Costa Rica Real Estate Glossary: Spanish Terms in Plain English
The Spanish words a buyer meets in Costa Rican property records, government offices and listings. Each entry gives the most practical English translation and explains the term in plain words, with a link to our article where one covers it.
All terms
The terms, explained
Acceso excepcional para uso residencial ↑
Exceptional residential access. The town version of a private access strip. Where a property inside an urban area cannot be divided into lots that each face a public road, because of its frontage and depth, the subdivision rules allow a strip exactly 6 meters wide to reach the inner lots. It is not a public road, so no public body has to maintain it or bring services along it. Read more: Road access
Afectación a habitación familiar ↑
Family-home protection, also called patrimonio familiar. A note on a home's registry record that protects it as the family's residence. While it is recorded, an owner who is married cannot sell or mortgage the home without the spouse's consent, except by court order. It is made by public deed, takes effect when it is registered and pays no taxes or registry fees. It ends by agreement, by divorce or legal separation, or by court order, among other causes. Look for it in the registry record before you agree a price.
Albacea ↑
Executor. The person who administers an estate after an owner dies and represents it, in court and out of it, with the powers of a general attorney-in-fact. A property still registered to someone who has died belongs to the estate, so have a lawyer confirm how it can be sold before you commit.
Alineamiento ↑
Building line. The minimum distance a building must keep from a public road, and also from rivers and streams, springs, the maritime zone, railways and high-voltage lines. Ask the municipality for it for the specific lot before you design anything, because it can take usable land from the front of a lot without anyone buying it. Read more: Road access
Amenaza ↑
Hazard. What Costa Rica's national hazard maps show: where floods, landslides and other natural hazards occur. The law treats hazard and riesgo, risk, as different things, so no hazard map can tell you whether a particular house is in danger. The maps are published by the CNE and drawn at a scale of 1:50,000. Read more: Flood and landslide maps
Anotaciones ↑
Annotations. The part of the registry record that lists things still in progress: lawsuits awaiting a decision, administrative alerts and documents filed but not yet recorded. The first document filed takes priority, so an annotation older than your purchase can defeat your title. Check them again just before closing. Read more: Liens and encumbrances, Title search
Apostilla ↑
Apostille. A certificate the issuing country adds to a public document, such as a power of attorney signed before a notary abroad, so that it can be used in another member country without consular legalization. Costa Rica approved the Hague convention that created it in 2011, by Ley 8923. Between member countries the apostille is the only formality that can be required to confirm the signature and the signer's capacity.
Arras ↑
Earnest money, also señal. Money handed over when a sale is agreed. Under the Civil Code it counts toward the price and confirms the contract, and neither side can walk away by giving it up unless the contract expressly says so. If you want that right, write it into the contract.
Arrendamiento ↑
Lease. A rental contract. Under the law on urban and suburban leases, a lease runs at least three years even if it says less, and it renews for another three unless the landlord gives notice at least three months before it ends. If the property is sold, the lease stays in force and the tenant pays the new owner, so read any lease before you buy a rented property. The law does not cover tourist homes rented by the season in zones the ICT has declared suitable for tourism.
ASADA ↑
Community water association. A local association that runs a community water system under delegation from AyA. ASADAs serve a large share of the country. If a property's water comes from one, the ASADA is the one that issues the water availability letter. Read more: The water letter
Asiento de presentación ↑
Filing entry, identified by its citas de presentación. When a deed is presented to the Registro, it gets a filing entry whose citas are a volume (tomo) and an entry number (asiento), given in the order of filing. Against third parties a document counts from the day it is presented, which is why the first document filed takes priority. Read more: Title search
Avalúo ↑
Appraisal. An expert valuation of a property. For property tax the law defines it as the calculations that set a property's value, taking its use into account, made by a registered agronomist, engineer or architect. An owner who disagrees with a municipal valuation has fifteen business days from notice to appeal to the municipality's valuation office. The same word is used for the appraisal a bank orders before lending. Read more: Property tax
AyA ↑
National water and sewer utility (Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados). It runs water systems directly in many areas and delegates others to ASADAs. Its service regulation sets the rules for water availability letters, and those rules bind AyA fully but other operators only in part. Read more: The water letter
Beneficiario final ↑
Beneficial owner. The person who ultimately owns or controls a company. Every company and private trust domiciled in Costa Rica must report its shareholders and beneficial owners to the Banco Central, which keeps the register.
