There can be many reasons that you would want to do a title search by property number of your Costa Rica real estate. You want to make sure you own a clear title. Or you want to look for a property that you inherited. Or you are looking for that condo you think your husband bought for his lover. How do you do this?
Often, we receive requests for assistance from property owners who want to check the title of their property on their own. They don’t know how to do this, the reason for this article.
Did you hire one of our affiliate agents to purchase your property? Just send him/her an email and you’ll receive free assistance. If you own property in Costa Rica, you should probably be doing a title search once a month. Just to make sure your title is still clear.
What is the property number?
Many property owners do not know where to find the property number or what to even look for. If you didn’t get a property number from your lawyer after closing, you might not even own a property in Costa Rica. Or maybe you don’t know the number but you don’t know where to look for it? This might be a good time to start looking for it.
At closing, you should have received a “testimonio” from the closing attorney. This is a copy of the title transfer in the attorney’s “protocol”. Once the attorney has presented the title transfer to the National Registry and it was approved by them, you should have received the deed.
Sometimes, deeds are rejected by the registrar because there is an error. This is the reason you should not rest in peace until you get a final deed from your closing attorney.
Folio Real
The property number is called “Matricula” or “Folio Real” and is always mentioned in the beginning of the deed. It is possible you had a very diligent closing attorney. In that case, the attorney also gave you a title search (See Image) as proof that the property was registered in your name (or corporation) in the National Registry.
If you have this title search, you will find the property number on the top right of the title search, as shown below with a red arrow. This is also called número de Finca. You should also be able to find it at the beginning of your deed if you have one.
A property number consists of three or four parts:
- The number of the province (Costa Rica has 7 Provinces).
- The property number (matricula or número de Finca).
- In case the property is in a condominium, the number is followed by an “F”. This stands for Finca Filial.
- At the end of the property number you will find either 000 or when there are several owners it will show as 001, 002 etc.
Lost property number?
Did you lose your property number and you don’t remember where you can recover the information?
You can try two things:
- If you remember the name the property was registered in (ownership), you can check the title yourself. Learn here how to do this.
- Check with the attorney who transferred the property to your name. He/she should have it on file.
The National Registry
Start your title search by property number by going to the Registro Nacional (also called Registro Público). The translation in English is National Registry. The National Registry contains a property registry (real estate and vehicles). Their website is RNP Digital and is only in the Spanish language.
Register first
Registration on the National Registry site is totally FREE of any cost.
To be able to search on the National Registry system, you first have to register. Go to the registration page (See Image) and see where I registered my email address and password (see red arrow). Fill out your name and email address at “Registrarse por Primera Vez”, which means “Register for the First Time”.
Then you will receive an email with the login, so you can go back to the same page again. Now you will be able to enter your search.
Title search by property number
Now you’re ready to start a title search by property number. After clicking the “ingresar” button, the system will show you a new screen. On the left, you will see a new page with a menu on the left (See Image).
You can use this menu to do your FREE Costa Rica real estate title search by name, as shown below. Here you have 12 options and the 3rd option, the one with the red arrow, is the one you are looking for: CONSULTAS GRATUITAS – Free Consultation. Please click that link.
Número de Finca
Now, you want to do the search in “número de Finca”, so click that as shown with the red arrow. You will now get a new screen that says “Consulta por Número de Finca”.
Province
Here, you need to fill out the number of the province where your property is located:
- San José
- Alajuela
- Cartago
- Heredia
- Guanacaste
- Puntarenas
- Limon
Property number
Now use the property number as you have found it in your documents. If your property is a condominium, use “Horizontal” F and use the “captcha” system to prove you’re not a robot. I know, it looks kind of messed up, but it’s been like that for years. It does function though. Once you’ve filled out the mathematical result, click “consultar”.
You will now see the results of your title search by property number. These results will show all the property information, if there are mortgages or other liens or not. If you are in doubt about anything that you see on the title search and are not sure about, consult your lawyer.
In return for this FREE information, we hope to get your future Costa Rica real estate business. Want to purchase or sell a property in Costa Rica? Contact us now. Feel free to leave your comments on this blog. If you like this article, please feel free to share it on your social media.
