Frequently asked questions on Real Estate Law in São Paulo

Adverse possession (usucapião) is an original acquisition of ownership through continuous possession as owner, without opposition, for the period and under the conditions of the applicable legal category. It does not depend on a voluntary transfer by the former owner and may be recognized in court or extrajudicially. Years of occupation alone are insufficient: a lease or mere permission does not, by itself, amount to possession as owner. Public property cannot be acquired by adverse possession.

Extraordinary adverse possession requires 15 years, reduced to 10 with habitual residence or productive works or services. Ordinary adverse possession requires 10 years with just title and good faith, reduced to five in the specific statutory circumstances. The special urban and rural categories require five years, with limits of 250 m² and 50 hectares respectively; the family category requires two years. Each has additional conditions, such as residential use, productivity or owning no other property, depending on the category. Time alone is insufficient (Civil Code arts. 1,238–1,242).

Yes, at the real property registry for the property's location, with a lawyer and the documents required by Public Records Act art. 216-A, such as a notarial record of facts, survey plan and technical description where required, certificates and possession evidence. A missing prior signature is not an objection: notification is available, and silence within the statutory period may count as consent. A justified objection or an issue that cannot be resolved within the procedure may require court proceedings.

Civil Code art. 1,240-A requires direct, exclusive, continuous possession without opposition for two years over an urban property of up to 250 m², co-owned with a former spouse or partner who abandoned the home. It must be the applicant's or family's home, and the applicant must own no other urban or rural property; the benefit may be recognized only once. Separation or moving out alone is insufficient: abandonment and the other conditions must be established, without allocating blame for the relationship ending.

Building recordation (averbação de construção) adds the structure to the land's property record under Public Records Act art. 167, II, 4. The review generally covers municipal approval or an occupancy certificate (habite-se), the applicable ART or RRT technical responsibility document and tax regularization: CNO registration does not replace Sero assessment or the required tax clearance certificate. Specific exemptions depend on the building and applicable legislation. Missing recordation can prevent financing or hinder a sale, but does not automatically make every transaction impossible.

If the land is also not registered in your name, review the title and possession: check the adverse possession requirements.

Rectification under Public Records Act arts. 212 and 213 corrects omissions or inaccurate descriptions. Simple errors may follow a more direct procedure; changes to perimeter measurements require a survey plan, technical description and professional responsibility, with adjoining owners' consent or notification. A missing initial signature is not a veto: silence after notification may count as consent under the statutory rules. Rectification corrects the record; it does not acquire a neighbour's land without title or conceal an ownership dispute.

Urban Land Regularization (REURB), under Law 13,465/2017, combines legal, planning, environmental and social measures for informal urban settlements. REURB-S covers settlements predominantly occupied by low-income residents, as declared by the municipality; REURB-E covers the other cases. The municipality approves the procedure and issues the Land Regularization Certificate (CRF) for the appropriate registration and titling acts. Titling depends on the project and legal mechanism: neither ownership nor free processing is automatic for every occupant, and not every isolated irregularity requires REURB.

Review ownership and the property record, INCRA's SNCR/CCIR, rural tax (ITR), environmental registration (CAR) and applicable technical identification. Decree 12,689/2025 set 21 October 2029 for the general registry georeferencing requirement governing the transfers, subdivisions, parceling and mergers it regulates. Specific requirements remain: Decree 5,570/2005 art. 2 requires immediate georeferenced identification of rural property in actions filed from that decree's publication onward. CCIR, CAR, ITR payment and technical certification are not, individually, proof of ownership.

It depends on the acquisition. For a sale, review the documents, applicable ITBI, public deed where required—or a legally equivalent instrument—and registration of the title on the property record. Civil Code art. 1,245 makes inter vivos transfers dependent on registration. Gifts may involve ITCMD rather than ITBI; inheritance, compulsory transfers and adverse possession have their own titles and rules. In inheritance, ownership passes when succession opens, although probate and registration are needed to regularize the documentation.

A public deed is the instrument prepared by the notary to formalize the transaction. Acquisition registration is the act at the real property registry that transfers ownership in a sale under Civil Code art. 1,245. Registration and averbação are not synonyms: the latter records changes and facts specified by law. Signing a deed without registering it does not complete an inter vivos transfer. Certain transactions, such as financing arrangements covered by statute, allow a private instrument with the effects of a public deed.

In São Paulo city, the general rate is 3%, with reduced treatment for part of certain financed transactions, subject to conditions and limits. The City publishes a calculation based on the higher of the price and reference value, but that does not settle the legal analysis. STJ Theme 1,113 addresses the presumption in favour of the declared value and rejects advance unilateral assessment. CTN art. 38, amended by Complementary Law 227/2026, must also be considered: market value, disclosed technical criteria and a countervaluation through a dedicated procedure. Check the law applicable to the transaction and any challenge; acceptance of the declared price is not guaranteed. Deed, registration and taxes do not total a fixed percentage in every case.

Contrato de gaveta usually describes an acquisition that was not properly formalized or registered; financed property may also lack the lender's consent. It can create contractual and possessory rights, but does not replace ownership registration. Risks include double sales, encumbrances, the seller's debts, probate disputes and financing enforcement. The effects depend on good faith, evidence, required form and circumstances: assess the registrable title, lender participation where necessary and the regularization route.

The contract can protect certain rights, but does not automatically transfer ownership, and not every private instrument is directly registrable. For inter vivos transfers, Civil Code art. 1,245 requires registration of a legally suitable title. Unless statute provides otherwise, art. 108 requires a public deed for transactions involving real rights in property worth more than 30 minimum wages. Check valid form, possible exceptions and the route to complete acquisition; signing or paying alone is insufficient.

Check the updated property record and encumbrances, the seller's ownership and capacity, marital status, IPTU, condominium charges, occupancy and the building's municipal compliance. Judicial and tax certificates should be selected according to transaction risk, also considering statutory rules concentrating relevant acts on the property record: they are not all universal requirements for every purchase. The review goes beyond one certificate and helps identify risks before payment or commitments, without guaranteeing their elimination.

Before buying, selling or transferring property, paying a deposit or signing contracts; when choosing how to regularize titles, buildings, boundaries or possession; and when ownership, boundary, attachment or registry issues arise. A lawyer reviews documents, assesses risks and assists with formalization and registration. Acting early helps plan the transaction; it does not guarantee registry approval, financing or a court outcome.