Bien único ↑
Sole-property exemption. A property tax exemption for the only property a person owns, up to 45 salarios base, which in 2026 covers the first CRC 20,799,000 of value. It does not apply to property held through a company, and owning a second lot anywhere in the country removes it. Read more: Property tax
Bienes gananciales ↑
Marital property. What a spouse acquires during a marriage, except what the law excludes, such as gifts and inheritances. During the marriage each spouse owns and can freely dispose of their own property, unless a prenuptial agreement says otherwise. When the marriage ends or the couple separate legally, each spouse is entitled to half the net value of the other's gananciales, and from that declaration the property is tied to the settlement.
Cabida ↑
Area of a property, also medida; the registry record gives it on the line Mide. If a property sold at a set price per unit of area turns out larger or smaller, the price adjusts in proportion. If it was sold for a total price with its area stated, the price adjusts only when the real area differs from the stated one by at least 10%. The claim must be brought within a year of the contract, or of the date set for measuring. Read more: Title search
Calle pública ↑
Public street. The everyday phrase for a public road. In the regulations it means a street in a town's cantonal road network; the legal term for any public road is vía pública. Read more: Road access
Camino público, camino vecinal ↑
Public road (rural), local road. A camino público is the rural counterpart of a calle pública, the kind of road that reaches farms. A lot on a camino vecinal fronts a public road but not a calle pública, so use the right term when you ask an official, or you may get an answer about the wrong kind of road. Read more: Road access
Canon ↑
Concession fee. The yearly fee a concession holder pays the municipality for land in the maritime zone, in place of property tax on that land. For residential use it can reach 3% a year of the land's appraised value, twelve times the ordinary property tax rate. Paying a canon without a concession gives no right to the land. Read more: The maritime zone, Property tax
Carta de disponibilidad de agua ↑
Water availability letter. The everyday name for the constancia de disponibilidad, the document in which the water operator, whether AyA, an ASADA or a local operator, says it can serve a property. Without it the municipality will not issue a building permit. Sellers often hand over a different document, there is no single national validity period, and in 2022 almost a quarter of new requests were refused. Read more: The water letter
Catálogo Nacional de Trámites ↑
National catalogue of procedures. The government website where every public office must publish the requirements for its procedures, for example what a municipality asks for before it issues a land use certificate. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Catastro Nacional ↑
National cadastre. The office that registers survey plans, the planos catastrados that show a parcel's shape, boundaries and area. It now sits with the property registry inside the Registro Inmobiliario, but a plan and a registry record can still disagree. Property tax is not charged on a cadastral value; it is charged on the value the municipality holds. Read more: What is a folio real?, Property tax
Cédula hipotecaria ↑
Mortgage bond. A mortgage in the form of a bond that can change hands separately from any loan. Paying off the debt does not clear it: the bond itself has to be handed over and canceled. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Cédula jurídica ↑
Company ID number. The number the Registro Nacional assigns to every legal entity, unique to it: the first digit gives the class of entity, the next three its type, and the rest is a sequence number. Since a 2025 reform of the Commercial Code, a new sociedad anónima or S.R.L. is registered without a name, and its cédula jurídica, followed by "S.A." or "S.R.L.", is how it is identified. That is why owners in registry records often read like "3-102-…, S.R.L.".
