As a rule, the property document is the sale that the Registro Público (public registry) recorded and returned to the buyer with a registration note at the foot (article 1.927 of the Código Civil). Reading it in parts tells you what the person who signed it bought and helps you spot problems before buying from them.
Abbreviations: CC (Código Civil, the Civil Code, of 1982), LRN (Ley de Registros y Notarías, the Registries and Notaries Law, of 2021) and LPH (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, the condominium law, of 1983).
The parts of the document in a table
| Part | What it says | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Registration details | Office, date and, in the protocolo (register book) system, number, tomo (volume), protocolo and quarter; with folio real (property record), the folio real number (each property also has a matrícula, or registration number) | That the office is the one for the property's location (CC 1.915) and that the details match the certificación de gravámenes (lien certificate) |
| Parties | Identification of seller and buyer, or of their representatives (LRN 48; CC 1.913) | That the seller is the person who bought in the previous title; marital status and the spouse's consent (CC 168) |
| Description and linderos (boundaries) | Location, boundaries and, in recent documents, the cadastral code (CC 1.914; LRN 48) | That they match the property you visited and the ficha catastral (cadastral record) |
| Area and condominium percentage | Area; in an apartment, its percentage and the details of the documento de condominio (condominium deed) (LPH 33) | Whether the price was set per meter or as a cuerpo cierto (a specific property sold as a whole); the percentage against the documento de condominio |
| Price and form of payment | Amount and how it was paid | If a balance remains outstanding, the seller has a hipoteca legal (statutory mortgage) (CC 1.885) |
| Tradición (prior title) | How the seller acquired the property and the details of that previous title | Ask for that document and follow the chain backward |
| Notas marginales (marginal notes) | Notes in the margin: attachments, lawsuits, assignments, extinctions | See them at the Registro, not only in your copy |
| Visado (lawyer's sign-off) | Name of the lawyer who drafted and signed off (LRN 23) | That it exists; it does not prove that the sale is valid |
Registration details: protocolo or folio real
The registration note goes at the end of the document. It states the number of the protocolo and that of the instrument (CC 1.927); the registrar records the registration details when returning the document (LRN 39). In documents under the protocolo system those details read like this, according to an example cited in a 2014 ruling published on vLex (secondary source): "No. 41, Tomo 28, Tercer Trimestre del año 92, Protocolo Primero" (No. 41, Volume 28, Third Quarter of the year 92, First Protocolo), with the name of the office.
The LRN requires using the folio real where there is a cadastral survey: the entries are kept by property, not by owner, and the note states the folio real number (art. 35). Each property receives a consecutive matrícula that is not reused while its entry remains in force (arts. 36 and 37). Where there is no cadastre, the folio personal (owner-based record) continues to be used (art. 35).
With those details you request the certificación de gravámenes and the copia certificada (certified copy) of the document.
Who sells and who signs
The CC requires the name, surname, age, profession and domicile of the parties (art. 1.913) and the LRN their "identificación completa" (full identification) and that of their legal representatives (art. 48). Check:
If you are an heir, the document will remain in the name of the deceased; the partition or adjudication is also recorded at the Registro Público (LRN 46).
What was sold: boundaries, area and condominium percentage
The title must describe the property by its nature, location, boundaries and municipality (CC 1.914). The LRN adds physical location, area, boundaries and cadastral code (art. 48). Older documents may not have it. Compare the boundaries with the site and with the ficha catastral.
The area. If the sale was made "a razón de tanto por medida" (at so much per unit of measure), the buyer can demand the area stated in the contract or a proportional reduction (CC 1.496). If a specific property was sold, the difference in measurement only changes the price when it reaches one twentieth, over or under, unless agreed otherwise (CC 1.497).
The apartment. The title must contain the registration details of the documento de condominio, the area, the location, the number or letter, the boundaries and the percentage its value represents of the whole building (LPH 33). That share, in hundredths, sets its part in the charges and benefits, and only changes by unanimous agreement (LPH 7). What the documento de condominio says is deemed reproduced in every sale (LPH 26), so ask for that document too. Condominium debts follow the apartment (LPH 13) and normally do not appear in the title.
Price, tradición and marginal notes
Price. Read whether the seller declares having received the full price. If the instrument leaves an obligation of the buyer outstanding, the seller has a statutory mortgage on the property merely because the obligation appears in it (CC 1.885).
Tradición. It is the clause that says how the seller acquired the property (purchase, inheritance, donation) and cites that title. The LRN charges a surcharge when the interested party does not state in the registration note "el o los títulos de propiedad inmediatamente anteriores" (the immediately preceding title or titles of ownership) (art. 83, num. 13). The seller is obliged to hand over the titles relating to the property (CC 1.495): ask for the previous one.
Notas marginales. When an act that waives, extinguishes, assigns or modifies a right is registered, a note is placed in the margin of the original instrument, with the date and the office (CC 1.926). Attachments and certain lawsuits (CC 1.921), rulings of nullity or rescission (CC 1.922) and the lawsuit for nullity for lack of the spouse's consent, which is stamped on the protocolo (CC 170), also go in the margin. In our reading, your copy does not carry those notes: the law places them in the protocolo and in the original instrument, not in the returned copy. Ask for a recent certified copy.
The visado and what the document does not prove
Every document presented to the registries and notaries must be drafted and signed off by a lawyer registered with the Instituto de Previsión Social del Abogado (lawyers' social welfare institute) and authorized to practice (LRN 23). The visado validates nothing: the registrar assesses only on the basis of what follows from the title and the Registro, without prejudging its validity (LRN 43), and registration does not validate acts that are void or voidable (LRN 44).
That is why the document is not enough:
An act that had to be registered and was not has no effect against third parties who have legally acquired and preserved rights over the property (CC 1.924). If what you are offered is only a document authenticated at a notaría (notary office), see the difference between a private, authenticated and registered document. If the chain includes inheritances, powers of attorney or court rulings, have a lawyer review it before paying.