Mexican statutes are usually read in fragments and under pressure: the article the other side cites, the one the authority invokes, the one that appears in the deed. This series reads them whole. Each piece starts from the statute itself, says what it governs and how it is organized, and then goes to the places where it actually bites a foreign owner, investor or resident. Citations are to the text in force; when a rule changed, the piece says when and how.
The series explains the law. It does not replace advice on a specific matter, and each piece keeps that distinction.
By statute
Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution, explained
Ejidos, beaches, water, the restricted zone and expropriation: the one article every land rule in Mexico comes from.
Ejido land: the test before you buy
What the agrarian regime is, why communal land cannot simply be sold, and how to tell in two minutes whether a parcel is still inside it.
The restricted-zone bank trust (fideicomiso)
What a fideicomiso is under the trust statute and the Foreign Investment Law, what the trustee does and does not do, and what it costs.
The foreign investment security review
The bill that would let Mexico review, condition or block foreign acquisitions in sensitive sectors, and the fines it contemplates.
Water concessions and the 2026 regularization window
How water rights work in Mexico, why they matter to a property, and the window CONAGUA opened to regularize them.
Who owns the beach
Mexican beaches are national property; what a hotel can and cannot do, and the fines for blocking access.
S.A. de C.V. or S. de R.L. de C.V.
The real differences between the two company types foreign investors use, and how to choose.
The seller's income tax, resident or not
The primary-home exemption, the deductions, the years rule and the non-resident regime, with worked examples.
Closing costs, line by line
Transfer tax, notary fees, registry fees, the lien certificate and the foreign buyer's permit in Jalisco, Nayarit, Guanajuato and Baja California Sur.
Residency requirements for 2026
Income and savings thresholds, fees and the sequence that applicants most often get wrong.
Notario público versus notary public
What a Mexican notario does, what they never do, and why the difference matters at closing.
Jalisco's Alerta Registral
The registry alert for owners who are not always in the room: what triggers it and where its job stops.
Next in the series
The new Ley General de Aguas and the reformed Ley de Aguas Nacionales (Diario Oficial, 11 December 2025), which made water concessions non-transferable and changed what happens to them when a property is sold; the Ley de Inversión Extranjera and the RNIE regulations; and the Ley Federal del Trabajo as it applies to a first employee. The Spanish series, Explicando leyes, follows the same approach for Mexican readers and began with the Ley Agraria.
If one of these statutes is already part of your matter, book a consultation. The first conversation is on us.
This series provides legal information, not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it. © 2026 Terra Firma Attorneys at Law · terrafirma.law