Colombia

Registering Property in

Colombia

Listed below is a detailed summary of the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standard Property Transfer

  • Property Value: COP 565,865,551.6
  • City: Bogota

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain certificate about history of the property ("Libertad y tradicion")

Ownership and non-encumbrance certificates can be obtained online at no cost. The certificate with the ownership history of the property for the last 20 years (“Certificado de Tradición”) can also be obtained at the corresponding registry office. Fees are set by Resolution No. 0069 of 2011 of the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro. For properties with no liens, the certificates obtained from the internet at the notary's offices can be submitted to the Land Registry.


Agency: Ventanilla Unica de Registro 		1 day No cost for notaries accessing this information on the Ventanilla Unica de Registro (VUR)
* 2 A certificate of good standing ("Existencia y Representacion legal") of the company must be obtained at the Chamber of Commerce

When the parties are companies, a certificate of good standing (“Certificado de Existencia y Representación legal de la Compañia”) of the company must be requested at the Chamber of Commerce. This certificate does not have an expiration date for its validity, but some entities, such banks or authorities, request for certificates issued with less than three months in order to obtain updated information.

Electronic Certificates of Existence and Legal Representation can also be obtained online since 2010. The certificate can be requested, paid and obtained online. Payment can be paid by credit card. The certificate provides real time information of the company (Bogota Chamber of Commerce: http://serviciosenlinea.ccb.org.co/cerple/index.aspx)

Agency: Chamber of Commerce (http://serviciosenlinea.ccb.org.co/cerple/index.aspx) 		1 day COP 3,700
3 A study of the titles of the property is done by a lawyer

A lawyer, usually external to the company, will make a study of the past titles of the property and about the history of the owners to carry out the transaction.
The study of the titles is not mandatory, but it takes place almost always for property transactions.

The lawyer must be provided with the certificates obtained in Procedures 1 and 2 and with a copy of the company’s shareholders act authorizing its representative to act on their behalf in order to complete this procedure.
5 days COP 1,113,000
4 Obtain tax certificates ("predial" and "valorizacion")

From the VUR website, it is now possible to see and obtain online the "certificado de paz y salvo predial" (stating municipal property taxes have been paid from Secretaría de Hacienda del Distrito. ) and the "certificado de paz y salvo de valorización" (taxes related to increases in the value of the property due to constructions, roads, etc- Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano -IDU).

For properties with no liens, the certificates obtained and printed out from the internet at the notary's offices can now be submitted to the Land Registry. Notaries have a special login to access these certificates. This certificate has no cost if requested online and can be obtained by submitting the "chip catastral".
The VUR website is: http://www.registratupropiedad.com/

Agency: Ventanilla Unica de Registro (or CADE) 		1 day no cost
5 The notary prepares the public deed

The notary public will prepare the final public deed with all the documentation previously obtained by the parties. The notary will also check the Board of directors minutes authorizing the sale and purchase of each property respectively for each limited liability company.
The participation of a notary in the preparation of the public deed is mandatory by law, and his/her fees are also established by law (0.27% of property value + other indicated fees).

The minuta establishes the terms of the sale between the parties. It is not mandatory, but it is normally prepared by a lawyer. If parties prepare the minuta, the notary will review it while preparing the public deed. The standard preliminary deed ("minuta") that can be prepared by the parties can obtained for free in the notaries offices or online at http://www.registratupropiedad.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=76


 3 days 0.27% of property value + COP 7,120 for the escritura + COP 26,700 for copies of escritura + COP 3,570 to the Superintendency of the Notary + COP 3,750 to the National Fund of the Notary
6 Pay registration fees at the bank counter in the registry

The “registry tax” or “Impuesto de Registro” can be paid at the registry office in the city of Bogotá and other large cities, where the commercial bank in charge of collection of this tax has installed a branch for this purpose. In smaller cities it will have to be paid prior to registration in a commercial bank. Despite its name, the “Impuesto de Registro” is a tax that goes to finance state-level programs on public health. It is not a fee for a service but a tax.


Agency: Registry Office (Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos) 		1 day 1% of property value (Registry Tax) + 0.5% of property value (Registration Fee)
7 The public deed must be registered at the Registry Office

After the “registry tax” is paid, the public deed prepared by the notary must be registered at the Registry Office for its validity. After registration, the new public deed is automatically sent (internal procedure) to the Office of the Cadastre to register the change of ownership.

Agency: Registry Office (Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos) 		3 days already paid in procedure 6
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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