Title & contracts · No clear title
No clear title to your Mexican property?
No escritura, nothing registered in your name, or it turns out to be ejido land? The sale may be void, or fixable. Here is how to find out what you actually own.
Few moments sink the stomach like discovering that the home you paid for in Mexico is not, on paper, yours. Maybe there is no escritura. Maybe a deed exists but nothing was ever registered in your name. Maybe the land turns out to be ejido. Here is the first thing to know: what you do next depends almost entirely on what the public record shows, not on what you were told.
First, find out what you actually hold
The only ownership that counts against the world is a public deed (escritura pública) granted before a notario público and inscribed in the Public Registry of Property (Registro Público de la Propiedad, RPP) for the municipality.
- A title search at the RPP shows who is registered as the owner today, and whether there are liens, prior owners, or other red flags.
- A private contract, a receipt, or holding the keys is not title. It may be useful evidence, but it is not ownership.
The three ways a “sale” leaves you without title
- An unnotarized private contract. You signed a contrato privado and paid, but the sale was never formalized into an escritura or registered. This is the most common version, and the seller may still be the registered owner.
- Ejido land sold as private. Communal (ejido) land sold to you as if it were private property. As a rule it cannot be privately owned until it is converted to dominio pleno.
- They sold what they didn’t own, or a double sale. The seller was not the registered owner, or sold the same property to more than one buyer. The registry, not the contract, decides who prevails.
Your realistic options
- Confirm the registry status. Everything starts with a title and lien search. It tells you which of the situations above you are actually in.
- Complete or regularize, if it’s curable. Where the seller is genuine and the property is registrable, the fix may be finishing the notarization and registration you were owed.
- Civil action. Depending on the facts: compel the deed (specific performance), or void or rescind the sale and recover what you paid.
- Criminal complaint (denuncia). Where there was deceit, such as forged documents, ejido sold as private, or a knowing double sale, fraud is a crime, and a denuncia before the Fiscalía can run alongside civil recovery.
- Mind the clock. Legal deadlines (prescripción) run in the background, and a registered third party can complicate matters the longer you wait.
What to bring to a review
- The contract and every amendment, your proof of payment (transfers, receipts), and any “escritura” or document you were handed.
- The property’s location and, if you have it, the folio real or registry data.
- The full names and IDs of the seller and any intermediary, and the messages between you.
The questions people ask us first
Honest, specific answers, the same ones we'd give you in a consultation.
Is a private purchase contract enough to own property in Mexico?
No. A private contract (contrato privado de compraventa) can create obligations between the parties, but ownership of real estate is proven by a public deed (escritura pública) granted before a notario público and inscribed in the Public Registry of Property (RPP). Until that registration exists in your name, you do not have a title the state recognizes against third parties, no matter how much you paid.
I bought what turned out to be ejido land. Do I own it?
Almost certainly not as a private owner. Ejido land is communal land under a separate regime, and as a rule it cannot be sold as private property until it has been formally converted (a process called dominio pleno). A private contract over ejido land sold as if it were private is a common and serious problem. Whether anything can be salvaged depends on the land's exact status, which a title search confirms.
Can I still fix it if the seller disappeared or won't cooperate?
Sometimes. The path depends on what you hold and on what the registry shows. Options can include a court action to compel the deed, or to void the sale and recover what you paid, and where there was deceit, a criminal complaint. None of this is guaranteed, and deadlines (prescripción) run in the background, so an early review matters.
What does it cost to find out where I stand?
A confidential first review is a flat-fee consultation (currently $150 USD). A formal title and registry search is quoted at a fixed price before any work begins. You will know the price, and whether the situation is worth pursuing, before you commit.
Honest from the start: we never guarantee an outcome or promise “your money back.” Anyone who does is a warning sign. And if a case isn't worth your time and money, we'll tell you that too. How we work
The next step
Tell us what's going on. We'll tell you the truth.
Confidential, and in plain English. No pressure, just a clear sense of where you stand.
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