Dominican Republic

Registering Property in

Dominican Republic

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: DOP 8,977,360.8
  • City: Santo Domingo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain a judicial status certificate from the title Registry Office.

A non-encumbrance certificate ("Certificado del Estado de la Propiedad") must be obtained from the Property Registry in order to ensure that the property has no liens and there are no other conflicts related to it.
The time varies in each district. In Santo Domingo it takes about 15-20 days, while in the interior of the country it is faster.
Fees have been increased by the Resolución nr. 9-2009.


Agency: Title Registry Office 		15 - 20 days (simultaneous with procedure 2) DOP 400
* 2 Site inspection to establish the exact location of the property

A surveyor ("agrimensor") inspects the site in order to establish the exact location of the property.
This is not mandatory, but a way the buyer has to protect against potential problems.


Agency: Surveyor (agrimensor) 		2 days (simultaneous with procedure 1) DOP 5,000 – 12,000
3 Notarization of the sale purchase agreement

After the agreement is reached and the documentation has been exchanged by the parties, the sale purchase agreement must be notarized by the public notary.
The notary freely establishes its fees.

 1 day 0.25 – 1% of the property price
4 Request the appraisal of the property at the Dirección General de Impuestos Internos (Tax Authority)

The parties must submit an application to the Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos) for the valuation of the property.
The Tax Authority decides which cases will need a valuation, and then an appointment for the inspection of the property is scheduled. The valuation will be used in the calculation of taxes.

Agency: Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) 		1 day no cost
5 An inspector of the Tax Authority visits the property in order to confirm the amount of the appraisal.

An inspector of the Tax Authority visits the property in order to confirm the amount of the appraisal.
14 days no cost
6 Payment of taxes at the Dirección General de Impuestos (Tax Authority)

After the inspection is over and the value of the property is calculated, a tax of 3% of the property value must be paid before the Dirección General de Impuestos (Tax Authority) before registering the property transfer, by virtue of de “Eficiencia Recaudatoria” Law No. 173-07 dated July 17th, 2007.

Transfer tax: 3% of property value (if there is a difference between the property value indicated in the purchase agreement and the one estimated by the Internal Revenue Department upon valuation, the higher value will be the one considered as valid for calculation of this transfer tax).

However, said law provides an exemption of this tax in cases of transfer of real estate properties acquired by means of loans with financial institutions and cooperatives, if such real estate property has a value under DOP$1,000,000.00 adjustable upon inflation (approximately USD$28,572).

The property tax must be paid within the six (6) months following to the Sale and Purchase Agreement entered by the parties. Otherwise, surcharges will be applied. Surcharges amount to 10% of the sum not paid (the corresponding transfer taxes) for the first month or fraction of the month. To any additional delays the Tax authorities will charge a 4% (per month or fraction) over the 10% plus a 1.73% indemnity (per month or fraction).

Moreover, on July 10, 2009, Law 182-09 was enacted granting a tax exemption on the 2% that must be paid to record a mortgage. This exemption only applies when it is proved that a new loan/mortgage has been obtained to pay off an existing loan secured with the same land. Consequently, the former mortgage would be cancelled to record the new one, with no additional cost.




Agency: Tax Authority (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) 		1 day 3% of property value (transfer tax)
7 Buyer files the property transfer request before the Title Registrar´s Office

When filing request for property registration before the Title Registrar´s Office, stamp duties are paid. After all payments have been made and all documents are ready, the buyer will apply for registration of the property under his name at the Property Registry.

The registrar will analyze the documentation and, if everything is correct, will register the property under the name of the buyer, issue a new Certificate of Title in the name of the buyer, cancel the old Certificate and will set the date for giving the new title to the buyer.
Because of the higher workload, this procedure takes longer in Santo Domingo and Santiago than in other provinces. Registration can take at the most up to 90-180 days in Santo Domingo and Santiago and 60-90 days in other provinces.

However, the new “Ley de Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria”, passed on March 2005 to replace the previous law from 1947, introduced changes into the system seen up to now. The registrar has no more than 15 days to qualify the transfer.

The filed documentation shall include:
-Notarized purchase agreement (obtained in Procedure 3)
- Real estate property taxes declaration and receipt of payment (obtained in Procedure 6).
-Payment of stamp duties (obtained in Procedure 7).
- Copy of identity documents for seller and buyer (such documents may vary whether seller and buyer are natural persons or companies).

The land registry operates with the Torrens title system and is being digitalized since 2005. All new transactions are completed digitally, but all titles created before 2005 are not computerized yet. The registry has consultation room units (“Departamento de sala de consultas”) where the registry’s electronic database is available.


Agency: Property Registry ("Oficina de Registro de Titulos") 		20 - 30 days DOP 50 (Stamp duty)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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