Certificación literal ↑
Certified registry record (often just "the literal"). The Registro Nacional's certified copy of everything recorded for a property: owner, area, boundaries, encumbrances and annotations. It is the document to get for a purchase. Online it costs ₡2,925 plus ₡5, and anyone can check that it is genuine with its RNPDIGITAL number. Read more: Title search, Liens and encumbrances
Certificado catastral ↑
Cadastral certificate. A certification of a parcel's cadastral record, which some procedures accept in place of a certified copy of the survey plan, for example an application to split a lot. The Registry's tariff of November 2025 sets it at ₡8,495 plus ₡5. Read more: Title search
Certificado de uso de suelo ↑
Land use certificate, also called the zoning certificate. The municipal document that says what a property may be used for and what may be built on it: the permitted use, setbacks, coverage, density, height, frontage and minimum lot size, and how long the certificate is valid. A building permit must conform to it, and a business license needs one. Only the formally issued certificate gives the owner a right; an email or an answer at the counter does not. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
CNE ↑
National emergency commission (Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias). It publishes the national hazard maps for free, as a PDF sheet for each canton and as an interactive map. The maps show hazard, not the risk to a particular building. Read more: Flood and landslide maps
Cobertura ↑
Site coverage. The share of a lot that buildings may cover, stated in the land use certificate. Where no plan regulador applies, an ordinary urban lot may be covered up to 75%, and a farm parcel reached by a servidumbre de paso only up to 25%. Read more: Road access, Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Comisión ↑
Broker's commission. What a real estate agent is paid on a sale. No law sets it. Market practice is roughly 5% to 6% plus 13% IVA, usually paid by the seller from the sale proceeds. Read more: Closing costs
Compraventa ↑
Sale, or contract of sale. The contract by which a property is sold. Between buyer and seller the sale is complete once they agree on the property and the price, and ownership passes by that agreement; against everyone else it counts only from the day the deed is presented to the Registro Nacional. Selling property that belongs to someone else is absolutely void, though a buyer who did not know can claim damages.
Concejo municipal ↑
Municipal council. The elected council of a canton. It votes on adopting or changing the plan regulador, and only it can annul a land use certificate that should not have been issued. Some districts have their own council, the concejo municipal de distrito, as Cóbano does. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Concesión ↑
Concession. In the maritime zone, the right to use a parcel of State land for 5 to 20 years, granted by the municipality and, in a zone declared for tourism, approved by the ICT. It is never ownership, but it can be renewed, sold with approval and inherited, and it takes legal effect only once it is registered. A foreigner can hold one after five years of continuous residence. Read more: The maritime zone
Condominio ↑
Condominium. See finca filial and finca matriz. Water availability for one house does not cover several units or a condominium. Read more: What is a folio real?, The water letter
Constancia de capacidad hídrica ↑
Water capacity statement. The document an operator issues after refusing water: the water exists but the infrastructure does not, and the statement lists the works that would make service possible. Read more: The water letter
Constancia de disponibilidad ↑
Water availability letter. See carta de disponibilidad de agua.
Constancia de servicios existentes ↑
Existing service statement. A document saying a property already receives water. It is not a letter of availability for new building, and it is one of the documents sellers hand over in place of the right one. Read more: The water letter
Consulta por número de finca ↑
Free registry lookup. The free search on rnpdigital.com, under Consultas Gratuitas, that shows a property's current registry record when you enter its folio real. It needs an account, which asks for no ID number. It is a consultation, not a certification, so nobody else can verify it. Read more: Title search
Copropiedad ↑
Co-ownership. A property owned by two or more people at once, each holding a share (derecho) recorded in the folio real. Co-owners exercise their rights together, in proportion to their shares, and none can dispose of a specific part of the land until it has been allotted to them in a division. Any co-owner can demand a division, except where splitting the land would break the planning rules. Dividing a property among its co-owners is not a transfer for the transfer tax. Read more: What is a folio real?
