Frequently asked questions on Real Estate Law in São Paulo

Adverse possession (usucapião) is the means of acquiring ownership of real property through prolonged, undisturbed, peaceful and uninterrupted possession, for the term and under the conditions required by law. It is an original acquisition: the right arises from possession, not from a purchase. It serves to regularize the position of someone who has occupied a property for years as if its owner, but does not hold registration in their name. It may be carried out judicially or extrajudicially.

They vary by type: the extraordinary type requires 15 years of possession (or 10, if the possessor lives or works on the property); the ordinary type, 10 years with just title and good faith (5, in certain cases); the special urban type, 5 years over up to 250 m²; the special rural type, 5 years over up to 50 hectares; and the family type, 2 years (art. 1.240-A of the Brazilian Civil Code). The right type depends on the case.

Yes. Extrajudicial adverse possession allows ownership to be recognized directly at the real property registry office, without a court action, where there is consensus and the necessary documentation (notarial deed of facts, survey plan and descriptive memorial, consent of the adjoining owners). In São Paulo, it is processed at the real property registry office where the asset is located. Where there is a dispute or a lack of consent, the judicial route is used.

Family adverse possession (art. 1.240-A of the Brazilian Civil Code) allows the spouse or partner who remained in the property after the other abandoned the home to acquire the share that belonged to the former partner, in just 2 years. It requires an urban property of up to 250 m², used as the family's home, and that the applicant not own another property. It is the shortest-term type under Brazilian law.

You need to carry out the recordation of the building, the act that adds the structure to the property record (matrícula) — which, without it, describes only the land (art. 167, II, 4, of the Public Records Act). As a rule, it requires the certificate of occupancy from the city, the regularization of the construction with the Federal Revenue Service (CNO) and the technical responsibility note (ART) of the responsible professional. It is indispensable in order to sell, finance or give the property as security.

Through rectification of the record, which corrects wrong information on the property record (matrícula) — area, measurements, boundaries, description (arts. 213 and 214 of the Public Records Act). In most cases it is done administratively, at the registry office itself, with a survey plan and descriptive memorial signed by a qualified professional and the consent of the adjoining owners. It does not increase the property: it merely adjusts the property record to the reality of the property.

REURB is Urban Land Regularization (Lei 13.465/2017), a set of measures to regularize informal urban settlements — unregistered subdivisions and occupations — and to grant title to the occupants. There are two types: REURB-S (social interest) and REURB-E (specific). The Municipality conducts the process and issues the Land Regularization Certificate (CRF), which, once registered at the registry office, opens individual property records for each unit.

You need to bring the property up to date with INCRA (CCIR and certified georeferencing), the Federal Revenue Service (rural land tax, ITR) and the environmental registry (CAR), recording the georeferenced description on the property record. Georeferencing certified by INCRA (Lei 10.267/2001) is mandatory in order to sell, subdivide, divide or gift the land. Without regularization, the rural property cannot move within the registry.

In three steps: pay the ITBI (municipal transfer tax), execute the public deed at the notary office and register it on the property record, at the real property registry office. Only registration transfers ownership (art. 1.245 of the Brazilian Civil Code). Without it, even after paying and signing everything, you are not yet the formal owner of the property.

The public deed is the document, made at the notary office, that formalizes the sale and purchase with public faith. Registration is the entry of that deed on the property record (matrícula), at the real property registry office. The difference is decisive: the deed alone does not transfer ownership — what transfers it is the registration (art. 1.245 of the Brazilian Civil Code). For this reason, executing the deed without registering it leaves the property still in the seller's name.

In the city of São Paulo, the ITBI rate is 3% (Municipal Law 11.154/1991), calculated on the greater of the transaction price and the City's reference market value. The tax is paid by the buyer, before the deed is executed, and is a condition for registering the property. Together with the deed and registration, the total cost of the transfer comes to around 4% to 5% of the value.

An unregistered sale agreement (contrato de gaveta) is the sale and purchase of a property made by private instrument only, without a deed and without registration on the property record. The risk is high: because registration was not carried out, the buyer is not the legal owner (art. 1.245 of the Brazilian Civil Code), and the property may be attached for the seller's debts, resold or become the subject of a dispute in probate (inventário). Regularizing is the safe path.

Not entirely. As long as the contract is not taken to registration on the property record, ownership remains, legally, with the seller (art. 1.245 of the Brazilian Civil Code). This exposes the buyer to risks such as attachment for the seller's debts and double sale. The ideal is to execute the deed (when required, for properties worth more than 30 minimum wages — art. 108 of the Brazilian Civil Code) and register it as soon as possible.

By checking the certificates of the property and of the seller: the updated property record and the certificate of liens (to check mortgages, attachments and encumbrances), certificates of the seller's lawsuits and tax matters, and the status of property tax (IPTU) and condominium fees. Debts and disputes may fall on the property or on the buyer. This prior analysis, carried out by a lawyer, prevents losses in what is, for most families, their largest investment.

Before buying, selling or transferring a property; to regularize the documentation (recordation, rectification, adverse possession, REURB); and in the face of any dispute over possession or ownership. In São Paulo, where values are high, checking the certificates and properly handling the deed and the registration protect the buyer. A specialized firm prevents the deal from stalling or generating loss.