The short answer
Every titled property has a folio real number in the National Registry. Anyone can look it up online for free and see the registered owner, mortgages, liens and annotations, and the recorded survey shows the boundaries. Still have your own attorney run the full study, because some records are not online.
The folio real
The folio real is the property's registration number. It is the single record that says who owns the land and what is recorded against it. If a seller cannot give you one, the lot is not titled.
The National Registry (Registro Nacional) runs a public online portal where you can create a free account and search by folio real number, by owner name or by ID number.
What the registry report shows
The report (informe registral) lists:
- The registered owner
- The area and the boundaries as described in the record
- Mortgages and liens
- Annotations: pending filings, lawsuits or claims
- Easements, such as a right of way across the land
- The survey map number tied to the property
The survey: plano catastrado
The plano catastrado is the recorded survey. It gives the lot's shape, area and position. Compare it with the registry record and with the ground: the areas should match, and the boundary markers should be where the survey says they are.
What an online search misses
The free search is informational. Some older properties are still recorded in the previous book-and-page system, and many supporting documents are only held as scans at the Registry. A complete study means reading those documents, and that is the work of an attorney or notary.
Certified reports, the kind used at closing, are issued for a fee.
Red flags
Stop and ask questions if you see any of these:
- The registered owner is not the person selling
- An annotation or lawsuit on the record
- A mortgage the seller did not mention
- The lot is still part of a larger farm and has not been segregated
- The area on the survey and the area in the registry do not match
- A right of way or other easement crossing the land
What the registry cannot tell you
A clean title does not confirm that the lot has water, legal road access or permission to build, or that nobody is living on it. Those are checked separately: with the municipality, the local water provider and a walk around the boundary.
Questions buyers ask
Yes. The National Registry's online search is free and open to anyone. Use it as a first look, then have an attorney do the full study.