Spencer Global represents foreign clients in real estate transactions throughout Chile. From urban properties in Santiago to rural land in Patagonia, our attorneys manage title searches, contract drafting, notarial proceedings, and property registration. Each year, the firm completes millions of dollars in purchases and sales on behalf of foreign individuals, families, and investors.
The law office of Spencer Global specializes in real estate and property law exclusively for foreign clients. From rural properties in Patagonia to urban properties in Santiago, Spencer Global handles purchases of real estate of every sort across Chile. Each year, Spencer Global successfully completes millions of dollars in purchases and sales of property for our clients.
We at Spencer Global understand the unique issues that foreigners face when purchasing real estate in Chile. The first and foremost thing we do for our clients is communicate. We make certain that our clients understand all stages of the process of buying, owning, and selling real estate in Chile. Our years of experience assisting foreigners with the purchase and sale of real estate in Chile allows us to complete transactions faster, with fewer problems, and to ultimately save more money for our clients than traditional Chilean law firms that do not specialize in foreigners.
A title search is the comprehensive legal investigation of a property's ownership history, encumbrances, boundaries, and legal status — and the essential first step before any real estate transaction in Chile. Spencer Global conducts full title searches across all regions of the country, examining a minimum of ten years of public records and coordinating with the relevant municipal, registry, and regulatory authorities to establish the precise legal condition of any property before our clients commit to a purchase.
Spencer Global drafts and formalizes purchase agreements that secure the terms of a real estate transaction prior to closing, establishing the conditions, timelines, and financial guarantees that protect our clients’ interests at every stage of the process. Where appropriate, these agreements include an escrow deposit — typically up to ten percent of the purchase price — binding both parties to complete the transaction once the title search is concluded and all legal requirements for the transfer are met.
Spencer Global handles the purchase and sale of real estate throughout Chile on behalf of foreign clients, managing every stage of the transaction — title search, contract drafting, notarization, and title registration — to ensure each transfer is legally complete, properly documented, and fully protected under Chilean law. From urban properties in Santiago to rural land in Patagonia, our attorneys have the regional knowledge and transactional experience to complete purchases efficiently and identify issues that traditional Chilean law firms without a focus on foreign clients routinely overlook.
Spencer Global manages title registration with the competent regional property registry — the final and legally decisive step in any real estate transaction in Chile, without which no transfer of ownership is complete or enforceable under Chilean law. At this stage, the notarized purchase agreement is submitted for formal recording, any mortgages or encumbrances are registered on the title, and payment is released to the seller only upon successful inscription in the registry.
When buying real estate in Chile, all property must go through three general phases of purchase to be a complete and valid transfer: first, negotiation and title search; followed by contract signing (the real estate closing); and finally, title registration and payment. We describe briefly what must occur in each of these phases, and how a particular property purchase might deviate from these broad categories.
Each particular property purchase may have many other considerations, and the timing of these stages may vary greatly; but broadly, all properties in Chile will go through these three steps sooner or later — or it is not a legally valid or complete purchase.
There is one additional phase that is generally optional, but common — the preliminary negotiations and purchase agreement phase. Sometimes it is useful to lock in the general terms of a property purchase with a formal promissory agreement, prior to the completion of a title search or other work on a property. This contract is exactly what it says: a "promise" to go through with a purchase if certain conditions are met. It is not legally binding in so far as it will force a property transfer, but it can contain conditions or penalties for the buyer and seller if they do not go through with the purchase. For example, sometimes 10% of the value of the property is posted in escrow to encourage the parties to fully complete the purchase. This instrument can be useful while a title search is completed, or while a property needs to be subdivided or other procedures are done before the formal phases can move forward. Again, this step is optional and depends on the particulars of a purchase.
This is the detailed investigation of the property. A qualified attorney must collect all legal documents related to a property in Chile and examine in detail the status of the ownership rights and obligations of the seller. The question to be answered: are the property and the seller in a legal position to fully transfer the property? This can range from confirming the seller is really the owner, to much more complex issues such as a title that does not exist at all and must be reconstructed.
Although people do sometimes purchase property without a title search, it is extremely risky — and simply foolish — to purchase property anywhere without knowing its full legal status. A full title search is also the basis for the correct drafting of contracts in the next phase. Without one, you may not own the property free and clear until the statutes of limitations run out, between 10 and 30 years in the future. In some cases you may never legally own the property, if some form of fraud or essential legal error was made.
A title search MUST be conducted by your attorney, and no one else. Notaries do not conduct title searches, real estate agents are not qualified, and property registries are not legally allowed to conduct them; even banks issuing mortgages conduct a title search only to protect the bank. We often must tell clients to simply walk away from a purchase that is too time-consuming and costly to complete, or that is simply a bad purchase (e.g. the seller has no right to the property). Most problems with real estate in Chile are found at this phase, so we consider skipping a title search not to be an option for our clients.
Typically also at this point, final details of negotiation — such as price, the logistics of where and when the transfer will occur, verification of property lines and many other things — may occur. If problems are found with the title search, this is typically when they should be fixed.
