Property Due Diligence in Mexico

We verify the property at the source — never the seller's folder

Every property story in Mexico has two versions: the one in the seller's folder, and the one in the public registries. They usually match. When they don't, the difference is your savings. Our due diligence works exclusively from the source: the Public Registry of Property, the National Agrarian Registry (RAN), municipal records, and the documents we pull ourselves — because sellers' folders can be… creative.

What we check

• Title and ownership history — the folio real and its chain at the Public Registry of Property.
• Seller identity — is the person selling actually the registered owner, with capacity to sell?
• Ejido / agrarian status — the check that decides everything (see below).
• Liens, mortgages and lawsuits — a fresh certificado de libertad de gravamen, issued days before closing, not months.
• Property tax and utility debts — unpaid predial follows the property, meaning it can follow you.
• Basic zoning — that what you plan to do there is something the land can legally host.

The ejido check most buyers skip

Roughly half of Mexico is ejido or communal land — and it sits exactly where foreigners love to buy. That land lives in a different registry (the RAN), follows a different law, and while it remains under the ejido regime, a foreigner cannot acquire ownership of it — whatever the paperwork says. What circulates around it is possession, often priced as ownership.

This is our specialty and the reason clients come to us: we cross-check every property against the agrarian system — parcel certificates, dominio pleno history, whether a "converted" property really completed its conversion, and whether any corner of the land touches common-use land, where the largest frauds happen. If you want to see what skipping this check looks like, read our analysis of the Bacalar case — 130 families who paid for lots that never legally existed. Or start lighter: take the 2-minute ejido test.

What you receive

A written risk report in plain English: what the property is, what it isn't, every red flag we found, and a clear recommendation — proceed, renegotiate, or walk away. If the deal is good, you close with confidence. If it isn't, the report just paid for itself many times over.

When you need it — and when you don't

You need it before signing anything that moves money — including the contrato de promesa and its deposit, which is where most buyers get bound before they ever call a lawyer. You don't need the full package for a presale from a large, bank-financed developer with published title insurance — there, a lighter contract review may be enough, and we'll tell you so. We earn the same whether you buy or walk away; that independence is the product.

One more thing the closing table won't tell you: the notario doesn't do this for you. The notario formalizes the deal; they don't investigate the seller or hunt for agrarian problems. That's your lawyer's job — ours.

Flat fee, quoted upfront

You'll know the exact cost in writing before we start. No percentages, no surprises, no incentive to see the deal close.

Frequently asked questions

This page provides legal information, not legal advice; no attorney-client relationship is created by reading it or by sending a message. Flat fees are quoted in writing before any engagement. © 2026 Terra Firma Attorneys at Law · terrafirma.law