Are you sure the apartment you are about to buy is legal?

How to avoid unwanted surprises when buying property in Rio.

If you plan to buy a rooftop penthouse that is non-linear in Rio de Janeiro or any other apartment where the price seems “too good to be true”,

be really careful and check the deal well.

Because in the 1980s and 90s, building regulation was a mess in the city, and much corruption existed in city hall.

So, basically, people extended their apartments by adding new projects that were never really approved in City Hall, which allowed the property owner to not pay taxes for the new extension.

Buying such a property can result in many nasty surprises and back tax charges for the last five years.

An unregistered or irregular property is one whose construction or expansion has not been registered with the property registry called RGI (Registro Geral de Imóveis). This registration process is known as annotation and is essential for all changes made to the property to be legally recognized.

In this sense, the lack of annotation can lead to several problems for the current owner. Firstly, without annotation, the changes made to the property are not recognized by law, which can generate complications in real estate transactions, such as sale, donation or inventory, as well as problems with banks when trying to obtain financing.

In addition, the City Hall may impose fines for irregularities in the property or even request its demolition.

So know what you are getting into when you buy a property and study the deed to make sure all its parts are listed. It is also a great idea to request the support of a “despachante” (forwarding agent), who is an expert in checking the regularity of a property in City Hall and can also help with any issues.

In case you need to regularize an unregistered property, here are the steps:

1. Document collection
First, gather all the documentation related to the property, such as up-to-date deeds and architectural plans for the changes already made.
In addition, some cases require hiring an architect or engineer to prepare a regularization project for the changes made to the property. This project must comply with the current urban and construction standards of your city.

2. Approval at City Hall
Next, you must submit the regularization project to the city hall or the agency responsible for urban licensing.
If the regularization project requires adjustments or additional work to comply with the standards, carry out the necessary interventions under technical supervision.
After technical analysis and hopefully approval, the regularization license will be issued.

3. Registration at the property registry office
After the project is approved by the city hall, the changes made to the property must be registered in the property registry office. This registration is essential to formalize the changes and ensure their validity under the law.

4. Payment of fees and taxes
Another important factor is to ensure that municipal fees, such as property tax and any regularization charges required by law, are up to date.

5. Obtaining negative certificates
Finally, after regularization, obtain negative certificates of municipal and state debts that prove the property’s tax regularity.

Penthouse in Rio helps its clients properly manage this risk but do not expect all companies to do so.