Cuota de mantenimiento ↑
Condominium fee, for the condominium's gastos comunes (common costs). What each unit owner pays toward running the condominium. Unpaid fees, fines and interest become a charge on the unit that ranks behind only property tax. When a unit is sold, the seller must give the notary a statement from the administrator that the fees are paid; if they are not, the buyer becomes liable for the amount certified, together with the seller.
Demanda anotada ↑
Recorded lawsuit. A lawsuit about the property noted on its record. Stop if you see one: whoever wins the case can end up owning the property, even after you have bought it. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Derecho ↑
Ownership share. The last three digits of a folio real. 000 means the property is held as a single, undivided whole; 001, 002 and so on are shares held by co-owners, and each share can carry its own liens. Read more: What is a folio real?
Derecho de vía ↑
Road right of way. The strip of State land a road occupies, covering the roadway, verges and sidewalks up to the neighbors' property lines. Your lot ends where it begins. Where no plan regulador says otherwise, a building may be no taller than 1.5 times the average width of the right of way it faces. Read more: Road access
Desahucio ↑
Eviction proceeding. The court process a landlord uses to recover a leased property, for example when the lease term has expired or the tenant has not paid the rent.
DIMEX ↑
Foreign resident ID card (Documento de Identidad Migratorio para Personas Extranjeras). The identity document Migración issues to foreigners it has authorized to stay legally in Costa Rica. Since December 2024 it costs USD 43, paid before the first card and before each renewal or duplicate, at the Banco Central's selling rate on the day of payment. A tourist does not have one.
Documento privado ↑
Private contract. A contract signed without a notary's public deed. It binds the parties who sign it, but only public deeds, court rulings and other documents the law expressly allows can be recorded in the Registro. A property bought by private contract therefore stays in the seller's name in the registry, and the buyer has no protection against third parties.
Donación ↑
Gift, or donation. Giving a property away free of charge. A gift of real property must be made by public deed, or it is absolutely void; it transfers ownership to the recipient; and once accepted it can be revoked only for ingratitude, in the cases the law lists. Making a gift on someone else's behalf needs a poder especialísimo. The transfer tax applies to transfers under any title, so a gift pays it unless one of the law's exceptions applies.
Duplicado ↑
Duplicate field. A field in the registry lookup that ordinary properties leave empty. A Z in it marks a concession in the maritime zone. Read more: Title search, The maritime zone
Embargo ↑
Court attachment. A court order holding the property for a creditor, usually over an unpaid debt. See a lawyer before going further: a creditor is actively collecting against the property. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Escritura ↑
Deed. The public deed, authorized by a Costa Rican notary, through which a property is transferred. The deed from the last sale also gives the property's folio real. Against third parties, your purchase counts only from the day the deed is presented to the Registro Nacional, so record it without delay. Read more: Closing costs, What is a folio real?, Title search
Escrow ↑
Escrow. An account held by a third party in which the buyer's money waits until the transfer is recorded. Use it to settle how an existing mortgage will be paid off at closing. Read more: Liens and encumbrances, Closing costs
Estudio registral ↑
Registry study. A phrase agents use for a check of a property's registry record. Neither the registry regulation nor the registration law uses it, and agents assemble it from the Registry's certifications, so two of them can contain different things and cost very different amounts. Ask what one includes, or get the certificación literal yourself. Read more: Title search
Evicción ↑
Loss of the property to a third party's better right. See saneamiento.
Fideicomiso ↑
Trust. An arrangement in which the settlor (fideicomitente) transfers ownership of property to a trustee (fiduciario), who must use it for the lawful purposes the trust sets. The property forms a separate estate, and a registered property is recorded in the trustee's name. For investor residency an investment held in a trust is allowed, and only the settlor, the person who put the investment into the trust, may apply. Read more: Investor residency
Finca ↑
Registered property. Not a farm: in registry language, any property recorded in the Registro Nacional under its own number, from a condominium unit to a beach concession. Read more: What is a folio real?
