Costa Rica Property Due Diligence: Printable Checklist
Sixty-three checks across thirteen groups, covering the land, the building standing on it, and the person or company selling it. Set it to match what you are buying, print it, and take it to your attorney.
This is what a Costa Rican property purchase should be checked against. It is deliberately longer than most transactions need, because the items that get skipped are usually the ones a specific property turns out to depend on.
It is meant to be printed and worked through with your attorney, so the boxes are for marking on paper. Read the gray text under each check before you mark it: one box can stand for four separate verifications, and marking it is only honest if all four were done.
The checklist tells you what to establish, not whether a particular answer is acceptable for your transaction.
Tailor this checklist to the property
Four groups apply only to some transactions. Turn off the ones that do not describe what you are buying, and they come off the printed sheet. All four are on to begin with, so nothing is hidden from you by default.
Your sheet will print 63 checks across 13 groups.
This sheet covers: the land, plus corporate ownership, the building on it, coastal rules, and unregistered possession.
Property (finca / plano)Date
Ownership and title
- Current folio real verified
- Current registered owner verifiedidentification·ownership shares and derechos·usufruct and bare ownership
- Seller identity matches the registered owner
- Seller's authority to sell confirmed
- Historical movements reviewed where appropriateprevious transfers·subdivisions·the parcel's lineage from its mother finca
- Underlying title documents reviewed where necessary
Liens and legal rights
- Current gravámenes checkedmortgages·embargoes·servitudes·other registered affectations
- Anotaciones checkedrecorded lawsuits·administrative matters·pending filings
- Each material encumbrance interpreted, not merely listedis it active·who benefits·what it affects·does it block your intended use
Cadastral information
- Plano catastrado obtained
- Plan number matches the property
- Registry area compared with surveyed area
- Location and adjoining parcels checked against the plan
- Cadastral inconsistencies investigatedold or conflicting plans·warnings printed on the plan
- Professional survey commissioned where appropriate
Boundaries and physical reality
- Physical boundaries inspected against the cadastral planfence lines·boundary monuments where relevant
- Encroachment by neighbors checkedoverlaps·apparent intrusions·neighboring construction over the line
- River, stream, or terrain changes considered
- Legal access identifiedpublic-road frontage, or a registered easement of passage
- Road status confirmednational·municipal·private·officially recognized or not
- Easement location and width understood, where the parcel depends on one
- Physical access matches the legal access
- Vehicle access tested where relevantbridges·culverts·gates·road condition in the rainy season
Zoning and development
- Applicable planning rules identifiedthe canton's Plan Regulador, or the INVU regulation where there is none
- Exact land-use zone and permitted uses confirmedincluding the use you intend, if it differs from the current one
- Minimum lot requirements checked
- Build envelope checkedcoverage·height·setbacks·density
- Subdivision potential checked
- Construction requirements reviewed
- Water source and service operator identifiedAyA·a local aqueduct·an ASADA·well·spring·concession
- Availability confirmed in writing where necessarywhether the connection is merely physical or legally recognized
- Well and concession status checkedregistration·term·nearby wells·groundwater restrictions
- Wastewater disposal checked
- Capacity tested against the intended use, not the current oneexisting service to a house is not proof of what you may add
- Municipal property taxes and outstanding balances checked
- Other municipal charges checked
- Property valuation reviewedthe value registered with the municipality·when it was last declared·whether the construction is included
- Impuesto solidario, the luxury home tax, considered where applicable
- Concession canon checked for coastal concessions
Environmental and protected areas
- Protected areas checkedSINAC registry·Patrimonio Natural del Estado·forest restrictions
- Water bodies and their protection strips checkedrivers·streams·wetlands·water-protection zones
- SETENA requirements checked for the intended activity
- Existing environmental approvals reviewedwhether they cover what you plan to do, not only what was built
- Corporate identity and standing confirmedlegal name·corporate identification number·active status
- Legal representative confirmed, with authority for this transactionpowers of representation·limitations on those powers·the corporate act authorizing the sale
- Corporate liabilities investigatedoutstanding obligations·whether the corporate records match the transaction
- Construction permits for the existing building obtained and reviewedLey 833 art. 74 requires one for all construction work·the municipal permit file·approved plans·date of construction
- What is built compared with what was approvedfootprint·number of floors·extensions added later·outbuildings and pools·modifying the approved project is itself an infraction
- Construction declared to the municipalityLey 7509 taxes constructions and permanent improvements, not only the land
- Building complies with the limits in force nowthe uso de suelo certificate states use, setbacks, coverage, density, height, frontage and minimum area
- Services connected and legally recognizedwater and wastewater for the current occupancy·electricity·which operator serves it
- Intended works assessed against current rulesrenovation·extension·demolition and replacement·a second minor-works permit within 12 months can be refused as splitting one big job
- If a condominium, the finca filial and the condominium regime reviewedwhat is privately owned against what is common·the rules·the administrator's fee certificate, since arrears pass to the buyer
- Zona Marítimo Terrestre status checked
- Official demarcation identifiedhigh-tide reference·mojones·50 m public zone·150 m restricted zone
- Concession confirmedstatus·holder·term·permitted use·municipal and ICT requirements
- Coastal regulatory plan checked
- Registration status confirmed
- Legal basis of the possession established, if unregistered
- Possession period and possessory history documentedwho possesses·how long·what evidence exists
- Eligibility for titling established
- Public-domain restrictions ruled outPatrimonio Natural del Estado·maritime zone
- Specialist attorney retained
A checked box is not a pass
The checklist records that a question was asked. Sorting the answers is a separate step, and it is where the decision gets made. Grade each finding rather than the property as a whole.
Verified
Checked, and no material problem for the intended purchase.
Requires review
The issue exists but may be manageable: a mortgage to be discharged at closing, a servitude outside the building area, a small cadastral discrepancy, an extension that needs regularizing.
Potential deal-breaker
The issue may undermine the transaction or the intended use: contested ownership, no defensible access, no viable water, public-domain overlap.
Reports are informational and not a substitute for legal advice.
The guide sets out when each stage of the investigation should happen and the ten findings that deserve a hard stop until they are resolved.
The full explanation
Costa Rica Property Due Diligence: The Complete Guide
Twenty questions, each with what to verify, why it matters, and the official source behind it. This checklist is how you work through them.
Read the guide →Start from what the records already say
A PropScan report pulls the official registry, cadastral, municipal, water, zoning, environmental, and access records for one parcel, so you hand your attorney a part-answered sheet rather than a blank one.