Obtain a property certificate (“Certificacion del historial de la finca”) and the cadastral value certificate (“Valor de matricula”)
Agency: Property Registry (Registro General de la Propiedad de Guatemala) (www.rgp.org.gt)
The seller obtains a certificate at the Property Registry in which the buyer can verify that the property is free from mortgages and encumbrances, and to verify that the property is owned by the seller. In order to obtain the certificate, the buyer needs to know the registry numbers where the property is registered. Usually this information is provided by the seller and it is usually the lawyer who verifies the books at the registry and obtains this information. This updated certificate of the property will be used later by the Notary to prepare the public deed.
This information can be searched online on www.rgp.org.gt , however only the physical, paper certificate, has legal value.
Time and cost: 4 days, GTQ 214 (Non-encumbrance certificate QTG 50 (for first 10 pages, each additional page +QTG 5) + Legal Fees QTG 164. Average number of pages: 10)
Obtain the cadastral value of the property from DICABI (Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles)
Agency: National Cadastre (Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles, DICABI)
In parallel to requesting a non-encumbrance certificate at the Property Registry, the Notary must obtain a certificate from the National Cadastre (Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles, DICABI) indicating the cadastral value of the property.
DICABI is a national institution containing information based on a “personal registry type” on all the regional registries in the country. Pursuant to amendments in Tax Law (Article 171 Decree 10-2012), authorized valuation of property and declaration of value of the real estate are mandatory.
The request can be either submitted online, or at a specific counter of the Superintendencia de Impuestos located in the Property Registry in Guatemala City. The most common practice by Notaries is to request all the certificates necessary to proceed with the property transfer physically at the different counters located in the Property Registry building.
It is common for Notaries to pick up the DICABI certificate once the non-encumbrance certificate has been issued by the Property Registry.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Obtain the cadastral value from the Municipality of Guatemala
Agency: Municipality of Guatemala
A certificate of the cadastral value can be obtained online; however it is more common to submit a paper form at the Municipality of Guatemala and obtain the certificate on the same day. This certificate is necessary as the Stamp Duty will be determined based on the highest value between the sale price, the cadastral value from DICABI and the cadastral value from the Municipality. For taxation purposes, the sale price cannot be smaller than the cadastral value of the property.
Time and cost: 1 day, no charge
Lawyer/notary prepares the sale agreement and notarizes it, along with the public deed
Agency: Lawyer / notary
The lawyer/notary (in Guatemala, the lawyer is also a notary public) prepares the sale and purchase agreement and notarizes it by redacting the agreement on a public deed. The deed is read by the Notary and then ratified and signed by the parties, thus accepting the transaction.
There is a scale in the Notary Act that regulates the fees and one will likely pay between $800 and $1000 for such a transaction. The notary will oversee buying the State stamps for the Stamp Duty tax of 3% charged to second and subsequent sales of properties (this is assumed to be the case in the Doing Business scenario). For the first sale of a property a VAT payment of 12% of the property value is paid. Stamps are adhered to the Public Deed. Payments of registration fees (GTQ.160.00 plus GTQ 1.5 for each GTQ 1,000 of transaction value) are made to the notary, who will then pay the property registry.
The documentation requested by the notary shall include:
- Updated non-encumbrance certificate of the property issued by the Property Registry (Obtained in Procedure 1);
- Photocopy of the ID of seller and buyer (passport or local ID). In case the seller/buyer is a Company, a photocopy of the appointment in which the Company gives sufficient faculties to proceed with the transfer of property is necessary. In some cases, a Board of Director´s resolution may be required;
- Cadastral value obtained at DICABI (Obtained in Procedure 2);
- Last receipt of payment of the property tax (Impuesto Único Sobre Inmuebles, IUSI);
- Cadastral value obtained at the Municipality of Guatemala (Obtained in procedure 3).
Time and cost: 2 days, GTQ 58,337.49 (3% of the property value for Stamp Duty (2nd or subsequent transfer) and between QTG 6500 – QTG 8200 for notary fees plus QTG 500 (tax stamps, copies, and others))
Public deed is delivered to the Property Registry for its recording
Agency: Property Registry (Registro General de la Propiedad de Guatemala) (www.rgp.org.gt)
The public deed is delivered to the Property Registry to be recorded under the name of the buyer. It is also advisable to obtain a certificate at the Property Registry to verify that the change of ownership has been properly recorded after registration is completed.
The internal procedures conducted by the Property Registry are as follows:
- All incoming cases are scanned and then randomly assigned to the officials (Operadores);
- The official registers the property electronically; issues the case file (Expediente) and if the legal requirements are met, registers the transaction (Inscripción);
- The Accounting Department verifies the payment of fees;
- The Registrar or auxiliary registrars approve and sign the registration certificate. With Decree 42-2006, electronic signatures from auxiliary registrars are legally valid. Each one is assigned a unique number by which they can electronically sign, facilitating the registration process;
- The Archives Department prints the Inscription of the Property Transfer and prepares it for the user.
It is also possible to verify the authenticity of the inscription of the transaction through www.rpg.org.gt (section “Validar razones registrales”). The buyer accesses to this information though a verifying code and a reference code previously given by the Property Registry.
Time and cost: 7 days, GTQ 2,684.37 (QTG 160 + 0.15% of transaction value (registration fees))
Notify the Municipality of the transaction
Agency: Municipality of Guatemala
Once the transaction is concluded the notary notifies the Municipality of Guatemala City of the change in ownership.
This step is important to update the cadastral value of the property for tax collection purposes. There is a small fine if this procedure is not fulfilled, but it has no effect on the validity of the registration of the property transfer obtained in the previous step. The notary needs to provide a copy of the title deed together with the notice. She/he will follow up with the municipality until they receive a statement of the updated records showing the updated information regarding the ownership of the property.
Notaries can notify the registration of property transfers to the Municipality of Guatemala City online. However, the majority of Notaries are still communicating property transfers by courier to the Municipality.
Time and cost: 10 days, no charge
Notify the National Cadastre and Valuation Agency (DICABI) of the transaction
Agency: National Cadastre (Dirección de Catastro y Avalúo de Bienes Inmuebles, DICABI)
The National Cadastre and Valuation Agency (DICABI) must also be notified of the change of ownership. This notification is presented simultaneously with the notification provided to the municipality.
Notaries can notify the registration of property transfers to DICABI online. However, the majority of Notaries are still communicating property transfers by courier to DICABI.
Time and cost: 10 days, no charge