Finca filial ↑
Condominium unit. Each unit in a condominium, registered under its own number and marked as a filial. In the registry lookup it takes an F in the Horizontal field. Read more: What is a folio real?, Title search
Finca madre ↑
Parent property. The larger property from which lots are split off. An application to split a lot includes the parent property's survey plan. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Finca matriz ↑
Condominium master property. The property a condominium is built on, registered separately from its units. In the registry lookup it takes an M in the Horizontal field. Read more: What is a folio real?
Folio real ↑
Property registration number. The number that identifies a property in the Registro Nacional, written as province, property number and share, as in 1-234567-000. The first digit gives the province: a property numbered 5 is in Guanacaste, whatever the listing says. It is the first thing to check. Read more: What is a folio real?
Fraccionamiento ↑
Subdivision. See segregación.
Ganancias de capital ↑
Capital gains tax. The tax on the profit from selling a property, generally 15% of the taxable gain. For a qualifying first sale of a property acquired before July 1, 2019, the seller may instead pay 2.25% of the sale price. Read more: Closing costs
Gravámenes ↑
Encumbrances. The part of the registry record that lists the burdens on a property: mortgages, mortgage bonds, court attachments, easements, use rights, statutory reserves and freezes. They stay with the property when it is sold, so each one has to be canceled before closing or accepted knowingly. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Hacienda ↑
Tax authority (Ministerio de Hacienda). The national taxes on a purchase go to it, among them the 2.5% a buyer must withhold when the seller is not domiciled in Costa Rica. Property tax goes to the municipality instead. Read more: Closing costs, Property tax
Herederos ↑
Heirs. The people who inherit. Where there is no will, the law calls them in order: first the children, the parents and the spouse or de facto partner, with exceptions; only when there are none do the next groups inherit. A property of someone who has died belongs to the estate until it is adjudicated to the heirs.
Hipoteca ↑
Mortgage. A charge on the property that secures a debt. It is normal if it will be paid off and canceled at closing from the sale price; confirm in escrow how that will happen. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Hipoteca de saldo de precio ↑
Seller-financing mortgage. A mortgage the buyer grants the seller over the property bought, to secure the part of the price still unpaid. Like any mortgage it must be made by public deed, and a clause letting the creditor keep the property if the buyer defaults is void, so an unpaid seller has to collect through the courts. The 1.5% transfer tax is still paid in full on the deed. Read more: Closing costs
Hipoteca legal preferente ↑
Preferential legal mortgage. What unpaid property tax becomes: a charge on the property itself. The Registry does not check municipal debt when a property is transferred, so your protection against inheriting the seller's debt is your notary's diligence. Read more: Property tax
Horizontal ↑
Condominium field. A field in the registry lookup that ordinary properties leave empty: F marks a condominium unit (filial), M the master property (matriz). Read more: Title search
ICT ↑
Costa Rican Tourism Institute (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo). In the maritime zone it declares whether a stretch of coast is for tourism, approves the coastal plan together with INVU, and in a tourist zone must approve every concession. Read more: The maritime zone
IGN ↑
National Geographic Institute (Instituto Geográfico Nacional). It fixes the coast's public zone with boundary markers and leads SNIT, the national map portal. Read more: The maritime zone, Flood and landslide maps
Impuesto a las personas jurídicas ↑
Company tax. A yearly tax that every commercial company registered in the Registro Nacional owes from January 1. A company not registered as a taxpayer pays 15% of a monthly salario base, and active companies pay more, depending on their income. A company behind on it cannot get a certification of its legal standing or record documents in its favor.
