Buying real estate or property in Chile should always start with a complete title search. Purchasing a property in Chile without a title search is like gambling, only you will not know if you got lucky for up to 10 years when all the possible statute of limitations for claims against a property are expired. Without a title search, you may not even know if you are buying the same property or the seller is really the owner. So, a title search should always be your first step in a property you are considering for purchase in Chile. Done right, you can rest assured that they property is yours. Chilean Attorney and professor of international law Zandra Valenzuela explains the basic steps and documents that should be included in full title search when buying real estate in Chile, South America. Unlike most of South America and Latin America, Chile's legal system is very well organized, fair, and corruption free; unfortunately, it is also safe to buy property in Chile because of the numerous layers of administrative and legal bureaucracy that safeguard buyers and property owners rights in the Chilean real estate market. Conducting a title search is the first step when considering a property for purchase in Chile. A real title search in Chile goes way beyond just tracking the ownership history of a property. There are many more issues that need to be checked amongst the numerous public records available in the Chilean legal system, and there are many other title issues that come from just common sense experience of the problems in particular regions.  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 of Chile. Let us start by emphasizing, that a complete title search should be done by an attorney; not a real estate agent or someone else.  Just some of the problems you or your attorney in Chile must consider on a region by region bases are the delicate status of the water rights, colonization laws, the effects of past agricultural policies of the Government, poorly conducted surveys, zoning and building permits, among many others. What to look for is mostly determined by the history of local development patterns of the region.  Knowing were to look for the problems with any particular property is not an easy task, and finding the right strategy for a complete title search takes time. The best advise is take that time and do not rush into a purchase, or allow anyone to rush you in to a purchase in Chile until the title search is complete. However, 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. Documents Needed for a Title Search in Chile To start a title search you must have the registration information for the latest title on the property. The most important information is the county were 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. If you have this information, at the County Registry you can request the 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 processes.  You must keep in mind that for a comprehensive title search will include an examination of all registrations for 10 years. The time frame it is based on the maximum statute of limitations established by law for bringing legal claims against property in Chile. Many problems, or potential problems, can be detected based only on the information collected by the title registration. For example, potential legal claims based on inheritance, pending contract obligations, and so on.  Remember that each county (or group of counties in the less populated areas of the Chile), have their own regional Registry. For purchases of property in southern Chile, handling a title search from Santiago will imply 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 Futaleufu, this will mean dealing with the Municipality in Futaleufu, the Registry in Chaiten, and the regional authorities such as the IRS office in Puerto Montt.  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.

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If you do not have a Chilean Credit Card you must deposit the money in the Registry's bank account and fax or email a copy of the deposit slip to them in order for them to processes the request. The status of requests can be tracked online. 

Additionally there is a plan to implement a national system for the request of official documents related to real estate and contracts administrated by the site, "Conservadores en linea" at http://www.siri.cl/

Even though this system is working, we have found problems regarding process and access to the more remote registries in Chile that are not part of the organization that is in charge of the website. Also, the time it takes for you to request and for an order to be processed is often much longer than a direct request to the registries. Contacting directly the Registries, and setting up a remote system with each of them, seems to be the most efficient method we have found for requesting documents for our clients.

Property Title Registries in Chile
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, Registry and Archiver. 

The title registry maintains the following public records:
• Property 
• Mortgage 
• Prohibitions and Legal Capacity 
• Commerce 
• Water Rights 
• Mineral Rights 
• Industrial Lean 
• Agricultural Lean 
• Special Lean Law 4,702 

As reference, these are a list of typical documents you need for any title seach, and the prices as listed on the site Conservadores en Linea:

Certificado de Dominio Vigente (Certificate of Outstanding Ownership)
The Registry certifies that the ownership of certain person is still valid. 

