Uruguay

Registering Property in

Uruguay

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: UYU 11,701,554.43
  • City: Montevideo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
* 1 Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate from the “Banco de Previsión Social”

The seller must obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the “Banco de Previsión Social”, showing that he is free of debt of any social security contributions. It is now possible to see online the status of the request.

The documentation shall include:
Public deed of the purchase by the previous owners for prior 30 years.
Proof of payments of taxes and other services (electricity, telephone, gas, water).


Agency: Social Security Institute (Banco de Previsión Social) 		15 days (simultaneous with procedures 2, 3, 4, and 5) UYU 3,500
* 2 Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the Real Estate Office (Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble)

Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate for the past 30 years at the “Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble” (Real Estate Office), so as to check if there is any mortgage, lien or other encumbrance on the property. It is now possible to request and pay online the certifcate, but it needs to be picked up afterwards.

Agency: Real Estate Office (Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble) 		2-4 days (simultaneous with procedures 1, 3, 4, and 5) UYU 705
* 3 Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the “Registro de Actos Personales”

Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate for the past 30 years at the “Registro de Actos Personales”, so as to know if the prior owner or other prior owners had any encumbrance or lien. At present, the cost of this procedure is UYU 705 plus other minor costs for forms. This certificate can be requested and paid online but it needs to be picked up afterwards. It is also possible to see the information provided by the certificate online.

Agency: Registro de Actos Personales 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 4, and 5) UYU 705
* 4 Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the Municipality

Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate for the past 10 years at the Municipality. The cost of this certificate is fixed in "Unidades Reajustables". The value of each "Unidad Reajustable" changes every month according to the variation of the Average Salary Index. Therefore, the cost of the procedure changes every month.

The “Ley de Ordenamiento Territorial N° 18.308” from June 30 2008, in its article 66 states that municipalities have the priority to buy properties when transferred. Though the Resolution N° 4144/2009 dated on 28th,September 2009 of the Municipality of Montevideo, the Municipality rejects its right of pre-emption regarding to property acquisitions..


Agency: Municipality 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 3, and 5) UYU 505 at the Municipality plus a stamp Duty of UYU 94
* 5 Obtain a “Cédula Catastral” at the Cadastre

Obtain a “cédula catastral” from the Cadastre so as to know the value of the property.

Agency: Cadastre (Direccion del catastro nacional) 		1 day (simultaneous with procedures 1, 2, 3, and 4) no cost
6 The sale agreement is prepared by a notary

A public notary prepares the sale agreement. The participation of a notary is mandatory. Without it, the deed will not be valid. The notary fees are regulated by the Asociación de Escribanos del Uruguay, or Uruguayan Notary Association, setting the official fees (sometimes notaries might charge less than the official rate). The seller is responsible for gathering all the documentation to be presented to the public notary. Once the sale agreement is ready it must be signed by the seller and the buyer, and the notary collects the money to pay the transfer tax (4% of the cadastral value, paid half by buyer and half by seller). The documentation shall include:

(i) Public deeds of the purchase by the previous owners for prior 30 years.
(ii) Non-encumbrance certificate of the “Banco de Previsión Social” (obtained in Proc. 1)
(iii) Non-encumbrance certificate from Registro de la propiedad inmueble (obtained in Proc. 2)
(iv) Non-encumbrance certificate from "Registro de actos personales" (obtained in Proc. 3)
(v) Non-encumbrance certificate from the Municipality (obtained in Proc. 4)
(vi) Photocopy of the ID of seller.
(vii) All tax receipts concerning the use of the property for prior one year.
(viii) The plan of the survey of property and the plan of the constructions.
(ix) Certificate of the National Trade Registry
(x) Certificate of the Tax Authority (since the seller is a limited liability company)


 20 days 3% of property price (notary fees)
7 The notary pays the transfer tax

The public notary pays the transfer tax or “Impuesto a las Trasmisiones Patrimoniales”. Both the buyer and the seller will pay 2% each. The cadastral value is given by the "Cédula Catastral". As of law no. 18.064 of November 27, 2006, when transferring rural property (not in this case), the ITP has risen to 7% total.

Agency: Dirección General impositiva 		1 day 4% of cadastral value
8 The public deed is delivered to the Real Estate Office for its recording under the name of the buyer

The public deed is delivered to The Real Estate Office (Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble) for its recording under the name of the buyer. After the process is over, the buyer must communicate to the Public Offices Services the change of owner (water, light, gas, telephone, etc).

Agency: Real Estate Office (Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble) 		30 days UYU 1409 (Stamp Duty)
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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