How to verify the title of a condo or land in the Dominican Republic

Where the title is recorded

In the Dominican Republic, ownership of a property is what's recorded at the Title Registry. Law 108-05 on the Real Estate Registry says the records are presumed accurate and that a registered property has no hidden rights, charges or liens that aren't recorded, except those arising from the water and mining laws (Article 90).

• The certificate of title (certificado de título) is the official document issued by the State that proves a real right, such as ownership, and who holds it (Article 91). The Registry keeps the original and the owner holds a duplicate. When there are several co-owners, each one gets an extract (Article 92).
• The supplementary register (registro complementario) is where the property's mortgages, liens, other charges and annotations are recorded. It's what proves its legal status (Article 91 of the law and Article 94 of the General Title Registry Regulation).

The Title Registry is part of the Real Estate Registry, within the Judiciary. Its website is ri.gob.do, and the old address, ji.gob.do, leads there.

The general side of buying, new or resale, is in how to buy property in the Dominican Republic. This guide covers only the title.

The certification of legal status

It's the document in which the Title Registry certifies a property's legal status on the day it's issued: the current entries in its supplementary register and whether the owner's duplicate of the certificate of title is still valid (Law 108-05, Article 92). It's how you check what a title says, and the Real Estate Registry recommends requesting it before buying.

• Who can request it. Anyone with an interest. You have to identify the property precisely and state your interest. Foreigners present their passport and a second official ID from their country.
• Where. At a Title Registry office, through the Real Estate Registry's online office (Oficina Virtual) or with the RIMovil app, which sends it to you by email.
• Cost and timing. A fee of RD$1,000. The Registry's stated turnaround is 30 business days.
• What to look for. That the owner on record is the person selling to you; whether it has mortgages, liens or other charges; whether there are annotations, such as a lawsuit over the property; whether there's a registry block, such as a conditional sale; and whether it's under the condominium regime.

Ask for a recent one: it reflects the property's status on the day it's issued. And when the sale is signed, the owner can request the certification with priority reservation, which keeps that status fixed for 15 business days for the specific sale that's going to be recorded.

Check that the title exists and that it's that land

The Real Estate Registry has two online services, which you can use without an account, for two quick checks:

• That the document exists. In the product lookup (consulta de productos), with the document type (certificate of title, constancia anotada or certification), its serial number and its registration number (matrícula), you see whether it was issued, in which book and folio, and in whose name. It's available at many Title Registries, including those of the National District, Santo Domingo, Higüey (Punta Cana) and San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana.
• Where the parcel is. With the positional cadastral designation shown on the title, the property locator (localizador de inmuebles) places it on the map. Check that it's the land you're being shown.

Surveyed land or a constancia anotada

Surveyed land has its own certificate of title, with its cadastral designation and its approved survey plan. A constancia anotada, by contrast, proves ownership of a portion of a parcel without its own cadastral designation or an individual approved plan (Regulation 517-2007, Article 2): which portion it is hasn't been measured or located on the ground.

• Since Law 108-05, no new constancias anotadas are issued, except for properties under the condominium regime (Article 129).
• A portion held under a constancia anotada can be individualized in two ways. Through parcel regularization (regularización parcelaria), an administrative route, when there are no objections, possession is peaceful and the boundaries are clear on the ground (Regulation 790-2022, Article 5, as amended by Resolution 82-2025). Or through a deslinde, a contested process in three stages: the technical one, where it's surveyed and approved by the Cadastral Surveys office (Mensuras Catastrales); the judicial one, where the parcel's other holders can make claims; and the registry one, which ends with the property's certificate of title (Articles 10 and 11 of the same regulation).
• Anyone who buys a right held under a constancia anotada can start the deslinde themselves, with the purchase deed and a certification of legal status proving the seller was the owner (Article 10).

If you buy land held under a constancia anotada, keep in mind that, until it's individualized, which part of the parcel is yours isn't fixed. Ask who pays for the deslinde or the regularization and how long it will take.

A first title after saneamiento

When land is registered for the first time, through a process called saneamiento, its first certificate of title carries a note: for one year it can be challenged for fraud, and no one who buys it before that year is up is considered a third-party buyer in good faith (General Title Registry Regulation, Article 77). If you see that note, check the issue date.

If you buy pre-construction

Until the condominium is set up, your condo doesn't have its own title: what's recorded is the land. Before you pay:

1. Ask for the certification of the land's legal status. Check whose name it's in: the developer's, the landowner's or a trust company's, if the project has a real estate trust. That name has to make sense with the company selling to you and with the construction permit, which is issued in the owner's name.
2. Check whether it has a mortgage. If the land is mortgaged, for example for a construction loan, ask how your unit will be released. When the condominium is set up, the parcel's mortgage can be split among the units under a contract in which the lender expressly authorizes canceling it on the parcel, and each unit keeps its share (General Title Registry Regulation, Articles 121 and 124).
3. Check that the land is surveyed, with its own certificate of title.
4. Ask whether the project will set up the condominium in process (condominio en proceso). The regulation allows the condominium regime to be set up while construction is unfinished. Each unit then gets its own certificate of title, with a note saying its final registration depends on the building being finished, and its own supplementary register. When construction is done, the owners request the final registration without that note (Articles 79, 123, 124 and 125).
5. If your unit already has its own title, there's the conditional sale (venta condicional): it's recorded while the price hasn't been paid in full and blocks the property, so no other sale or act of disposition can be recorded on it (Law 108-05, Article 98). Ask your lawyer whether it makes sense in your case.

Meanwhile, what ties you to your unit is the contract: a promise of sale, and the final sale once your unit has its own title. What to look for in it is in how to buy pre-construction safely.

If you buy a finished home or land

• The seller has to be the owner shown on the certification. If they're married, the Registry also asks for their spouse's documents to record the sale, and the marriage certificate if the title doesn't mention the spouse and their ID shows a different marital status. If a company is selling, ask for its current commercial registration and the minutes authorizing whoever signs.
• A condo in a building set up as a condominium has its own certificate of title, and the land's certificate carries a note saying it's under the condominium regime (General Title Registry Regulation, Articles 78 and 120). Check that what you're buying is that unit.
• The IPI property tax. To record the sale, the Registry asks for a DGII certification that the property is up to date with the property tax (IPI) or exempt. Ask the seller for it before signing.
• After signing, you pay the transfer tax to the DGII and record the sale at the Title Registry. All the costs are in closing costs.

Checking it with Instadigs

Before you pay the reservation, at Instadigs we check the land title and whose name it's in, the MIVHED permit and the environmental permit, the company that's selling and where your money goes. Digger AI Agent, our AI agent, tells you for each project what it could verify and what's still to be confirmed. Asking it is free.

See projects in the Dominican Republic. Instadigs gives you back 100% of the commission it earns, on every purchase: it's credited to your property after you pay the down payment (how it works).