Price: CLP$ 4900.00

Certificado de Gravámenes y Prohibiciones (Certificate of Mortgage and other limitations to ownership and Prohibitions)
With this document the Registry certifies the current limitations to ownership such as mortgage, easements, rights of use affecting the property, or alternatively the fact that there are no such limitations. Prohibitions on a certain property in Chile might be either conventional or by a court order. For example, a prohibition to sell the property in the first 5 years after the owner purchased 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 just prohibit the owner from entering in to contracts to sell while a dispute is pending. (Embargo and Prohibicion de celebrar actos y contratos)

Price: CLP$ 6600.00 

Certificado de Litigios (Certificate of Legal Claims)
Record of legal claims pending regarding the property or the fact that it does not have any legal claims pending registered at the time of the request. Additional steps must be taken to check this throughly. There can be a time gap between a legal claim being filed with the court and the time the registry is notified.

Price: CLP$ 9900.00 

Certificado de Bien Raíz Familiar (Certificate of Family Status of the Property)
According to Chilean Law a property can be given the status of Family Property. The usually affects the first home in cases where divorce or alimony payments are pending. This law is intended to protect the home of the family.

Price: CLP$ 12200.00 

Water rights
In Chile the system of water rights it is separated from the owner's right to the property. In order to get water rights a special procedure must be followed at the regional water authority (Direccion Regional de Aguas). The Registry has a special public record for those water rights called "Registro de Aguas". Copies of those rights must be requested when studying a title. This is especially important in areas where without proper water rights, the property would be essentially worthless. This registry also covers well on the property, or anything effecting the water table in an area.

Price: Ch$ 4900.00 

The Registry also has public records of all corporations in Chile. This is known as the "Registro de Comercio". You can get copies of those registrations and if a certain person does have the authority to act on behalf of the corporation for buying or selling a property. There are no valid corporations in Chile that have not been registered in this public record.

Beyond checking the documents the registry issues, and relating that information to the other public records and data bases in Chile, there are a few additional issues that might be worth considering when purchasing a property: 

Surveys and boundaries in Chile: 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 with the property lines or boundaries. However, the situation in the cases of agricultural or rural land is radically different. We have detected many serious flaws in the system of registration and the national survey system recorded with the Bienes Nacionales (the Chilean department of the interior ) and their national data base. 

For example, in the case of agricultural land, subdivisions must be approved by the Agricultural Authority and registered in the Bienes Nacionales Office (National authority for public property). For that reason the engineer or surveyor in charge of that subdivision must present the project to those authorities for approval in Chile. The authorities should check if the survey is correct, and in accordance with the previous documents and that all boundaries are consistent. Being an act of authority, they are presume to be correct; but, in practice we have encountered serious errors with the plots. In terms of legal consequences, a mistake of this sort will end in Court proceedings, independently of the legal responsibility of the official that approved such a plot with the errors. Double checking that the plot presented to the authorities has been done without mistakes is essential.

Thus, as standard practice we recommend to all of our clients that properties be independently resurveyed before purchase, and when preliminary information in the title search indicates a problem we insist that the property be resurveyed ( e.g. the property is on a river, or descriptions from one title to the next does not match ). 

Following the subdivision, if we check the registered title description, 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 "Minuta de Deslindes". In most cases the old boundaries will be described on the title vaguely, and usually describe the border in reference to the ownership of the neighboring properties that might have changed or had errors itself. In rural areas, it is typical to find titles describing the limit like the following:

North: Property of Carlos Matamala, separated by a fence.

South: River Claro in 5 meters of the highest waters.

East: Property of Carrera Family, separated by a fence.

West: Property of Carlos Matamala, separated by a fence.

As we can see in this case, there might not be even reference to how many meters each line has or if it is a straight line or skew. As the property gets split, descriptions are better and the plots registered have GPS references. For these reasons it is crucial to check the description on the document called "minuta de deslindes" and plot itself. Also, it might be necessary to check the titles of the neighboring properties and their plots in a sort legal and surveyor forensics operation to determine the real property lines. 

