In Costa Rica titled properties are registered at the Public Registry. Every registered property has a unique property number, called “matricula de folio real” or just “folio real”, a registration system that has been evolving since 1778. “Folio” comes from the word page or individual file, “real” refers to the real right on a specific piece of land, also known as “right in rem” for its Latin roots.

With that unique property number anyone can have access to the public data base of the Public Registry or may go to any branch of the Public Registry, the main one being in Zapote, San José. The information available for each property is complete enough to start a very well-informed Due Diligence. It shows the location, the boundaries, the measure, the registered map called «plano catastrado », the ownership and the declared value, which are the basics of any registered property. This information is mostly based on the last purchase deed registered for that specific property.

There may be some information that is not fully accurate with regards to the boundaries or the registered map of a specific property, mainly due to segregations made to a mother farm to create other lots. That important issue is something to be clarified during the due diligence process and it should be addressed by a Notary Public in coordination with the seller.

Other very important information that should be shown on the registered information or “folio real” are any liens or encumbrances such as a mortgage, rights of way, limitations, a specific law affecting the property (such as forestry laws) or even an existing litigation concerning such property. These are the reasons why it is always crucial to have a smart, experienced and dedicated law professional check and research all of those issues. Such person is a Notary Public.

Even if most properties fall into the above description, as registered properties, there is also another type of property that is much more complicated: concession land. These are usually beach properties owned and managed by the local government, and as such their use is granted for a specific period of time. A full research must be done for any specific concession, and that is done mostly at the local Municipalidad. On most cases the right of use is very limited and precarious, in many cases uncertainty is big, so it is definitely not our first choice for our clients and a very accurate research must be made on each specific case.