirmed by the Senate of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, in charge of a section of the Property Registry, also made up of of Supervisors, Certifiers, Technicians, Clerks and Administrative Assistants. The Registrar is the one who passes judgment on the legality of the legal transaction that contains the document that is presented. This process is known as qualification and is done taking into account the document itself, the history of the farm that arises from the records of the books and the applicable law, thus determining whether or not the registration is appropriate.

1. Submit a certified copy of the document to the Registry. Public deeds certified by a notary, court documents, or administrative certifications from government agencies are generally submitted to the Registry.
2. Pay the corresponding rights. The payment vouchers for each document are set according to the Tariff Law, based on the value of the transaction.
3. ​The presentation can be in person or online. If the presentation is personal, it must be done in the section of the Property Registry that attends the demarcation or municipality where the property is located. In this case, the rights are paid through payment vouchers issued by the Department of the Treasury, which can be purchased at collection offices or through the system of stamps and vouchers of the Department of the Treasury. Filing online is available only to authorized notaries who file through their account in the Karibe system which provides for the payment of fees through the Virtual Collection system of the Department of the Treasury.

1. The registration of a document is voluntary and not mandatory. However, in cases such as mortgages, horizontal property regime, restrictive conditions and surface rights, registration is constitutive, that is, necessary for it to have effects against third parties.

Although in most cases the studies take from 1 to two working days, there are occasions where it can take additional time, this depends on the quality of the registrations as well as their availability.

If even after reading this you have any doubts or questions, you can send us a message through the formulario de Contacto.