A contract must be signed at a Chilean Notary Public in Chile, and in no other form, for it to be legally binding for real estate in Chile. The sale or purchase of property is void by any other method — you cannot receive and accept an offer for property by letter, email or any other means.
At this point, payment for the property is traditionally deposited with the notary public in the form of a bank counter check. It is placed in escrow with the notary, along with instructions for either its release to the seller or its return to the buyer, should certain conditions obtain.
The notarized buy / sale agreement is submitted to the regional property registry, which will either include the property in the official real estate registry or, in the event of a problem, reject the registration with an explanation. At this point, certain items such as mortgages or other limitations on the transfer are also registered on the title.
If all goes well, only after the property is registered at the regional real estate registry will the seller receive the bank counter check.
Again, there are nearly infinite ways a property purchase may stray from these general phases, but nearly all property transfers will go through these steps sooner or later, in one form or another. For example, in the case of a property purchased with a mortgage, the final phase — a fully registered title in your name — may not occur for years, until the mortgage registered on the title is lifted.
Spencer Global's attorneys regularly publish on the legal and practical considerations facing foreign buyers of real estate in Chile — from title searches to registration to the rules governing rural, coastal, and Patagonian property. The following articles draw on the firm's direct experience advising international clients on property transactions throughout the country.
Chile guarantees the same property rights to foreigners as to Chilean citizens or residents buying or owning real estate in Chile. The real estate laws in Chile safeguard the property transfer and ownership rights. Still, everyone considering buying property in Chile should have a full title search done to understand the exact issues any particular property might have before buying real estate in Chile.
Conducting a title search is the first step when considering buying any property for sale in Chile. A full title search in Chile goes far beyond just tracking the ownership history of a property on paper. There are many more issues that need to be checked among the numerous public records available in the Chilean legal system related to real estate, and there are many other title issues that come from the common-sense experience of the problems in particular regions and communities in Chile.
Beyond just knowing what documents to request and their significance for a title search in Chile, knowing the local problems and history is essential. For example, what are considered problems in urban areas are not even recorded in rural areas, and vice versa. What is true in the North of Chile and the South of Chile is not an issue in the Central Regions. Let us start by emphasizing that a complete title search should be done by an attorney — not a real estate agent or someone else.
You should receive full copies of all official documents related to the title search, along with a written explanation of their significance, and your attorney should be able to answer any questions you have about the documents. It is unfortunately a common practice of some attorneys in Chile to simply say they conducted a title search, and then tell you the property is fine without presenting any more details. If needed, ask your attorney to translate the documents to English or your native language. When done, you should have it clear in your mind what you are buying and what the risks are, before you commit any significant amounts of money to a purchase.
Just some of the problems you or your attorney in Chile must consider on a region-by-region basis are the delicate status of water rights, colonization laws, the effects of past agricultural policies of the Government, poorly conducted surveys, zoning and building permits, and more. What to look for is mostly determined by the history of local development patterns of the region.
Knowing where to look for the problems with any particular property is not an easy task, and finding the right strategy for a comprehensive title search takes time. The best advice is to take that time and not rush into a purchase, or allow anyone to rush you into a purchase in Chile, until the title search is complete. A complete title search, along with a solid contract based on that title search, will help you eliminate almost all the risk associated with buying real estate in Chile. Even when problems are found, most problems with a property title in Chile can be fixed.
To start a title search you must have the registration information for the latest title on the property. The seller or the seller's agent should be able to provide this information. The most important information is the county where it was registered, the number and page of the registration, and the year when the registration took place. The public record for each year will have the same serial numbers and pages, so the year is essential. With this information your attorney can request, at the County Registry, a Certificate of Valid Ownership (Certificado de Dominio con Vigencia). With just this information a qualified attorney in Chile will be able to start the title search process, and request all related documents for the property you are considering buying.
You must keep in mind that for a full, comprehensive title search, your attorney will examine all registrations for at least 10 years. This time frame is based on the maximum statute of limitations established by law for bringing legal claims against a property in Chile. Many problems, or potential problems, can be detected based only on the information collected from the title registration — for example, potential legal claims based on inheritance, pending contract obligations, and so on.
Each county (or group of counties in the less populated areas of Chile) has its own regional Registry. For purchases of property in southern Chile, handling a title search from Santiago means dealing with the regional authorities, local municipalities, and the registries in the city where you are purchasing the property. Often, in remote towns, you will have to deal with the public offices in the provincial capital and regional authorities to collect all of the needed documents. For example, if you are purchasing property near Futaleufú in the Patagonia, this means dealing with the Municipality in Futaleufú, the Registry in Chaitén, and the regional authorities such as the IRS office in Puerto Montt — offices spread over a large geographical area.
Usually across Chile, requesting the documents needed for the title search does not take very long, with the exception of Santiago and some other major cities. In those cities you must wait at least two weeks to receive a certificate, and sometimes longer.
The National Registry System in Chile is based on the work of three public officials considered part of the Chilean Legal System and supervised by the corresponding Appeals Court based on territory. These officials are the Notary, the Registry and the Archiver.
