Many houses stand on ejidos (municipal land), plots that belong to the municipality. They can be bought, but under rules of their own.
What an ejido is and what the law says
Art. 181 of the Constitution says: "Los ejidos son inalienables e imprescriptibles. Sólo podrán enajenarse previo cumplimiento de las formalidades previstas en las ordenanzas municipales y en los supuestos que las mismas señalen, conforme a esta Constitución y a la legislación que se dicte para desarrollar sus principios." (Ejidos are inalienable and imprescriptible. They may only be disposed of after complying with the formalities set out in the municipal ordinances and in the cases those ordinances specify, in accordance with this Constitution and with the legislation enacted to develop its principles.) It adds that ejidos include urban land "carentes de dueño o dueña" (lacking an owner) and vacant urban land, except land belonging to indigenous peoples and communities.
The Ley Orgánica del Poder Público Municipal, or LOPPM (the municipal government law; amended in Gaceta Oficial No. 6.015 Extraordinario, December 28, 2010), develops that rule:
The law does not regulate the leasing of ejidos in detail: it leaves that to each ordinance, and its art. 148 mentions contracts of "cesión en uso, tenencia o propiedad" (transfer of use, tenure or ownership) of ejido land. As long as the land is ejido, living on it for many years does not make it yours.
What you are actually buying
The seller cannot sell you the land, because it is not theirs. They sell you the bienhechurías (improvements built on the land) and, if the alcaldía (city hall) authorizes it, transfer to you their contract with the municipality over the land, which, depending on the ordinance, can be a lease or a concession of use. See the guide to bienhechurías and título supletorio, the court-issued supplementary title.
The Código Civil (Civil Code) presumes that every construction belongs to the owner of the land "mientras no conste lo contrario" (unless the contrary is shown) (art. 555). Your rights depend on two papers: the bienhechurías document and the contract with the alcaldía. The difference between authenticating and registering is explained in the guide private, authenticated or registered document.
| Document | What it gives you | What it does not give you |
|---|---|---|
| Registered sale of bienhechurías | Recorded proof that you bought the construction | Ownership of the land; nor does it cure a void title (Ley de Registros y Notarías, the Registries and Notaries Law, art. 44) |
| Sale of bienhechurías that is only authenticated | Proof of the contract between you and the seller | Effect against third parties who have acquired and preserved rights (Código Civil, art. 1.924) |
| Lease or concession with the alcaldía | The right to occupy the land under the agreed conditions and term | Ownership of the land; it can expire or be terminated |
| Sale by the municipality, recorded at the Registro (public registry) | Ownership of the land | Saneamiento por evicción (warranty against eviction): you buy at your own risk as buyer (LOPPM, art. 149; San Cristóbal ordinance, art. 10) |
How to buy the land from the alcaldía: the San Cristóbal example
Each municipality sets its own procedure. As an official example we use the Ordenanza sobre Terrenos Municipales de San Cristóbal (San Cristóbal's municipal land ordinance), in Táchira, published with its partial amendment in Gaceta Municipal Extraordinaria No. 083 of April 26, 2021. This is the 2021 text the alcaldía publishes; in 2023 local press reported a new Ordenanza de Venta de Terreno del Municipio that is not published online, so these rules may have changed. Your municipality may have different rules; ask for the text in force.
The lease. It is "un contrato administrativo" (an administrative contract) (art. 16), not an ordinary rental. In urban areas it lasts up to four years, extendable for two (art. 26). The lessee cannot sell, rent, donate or encumber what was built without the alcaldía's prior written authorization (art. 27).
The transfer to the buyer. No lessee may transfer or assign their contract without the alcaldía's express written authorization, nor request it before two years from signing, except for justified cause (art. 57). The application includes, among other documents, the authorization to sell what was built and a copy of the document of sale of the bienhechurías, registered or authenticated (art. 58). It is not accepted if the construction for which the plot was awarded was not carried out (art. 60), and the new lessee assumes the obligations of the previous one (art. 61).
If there is no contract. The owner of a construction on municipal land without a contract must apply for regularization (art. 64), which ends in a lease, not in ownership.
The sale of the land. A plot can be sold if it has a lease contract, is built on and its sale is not prohibited; if it is ejido, the Concejo must first carry out its desafectación with the vote of three quarters of its members (art. 83). The plot of a single-family home that is already built can also be sold, even without prior regularization, if its owner personally occupies it (art. 89).
The procedure. You apply in writing to the mayor, through the División de Catastro (cadastre division), with, among other documents, the solvencia municipal (municipal tax clearance), the original lease contract, the bienhechurías document (or a justificativo de posesión, a sworn statement of possession, covering more than two years) and a sworn declaration that you do not own a home in the municipality (art. 95). The Contraloría (comptroller's office) gives its opinion and the Concejo decides in two debates (art. 98). Once the sale is approved, the buyer deposits the price within 30 calendar days or the approval lapses (art. 100), and the mayor records the document at the Registro within the following 15 business days (art. 101). The price comes from the Planta de Valores (property value schedule) (art. 104). If you later want to sell the land, you must first offer it to the municipality, which has 15 business days to respond (art. 92).
Barrios: regularizing urban land
In consolidated urban settlements, Decreto No. 8.198 applies: the Ley Especial de Regularización Integral de la Tenencia de la Tierra de los Asentamientos Urbanos o Periurbanos (special law on the comprehensive regularization of land tenure in urban and peri-urban settlements; Gaceta Oficial No. 39.668, May 6, 2011), which repealed the 2006 law. The municipality grants títulos de adjudicación en propiedad (titles awarding ownership) over municipal public land (art. 7, num. 3), and each concejo creates an Oficina Técnica Municipal (municipal technical office) and regulates "el proceso de regularización de los ejidos" (the process of regularizing ejidos) in those settlements (art. 8). The process ends with a título de adjudicación en propiedad (art. 50). To sell that plot, the holder must first offer it to the community through the Comité de Tierras Urbanas (urban land committee), and the article sets a period that "no podrá ser menor de diez (10) años" (may not be less than ten (10) years) (art. 57).
The Ley de Tierras Urbanas (Urban Land Law; Gaceta Oficial No. 5.933 Extraordinario, October 21, 2009) is a different law: it regulates unused urban land suitable for housing programs (arts. 1 and 6). We did not find any rule repealing either of the two as of October 2026.
Risks at the Registro and in the paperwork
Before you pay
Before signing, consult a lawyer who knows the municipality's ordinance.