Registry fraud: how to protect your property

Translated from the Spanish original. If there is any discrepancy between the two versions, the Spanish text prevails. Read the original in Spanish.

A woman who lives abroad looks up her house in the National Registry (Registro Nacional) out of curiosity and discovers that the property appears in someone else’s name. She never signed anything. Someone submitted a forged deed, with her name and her ID number, and managed to have it recorded. These cases, in which a false document or a deed that was never executed is used to transfer or mortgage someone else’s property, are known as registry fraud (fraude registral). The law offers tools to prevent it and to reverse it, but time works against the victim.

How does registry fraud happen?

It is almost always committed with a certified copy of a deed (testimonio de escritura), which is the copy that the notary public (civil-law notary) issues from the original deed so that it can be submitted to the Registry. The problem arises when that copy does not match any real deed in the notarial protocol book, or when its content does not match the original. The National Registry Security Strengthening Act (Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Registral del Registro Nacional), No. 9602, calls the first situation “nonexistent original” (matricidad inexistente): the copy is not recorded in the original deed (Article 2).

There are also frauds involving forged powers of attorney, documents that appear to come from a court that never issued them, or deeds executed in the name of a person who was out of the country or had already died.

What changed with Act 10830?

In November 2025, the Act to Prevent Fraud Involving Registrable Property and Rights (Ley para evitar el fraude sobre bienes y derechos registrales), No. 10830, amended Act 9602. Before, that law referred to the Real Property Registry (Registro Inmobiliario). Now its rules also cover the Registry of Legal Entities and the Registry of Movable Property, where, for example, corporations and vehicles are recorded (Article 8 of Act 9602).

The core rule is that entries made with fraudulent documents, because they contain a nonexistent act, are canceled, and the Registry returns to its prior state. This can be done on the Registry’s own initiative or at the request of the affected person, provided that the nonexistence can be objectively proven before the Registry itself (Article 5). In addition, no one may claim rights arising directly from a fraudulent entry.

Is there any limit?

Yes, and it is important. The law protects the so-called protected third party (tercero registral protegido): someone who acquired a right in good faith, paying for it and relying on what the Registry showed, and who submitted their document for recording (Article 2). If the fraudster has already sold the property to a person in that position, the Registry cannot simply erase what happened. In that case, a registry block notice (nota de bloqueo registral) is entered, which freezes the property (Article 7), and the underlying dispute will have to be resolved in court.

That is why speed is decisive: the sooner the fraud is detected, the less likely it is that the property has passed to third parties.

What can you do if you discover fraud?

The General Regulations of the Real Property Registry (Reglamento general del Registro Inmobiliario, Executive Decree 44647) provide two main routes:

Request a warning notice (nota de prevención). This is a notice published on the property record so that anyone who looks it up knows that there may be an irregularity, although by itself it does not prevent new entries (Article 291). The affected person requests it from the Office of the Director of the Real Property Registry, with a filing authenticated by a notary public, a certified copy of the criminal complaint, and a document proving the irregularity, such as a certification from the Notarial Archive (Archivo Notarial) stating that the deed does not exist (Articles 293 and 294). The notice remains in place for one year, pending the recording of the criminal case on the property record (Article 299).
Request cancellation of the fraudulent entry. If a certification from the Notarial Archive, the National Notarial Directorate (Dirección Nacional de Notariado), or a court shows that the deed does not exist or that its substance differs from the certified copy, cancellation of the entry may be requested (Articles 305 and 308).

The decision ordering cancellation may be appealed to the Administrative Registry Court (Tribunal Registral Administrativo) within five business days after notice of it (Article 5 of Act 9602).

Practical recommendations

Activate the Registry Alert (Alerta Registral). On its rnpdigital.com portal, the National Registry offers this paid service: it emails you every time a document affecting the monitored asset is filed, whether real estate, a vehicle, or a company. It costs about 15 dollars a year per asset, and you do not need to be the owner to activate it. It does not stop the registration, but it warns you in time to react.
Check your property regularly. The National Registry’s online portal offers free searches (Articles 4 and 49 of the Regulations of the National Registry Services Directorate, Executive Decree 42835).
Request a certification of the owners’ index (certificación de índice de personas). It shows the property recorded in your name and helps you spot transactions you do not recognize (Article 4).
Act immediately. If you see a transfer, a mortgage, or a change of legal representative that you did not authorize, file a criminal complaint and seek advice that same day.
Take care of your documents. Do not hand over copies of your ID or sign powers of attorney without knowing what they will be used for.

Need help?

Registry fraud requires acting quickly and with the right documents. At Murillo y Guzmán we can review the status of your property, prepare the filings before the Registry, and assist you in the court proceedings that apply. Book a consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case. To discuss your situation, book a consultation.