Two housing-lease regimes coexist, and which one applies depends on when the tenant began occupying the home.
Which law governs your contract
The Ley del Régimen Especial de Arrendamiento de Inmuebles Destinados a Vivienda (Special Regime Law for Residential Leases; Gaceta Oficial No. 7.065 Extraordinario, August 7, 2026) applies only to leases agreed or formalized after it came into force (article 2). Tenants who already occupied the home on that date are excluded, "mientras persista esa posesión" (for as long as that possession continues): those contracts are still governed by the 2011 law and the anti-eviction decree.
If the tenant already occupied the home before August 7, 2026, renewing or signing a new contract with that same tenant is not enough, by itself, to move to the 2026 law. The law does not expressly say what happens when those contracts are renewed: consult a lawyer.
| 2026 law (new contracts) | 2011 law (earlier tenants) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who has the right | Tenant with more than two years in the home, up to date on rent and utilities (art. 20) | Tenant who occupies it and is up to date on rent, with no minimum time (art. 131) |
| How notice is given | In writing, with price and terms (arts. 20 and 21) | Documento auténtico (authenticated document) delivered in person, with seven required items (art. 132) |
| Deadline to respond | 15 days (art. 20) | 90 calendar days (art. 134) |
| Price | The owner states it; the law sets no cap | No higher than the value set by SUNAVI (the national housing-lease authority), with a seniority discount (arts. 132 and 137) |
| If sold without offering | The law does not say | The sale is null, and the retracto legal (statutory right to buy back) applies (arts. 135 and 138 to 140) |
Contracts under the 2026 law: article 20
Article 20 provides:
A deduction, not a written rule: since the law only governs leases agreed after it came into force and excludes those who already occupied the home (article 2), no tenant under this regime would reach two years before August 2028.
What the law does not say. Article 20 sets no consequence if the owner sells without offering: it does not declare the sale null or create a retracto (right to buy back). The Código Civil (Civil Code), which applies on a supplementary basis (article 6), does not cover it either: its retracto legal (articles 1.546 to 1.548) belongs to a co-owner against an outsider who acquires, by purchase or dación en pago (payment in kind), a right in the jointly owned thing, not to the tenant. What claim might be available, and whether the tenant can waive this right in the contract, are questions for a lawyer: the law does not say, and it declares its rules to be of orden público (public policy) (article 5).
The lease continues after the sale. Under the Código Civil, the lease survives for the agreed term even if the property is sold, if it is recorded in a public instrument or in a private one with a fecha cierta (legally certain date), unless otherwise agreed (article 1.604). If not, the buyer must respect the tenant who already occupied the home before the sale for the time the law presumes for leases without a fixed term (article 1.605). See the difference in notarized lease contracts.
Tenants under the 2011 law: preferencia ofertiva (right of first offer)
The Ley para la Regularización y Control de los Arrendamientos de Vivienda (Law for the Regularization and Control of Housing Leases; Gaceta Oficial No. 6.053 Extraordinario, November 12, 2011) demands much more.
Who has it. The tenant who occupies the home, so that it is offered to them for sale "en primer lugar y con preferencia a cualquier tercero" (first, and ahead of any third party) when there is an act that transfers ownership. The only requirement is being up to date on rent (article 131). It does not require two years, unlike article 42 of the Ley de Arrendamientos Inmobiliarios (Real Estate Leasing Law) of 1999, repealed for housing in 2011.
The notice (article 132). It must be given by documento auténtico, stating the right of preference, and delivered personally to the tenant; otherwise it has no legal effect. It must state:
A court required them to the letter. On July 11, 2023, the Tribunal Quinto de Municipio de Mérida (a municipal court in Mérida) declared inadmissible a request to give notice of preferencia ofertiva because it did not meet items 1 to 4, among them the SUNAVI resolution.
Prohibited conditions (article 133). The offer cannot require payment in full up front (de contado) or arras (earnest money), or give less than one year to obtain a mortgage loan. The opción de compra-venta (purchase option agreement) cannot allow the owner to terminate it unilaterally.
Seniority discount (article 137). If the lease relationship has lasted 10 to 20 years, 10%; 21 to 30 years, 15%; 31 to 40 years, 20%; more than 41 years, 25%. Leaving it out carries a SUNAVI fine of 400 unidades tributarias (tax units) (article 141, item 17).
Deadlines. The tenant has 90 calendar days from the offer to accept or reject it, in writing. If the tenant does not accept, the owner can sell to third parties on the same terms (article 134). If a year passes after the rejection or the silence without a sale, the offer lapses and a new one must be made (article 135).
If the owner sells without notice. "Toda venta a un tercero de la vivienda alquilada, sin la debida notificación" (any sale of the rented home to a third party without due notice) to the tenant is null, and no court action for nullity is needed (article 135). The buyer, in addition, takes over the contract on the same terms (article 38).
The retracto legal arrendaticio of the 2011 law
The retracto legal arrendaticio (tenant's statutory right to buy back) lets the tenant take the buyer's place on the same terms as the transfer document (article 138). It applies if any item required for the article 132 notice was missing, or if the sale to the third party was made at a lower price or on better terms than those offered to the tenant (article 140).
The deadline is 180 business days from the notice that the buyer must give the tenant by documento público (public document), with a certified copy of the sale document (article 139).
Before suing over preferencia ofertiva or retracto, the law requires a prior procedure before SUNAVI (articles 94 and 96), the one in articles 7 to 10 of the Decreto No. 8.190 contra el desalojo (anti-eviction decree), centered on a conciliation hearing. The lawsuit follows the law's oral procedure (article 98). It is the same prior step as in the eviction from a rented home.
Special cases: homes in developments with a mandatory rental quota, which must be offered for sale when they reach ten years since construction (articles 84 and 88), and buildings dedicated to rental for twenty years or more, whose tenants have the right to acquire, except against small landlords (disposición transitoria quinta, the fifth transitional provision).
Before selling or answering an offer
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice.