Real Estate Attorney, Rivadeneyra, Treviño & de Campo S.C.
Mexican law provides for the possibility of purchases of land in the ejido system. Still, investors face risks that may be compounded by common errors made by foreigners, some Mexican lawyers and the authorities. Converting communal land into private property and successfully purchasing and holding land in Mexico are not well known. Property law expert Juan-Carlos Cuevas analyzes purchase of communal (ejido) lands by foreigners in Mexico.
Mr. Cuevas writes: In light of the 1992 modifications to the previous Agrarian Law, ejidos can now change the legal status of their land so that it is regulated as private property, i.e., can be used, enjoyed and disposed of with the normal limitations, in accordance with civil law. This is known as Adopcin del Dominio Pleno (Adoption of Total Control), and means that the land can then be sold.
There remain certain important restrictions or legal obligations that have to be observed if an ejido is to be successfully acquired by a company or an individual outside of the core community.
The transformation of ejido land into private property, especially around beach areas, has been active for the past five years. Despite this, most buyers and sellers -- and even some authoritative bodies and Mexican lawyers -- are unaware of the correct process for the sale of this type of terrain. Buyers can lose time carrying out an incorrect process and can also find themselves at the legal risk of losing the land and their investment. For example, one law firm recently contracted to advise a US investor who had spent three years in the process of purchasing land from an ejido in Baja California discovered the prior process and associated documentation was so unsound, that the investor was required to begin the process correctly from square one.