Thinking of buying a property in Paraguay? This is the legal information you should know

In Paraguay, as a foreigner, you can easily buy land and real estate without obstacles. This is not common and in fact is quite rare to find in the world. You do not even need a permanent residence or a cédula, the passport is enough. This is a great advantage compared to other emigration countries.

The real estate legal system in Paraguay imposes to the buyer the obligation to carry out all the necessary procedures to know the legal situation of the property that he is going to acquire.

There are 2 ways to buy real estate: The private contract "contrato privado" and the title of property “título de propiedad”. This frequently confuses many foreign buyers who do not understand the difference between the private contract and the transfer of the property with title.

The private contract creates a right against the seller of the property to require him to transfer the title, but it is not a title in itself. In order to obtain the property it is necessary to register the title of ownership, this is done before a Notary Public and will be registered in the National Public Registries Department.

The property title will give you the absolute right over the property, being able to lease it, mortgage it or any legal act. The property title will be registered in the National Public Registries Department and in case of loss or misplacement of this document, you will be able to request a copy without any inconvenience.

Likewise, for any change of ownership, the National Public Registries Department will request from the Notary, all the documents that prove the identity of the selling owner. You will have the certainty that the Paraguayan State will recognize you as the sole owner, in case of any attempt of fraud or falsification of documents.

The other way to buy real estate: The Private Contract.

In this case you will have the right to force the seller to transfer the ownership of the property to you (in a judicial process). In the private contract neither the notary public nor the National Public Registries Department is involved, therefore, the legal situation of the property being purchased is not verified.

In the case of private contracts, the notary can only register the signatures of the contracting parties, in order to prevent the seller from not knowing his signature on the contract, but the notary does not verify the authenticity of the title to the property, the real dimensions or the existence of judicial measures.

Our recommendation is always to use the private contract to documentation the money advanced to the seller to "secure" the sale of the property, but always demand the title transfer.

Another issue to take into consideration when buying properties are the special types of real estate that exist in Paraguay (properties granted by the State to Paraguayans in production or social incentive programs):

Municipal land

One of the special types of real estate are those owned by the Municipality, these are exploited with the authorization of the Municipal Administration, which cedes the use of its real estate to citizens, who " take up occupation" of these parcels of land. These parcels of land can be resold by private contract. But in these contracts only the rights over the constructions that were built on the Municipal parcel are sold. It will be possible to obtain a title on this land after an accurate topographic survey and a payment of the amount fixed by the municipality.

Compared to the purchase of a property with an existing title, you will face additional bureaucratic hurdles and waiting times to obtain the title deed.

“INDERT" or "FISCAL" land.

Things are completely different with an "INDERT Land" or "Fiscal Land". INDERT (Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Rural y de la Tierra) is a state authority with the task of "donating" land to Paraguayans so that they can cultivate it and get out of poverty. In reality INDERT will donate a % of the value of the property and the beneficiary must pay the remaining % to INDERT. These land cannot be sold for 10 years after the cancellation of the debt. The Paraguayan who acquires the land must use it to support the family and the title issued by INDERT cannot be transferred. If the law is violated, the title is null and void.

Even if the property is sold,

INDERT will only recognize the original beneficiary as the owner, therefore, the buyer who ignores these rules will lose the property and his money.

But it is not uncommon that these "landless farmers" have neither the knowledge nor the will to cultivate this land and what they want is to sell the land as soon as possible and profit illegally, or buyers who are aware of the illegality of the property they bought, seek to re-sell these properties by private contract, this is completely illegal. This is a common practice in Paraguay and and regularly causes legal problems.

This does not mean that the property cannot be acquired by foreigners. It will be possible after 10 years of the donation made by INDERT to the paraguayan beneficiary. In this case, we recommend that the purchase be evaluated by a lawyer, who will verify all the documents at INDERT.

To avoid all these inconveniences and to secure the ownership of the property you are acquiring, you can contact us, we will take care of securing your investment.

We offer the service of certification of legal real estate availability for any property located in Paraguay.

What information will know with the certificate of availability of real estate:

1. If there are mortgages on the property;

2. If it belongs to the person who claims to be the seller;

3. If it is in process of claim of payment by other persons;

4. If the property is part of a judicial auction process;

5. If the property has the dimensions offered by the seller;

6. In general, if the property is in legal condition to be acquired.

Can request this information from another country?

Yes, we will send the certification of legal real estate availability, with the translation, by mail.

Contact us by whatsapp here

Contact us by mail here