The Property Registrar certifies the current limitations to ownership — such as a mortgage, easements, or rights of use affecting the property — or, alternatively, the fact that there are no such limitations. Prohibitions on a property in Chile might be either conventional or by court order. For example, a prohibition to sell the property in the first five years after purchase, or a court order forbidding the sale of the property while a legal claim is pending.
Courts might order provisional measures such as the auction of the property upon default of a debt, or simply prohibit the owner from entering into contracts to sell while a dispute is pending (embargo and prohibición de celebrar actos y contratos).
The title description, the plot registered, and the boundaries description (Minuta de deslindes). In Chile, when purchasing urban properties, boundaries are usually clearly determined and fully described on the title as registered at the Property Registry. Common problems in urban areas are typically related to ownership, inheritance and pending legal claims — but rarely to the property lines or boundaries.
The situation in the case of agricultural or rural land can be very different. We have detected many serious flaws in the system of registration and in the national survey system recorded with Bienes Nacionales and their national database. Thus, resurveys and title corrections are often required before purchase — sometimes simply to update the original property-line descriptions to modern surveying practices. In the case of agricultural land, subdivisions must be approved by the Agricultural Authority and registered in the Property Registry, so the engineer or surveyor in charge of the subdivision must present the project to those authorities for approval in Chile. The authorities should check that the survey is correct, in accordance with the previous documents, and that all boundaries are consistent. Being an act of authority, they are presumed correct; but, in practice, we have encountered serious errors with plots. A mistake of this sort will end in court proceedings, independently of the legal responsibility of the official who approved the plot with errors. Double-checking that the plot presented to the authorities has been done without errors is essential.
As standard practice we recommend to all of our clients that properties be independently resurveyed before purchase. When preliminary information in the title search indicates the possibility of a problem, we insist the property be resurveyed (for example, when the property is on a river, or when descriptions from one title to the next do not match).
Using the subdivision or plot maps, we check the registered title description against the plot map. Generally, when subdivisions of the property have taken place, the limits are not only described on the title but detailed on a separate document attached to the Registry (protocolizado) called a "Minuta de Deslindes". In many cases the old boundaries are described on the title vaguely, usually in reference to the ownership of the neighboring properties — which may themselves have changed or had errors in the title.
There might not even be a reference to how many meters each line has, or whether it is a straight or skewed line. As a property gets split, descriptions tend to improve and the plots registered carry GPS references. For these reasons it is crucial to check the description on the "minuta de deslindes" and the plot itself. It might also be necessary to check the titles of the neighboring properties and their plots — a sort of legal and surveyor forensics operation — to determine the real property lines and the dependencies between the legal description and the physical property.
When properties have not been subdivided, checking the old plots in the field is very important. Most references on old plots are to either natural marks (rivers, old rotting logs) that might have changed, or to owners who might have changed. Sometimes tracking down problems with a title can be made easier by talking to the community, as a conflict might be public knowledge. This is where getting out and getting to know the neighbors, the ranch hand that works down the road, and the local city officials becomes a critical tool for detecting title problems in rural areas. Local knowledge and experience is essential.
In the case of rural property in Chile, boundaries are sometimes not easy to determine based on titles and legal documents alone. They do represent the basis for a safe purchase, but many steps should be taken to verify they are correct. Resurveying the property, establishing GPS coordinates, and including a reference in the sale and purchase agreement are just a few of the many steps that might be taken to avoid legal crusades in the future when purchasing a property in Chile.
The Chilean legal system establishes that nobody can be deprived of their property, or of any of the rights of ownership, except by a general or particular law authorizing expropriation based on the common good or national interest. The legality of that expropriation act can be disputed in court, and expropriation always gives the right to full compensation based on the market price of the property. The amount of the compensation can also be disputed if it does not correspond to the market value. Foreigners and Chileans owning property in Chile have exactly the same rights and responsibilities. Usually, for major public projects such as roads, the Government tends to pay higher than market prices to avoid any possible legal conflicts or delays in the project.
In order to check whether a property is being considered for expropriation, there are two basic documents. The national-level certificate must usually be requested at the regional office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. The other certificate is issued by the municipality of each county, which sets the requirements of time and information needed to obtain it. Both certificates will declare clearly whether the property is being considered for expropriation, allowing property owners and the public to plan accordingly and/or exercise their rights as a property owner.
Finally, the zoning laws, property use, building permits, and building restrictions for a property should be checked. Please see our article on property and real estate zoning laws in Chile.
As you can see, conducting a title search in Chile is not a trivial thing. We do not recommend that you attempt a title search on your own — you must have competent legal counsel to conduct a complete title search. This article is intended only to give foreigners purchasing real estate in Chile a general reference for the sorts of documents you should expect to receive in a complete title report. Again, many — if not most — issues with a title can be fixed in Chile, if they are found early.
Our attorneys investigate the full legal history of the property, examining ownership, liens, and boundaries before any commitment is made.
We finalize price, terms, and any conditions of the purchase based on the results of the title search.
The purchase agreement is executed before a Chilean Notary Public, with funds placed in escrow under clear release conditions.
We submit the agreement to the regional property registry and confirm registration before funds are released to the seller.
Request a call or meeting with our team in Santiago or Southern Chile.
