Honduras

Registering Property in

Honduras

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: HNL 1,836,314.61
  • City: Tegucigalpa

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Verification of property background

It is necessary to have the previous registration numbers to see who are the owners and if there have been any mortgages or the property has been sold. The buyer can verify the property background at the on-line Unified Registry System (SURE): www.ip.hn.
However, in pratice there are many problems with the SURE, so users tend to go to the registry.

Agency: Registro de la Propiedad 		1 day HNL 550 (HNL 300 for full certificate “certificación integra” + HNL 250 for non-encumbrance certificate “certificado de libertad de gravamen”)
2 Verification that the municipal taxes have been paid

The municipal tax number of the property is needed to check who is the registered owner of the land in the cadastre.

Agency: Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía (Alcaldia Municipal) 		2 days No cost
3 The notary issues the deed (preliminary)

After getting the legal documentation from the parties, the notary issues the preliminary deed (“escritura matriz”). Notary’s fees are usually calculated based on the market value of the property according to regulations setting minimum tariffs. For properties with a value below HNL 25,000, the rate cannot be below HNL 1000 while for properties with a higher value, the fee cannot be below 3% of the property value. Fees are negotiated between the notary and parties.
2 days 3-5% of transaction price (Notary’s fees)
4 Payment at the bank of taxes and fees

The transfer tax (1.5% of value of property, for urban property with improvements) must be paid at a bank. The taxes are calculated based on either the official value of the property (determined by the Cadastre for tax purposes) or the insured value, whichever is higher.
With the introduction of the Property Law in 2004, the transfer tax was cut from 3 to 1.5%, the registration rights and the stamps have been eliminated.


Agency: Commercial Bank 		1 day 1.5% of property price (Transfer Tax)
5 Notary issues the final copy of the deed (“Testimonio”)

After receiving the receipts of the payment of the taxes and fees in the previous step, the notary issues the final copy of the deed ("testimonio"), which should be presented later at the Property Office.
1 day no additional cost
6 Registration at the Property registry

The new deed must be registered in the Property Office by the notary. However, the notary might waive this right and leave to the responsibility to the applicants.

Agency: Property registry (“Instituto de la Propiedad”) 		14 days HNL 200 for the first HNL 1,000 of the property value, and HNL 1.50 for each additional HNL 1,000
7 Register the change of ownership in the Cadastre office

The change of ownership must be registered in the Cadastre office ("Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía") by the notary or the buyer. The deed duly registered in Procedure 6 must be presented at the cadastre.

Agency: Cadastre ("Dirección General de Catastro y Geografía") 		2 days HNL 250
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