Land title search/real estate

Hello .

My name is Anna. Myself and a few of my friends are thinking to purchase some land in San Rafael de Yuma and looking for an attorney to check on the land’s title to make sure it is clean. We also want to divide the land (it is one piece now) in parcels so each of us is the owner of his/her parcel and at the end to get the titles each parcel in a specific owner s name

Please kindly advise if you can help, what are your fees

Thank you very much in advance

Very best wishes,

Anna

- @rgwsf

Hello good morning and thank you for the priceless cache of information in this thread.  Like Anna, my wife and I have started looking for property in the Dominican Republic however, our case is different from yours. My wife is Dominican and we have quickly found two properties that we LOVE, but none of the sellers have titles to those properties though they have owned them for well over 30 years.

While the properties are quite beautiful and loved dearly we are very concerned about the non-titled issue. Note that the sellers have proof of payment documents and survey plans for the properties.

So, my question is, does anyone in the thread have any knowledge or advice as to how we should proceed or whether it is even REMOTELY possible for us to get any of those properties registered.

Bernard

Don't.  I understand it is a nightmare to figure this out, and the owner's word that they own the property and it is the size they tell you is worthless without the title and Deslinde.  Never ever buy an untitled property.

I would require the current owner to obtain a title and deslinde before you proceed. They will likely need it to sell to anyone, so it's just a matter of time before they have to do it.

my friend told me about  land his cousin bought right by the beach ”  beautiful “  but after she build her new house some guy came by from the gov. office to inform them that they had built their new house on government land and if they wanted they could buy it from the government $$$$$ … apparently they bought the shack that was on the government land , that the gov. had allowed people to use years ago when the poor people didn’t ’ have any money and no place else to live  , my friend said theres property  like that all over the DR … he said the government found it easier to let people squat on the land instead of finding as measures to deal with them , And many years later they (  government ) built apartments and little houses that they gave to the people , that people now try to sell   but they dont own the land …..  careful

You are correct. That is happening pretty frequently in the Dominican Republic. That is why anyone willing and ready to buy a property, no matter how attractive the deal can be, how cheap the property is, or that the seller is a family member, must first verify that the seller has a clean title to the property, and most important, that the seller is the legal owner and has the right to sell the property.

In addition to what happened to your friend, unfortunately, there are plenty of cases where the seller is not the only owner of the property or the seller has no legal authority to sell it but they do it anyway. When something like this happens, the buyer ends up being unable to transfer the title in his/her name because of an opposition filed by the real owners or because there are other legitimate heirs of the property and the buyer ends up losing lots of money, and the property.

Always make sure that before you buy anything you get proof that the title is "clean" and the seller has legal authority to sell the property.

There are several steps to follow and you can do it yourself, but it is recommended to use a knowledgeable attorney who can assist you with the entire process including the revision of the purchase agreement, so you won't end up in a unilateral agreement totally in favor of the seller.

As a buyer, you have the right to receive copies of any legal documents associated with the purchase and have them assessed and explained by a legal professional; and you have the right to verify if the property has any liens or encumbrances on the title, before giving any deposit to reserve the property.

Great info!

The women was able to eventually buy the property , but at first the gov. wanted a real lot of money  but my friend was able to find an attorney  that knew they were trying to get to much money

And fought in court and won

***

I have a copy of the title - is there a way to look up electronically to confirm the location of the parcel #?

    I have a copy of the title - is there a way to look up electronically to confirm the location of the parcel #?
   

    -@jlbrssdr

Yes, I think it is https://servicios.ri.gob.do/ConsultaGeografica

https://www.catastro.gob.do/

https://servicios.ri.gob.do/

@Tippj

This makes alot of sense.

I need to hire someone to locate the actual owner of a piece if land.  Help please!

Welcome to the forums. Would help if you told us where???

@planner. Thank you for reminding me.  Lol. My name is Brenda.  I live in Arizona.  I volunteer in the Dominican Republic, near Barahona.  I just learned the government opened a new land/title office in Azua which is near where I volunteer.  My land was donated 20 years ago to build a school.  We opened the school in Aug 2006.  14 years of administering the school.  Now the community wants to take the land back and sell it to the government.  I need to make sure I have legal standing.  Any tips in dealing with government agencies is greatly appreciated.

My one and only tip, get a very good lawyer. You will need it.

@Pdxariesgirl

Ditto to Planner...this; I would not handle alone without a strong and very reputable Lawyer in the country.