What is the Cadastrial Certificate and why you should you care about it….

All properties (unless they are part of the “ejido area”) are registered before the Municipal Cadastral Office (CATASTRO).

In this Catastro office, a long number (clave catastral) is assigned to each property and important information such as the value of the property, whether it has or not construction and the kind of use given to the construction is noted in such database.

This information is displayed in a document called “Cédula Catastral” (Cadastral Certificate) and such document is required for any sale, any construction permit request or changes to be requested to the property.

Thus, the Cadastral Certificate validates the property information before the Notary that formalizes a sale. It validates the name of the owner, the surface of the property, measures and boundaries and also the property VALUE the Municipality has assigned to such real estate.

Regarding the USE OF LAND assigned, in the last years, condominium units or even houses that the Catastro finds being leased on short term rentals (aka vacational rental) have had the data base of their use changed to the use of “HOTEL”.

This simple change, from residential purpose of a condominium unit to “hotel” results in:

1. applicable Value added tax over the value of the construction of the property. While residential constructions are not subject to VAT, commercial purpose constructions ARE and a hotel is obviously considered commercial; and

2. If the property is held by a trust with residential purposes, accepting such use of land can be claimed as a violation to the terms in which the Federal government authorized the Trust.

Any changes on the records of each property need to follow a due process or they become illegal, but you need to appeal such changes as soon as you learn they took place. Avoid paying bribes and request the law us applied.

Should you require more information, do not hesitate to contact us as [email protected]