When properties have not been subdivided, checking the old plots on the field it is very important. Most of the references on those old plots are to either natural marks (e.g. rivers, old rotting logs)- that might have change - or owners that might not be the same. That said, for the most part, tracking down problems tends to be easy, as the situation in conflict might be of public knowledge in the community. 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 to detecting problems. 

We have seen that in most cases with rural property in Chile boundaries are not as easy to determined 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. Re-surveying the property, establishing GPS coordinates as reference on the Sale and Purchase agreement, checking the neighboring properties not only in paper but by talking to the owners, and marking the boundaries on the property with metal survey markers (not common practice in Chile) are just a few of the many steps that might be taken in order to avoid legal crusades in the future when purchasing property in Chile. 

Expropriation of Private Land in Chile
The Chilean legal System established that nobody can be deprived of their property or any of the attributes of ownership if it is not by a general or particular law authorizing expropriation for based on the common wealth or national interest. The legality of that expropriation act can be dispute in court, and always the expropriation gives the right to a 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 of the property. Foreigners and Chileans owning property in Chile have the exact same rights and responsibilities in regards to owning property in Chile. Usually for major public projects the Government tends to pay higher prices than the market value to avoid any possible conflicts in Court. 

In order to check if a property is being considered for expropriation there are 2 basic documents: 

1. Certificado de no Afectacion Municipal (Expropriation at the county level)

2. Certificado de no Expropiacion (Expropriation at the National Level)

The national level must be requested usually at the regional office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planing. The municipalities of each county issue the other certificate and set the requirements of time and information needed in order to get it. Both certificates have a cost, usually under the US $20, and will declare clearly if the property is being considered for expropriation.

Zoning Laws in Chile
Getting information about building or restoration requirements for the property you wish to buy, or if you are allowed to have a commercial operation in a certain neighborhood must be done at the Municipal level. Zoning is dealt with on county by county basis. Each Municipality has its own set of rules for the requesting and type of certificates you might need based on their Municipal Urban Planing Statute. In most cases this will not be an issue were buying property for residential purposes, unless you are planing to build a second floor or make changes that might affect the side walk, such as fences and access. The certificates issued by the Municipality are usually called "Certificado Municipal de Zonificación" or "Certificado de informaciones Previas". In these you will find the particular details about the conditions applicable for the use of the land and construction requirements. As a general trend, the bigger the city, the more requirements regarding urban planing. There are cities though, that do not have their own Urban Planing Statute or office. 

Construction Permits in Chile

In order to build a house, the architectural project and the construction itself must be approved by the Municipality. It is a good to ask for the construction permits before buying a building. In many areas, mostly rural, the projects get approved but the final certification is still pending. (i.e. a process called Recepcion Definitiva de las Obras where the county authorized the use of a construction for either residential or commercial purposes). It is typical that it will take time to get all the documents needed for that approval. Rarely will the problem be more than bureaucracy and time, but there might be a possibly that something more serious is occurring. 

Business Permits and Land Use in Chile
It is good to have in mind when buying property for commercial purposes in Chile to check if establishing a business is possible in the areas were you are buying, and if the commercial use has been properly authorized by the local Municipality. If the property is registered as residential, you can ask for a change of use at the Municipality.

This has nothing to do with your business license in Chile. For that, you must apply with several local authorities and follow their procedures. This reference is just regarding the use of your property. 

In conclusion, you can see that conducting a title search in Chile is not a trivial thing. We do not recommend that you attempt a title search on your own. It is our recommendation to seek competent legal help to conduct a title search, but in this article we hoped to give you a reference point for the sorts of documents you should expect to receive in a complete title report when considering buying real estate in Chile. 

Just one more word of advice. If a title search turns up a problem on potential property you wish to buy, keep in mind that there are very few problems that can not be fixed. In most cases, you can still have that dream vacation property you always wanted in Chile.