Impuesto de traspaso ↑
Transfer tax. The 1.5% tax on a property transfer, paid in one amount within fifteen business days of the deed, on the applicable transfer value. Buying the company that owns the property does not automatically avoid it. Read more: Closing costs
Impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles ↑
Property tax. The yearly municipal tax of 0.25% on the value the municipality holds for the property on January 1, which for a recent buyer is normally the price in the deed. Owners must declare a value at least every five years, or face a fine equal to the tax they did not pay. Read more: Property tax
Impuesto solidario ↑
Luxury home tax. A second yearly tax on homes with a construction value above CRC 143 million, at 0.25% to 0.55%, charged on the construction and the land beneath it. Read more: Property tax
Impuesto territorial ↑
Property tax (old name). The name many people still use for the municipal property tax. It comes from the Ley sobre Impuesto Territorial of 1939, which Ley 7509 replaced in 1995 with today's impuesto sobre bienes inmuebles. The current law itself still says "impuesto territorial" in several articles. Read more: Property tax
INDER ↑
Rural Development Institute (Instituto de Desarrollo Rural), formerly the IDA. The agency that assigns land to farmers. Someone assigned a parcel cannot sell, mortgage, lease or subdivide it without INDER's prior authorization until fifteen years have passed since the assignment and all debts to INDER are paid, and any contract made in breach of that is absolutely void. After the fifteen years, INDER has the first option to buy the parcel. Before buying land that came from INDER or the IDA, ask INDER whether the restriction still applies.
Información posesoria ↑
Possessory title procedure. The procedure under the Ley de Informaciones Posesorias by which someone who has held land without a registered title can ask to have it registered, after more than ten years of possession and if the legal requirements are met. Land in the State's natural heritage and in the maritime zone cannot be acquired this way. Read more: Due diligence guide, What is a folio real?
Inmovilización ↑
Registry freeze. A block the Registro puts on a property so that it cannot be transferred. A sale cannot close until it is lifted, so find out why it is there. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
INVU ↑
National Housing and Urban Planning Institute (Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo). It approves plan reguladores, keeps the record of which cantons have one, and writes the national construction and subdivision rules that apply where no plan does. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
IVA ↑
Value added tax. The 13% tax on goods and services. In a purchase it is charged on the notary's fee and on the broker's commission. Read more: Closing costs
La Gaceta ↑
Official gazette. The government's official journal, where laws, regulations, plan reguladores and municipal land value maps are published. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate, Property tax
Linderos ↑
Boundaries. The registry record's list of what borders the property on each side. The Registry copies them from the documents filed and does not check them against the land. Read more: Title search
Literal ↑
Certified registry record. See certificación literal.
Mapa catastral ↑
Cadastral map. The Registro Inmobiliario's map showing each parcel's location and official boundaries, with its registry data and any inconsistencies. An area where the cadastral survey has been completed and made official is a zona catastrada.
Mapa de vías públicas municipales ↑
Municipal public roads map. The digital file each municipality keeps of the roads, accesses and streets it has determined to be public. Ask whether the road in front of a lot is on it. Read more: Road access
Mojones ↑
Boundary markers. The markers the IGN places along the coast to fix the maritime zone's public zone. Read more: The maritime zone
MOPT ↑
Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes). It owns the national road network; the municipality owns the cantonal roads. Ask the municipality which network the road in front of a lot belongs to. Read more: Road access
Municipalidad ↑
Municipality. The local government of a canton. It collects property tax, issues the land use certificate, building permits, business licenses and the visado for splitting a lot, and in the maritime zone grants concessions. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate, Property tax
Naturaleza ↑
Nature field. The line in the registry record that describes the land and what it may be used for, for example a parcel in the maritime zone's restricted strip. Read more: Title search
Nota de prevención de inexactitud ↑
Notice of possible inaccuracy. A note on the registry record saying someone claims the record may be wrong. It is a public notice only: later documents, a sale included, can still be recorded. Read more: Title search
Notario ↑
Notary. A lawyer specialized in notarial and registry law and authorized to act as a notary. A property transfer is formalized by a public deed a Costa Rican notary authorizes, and the notary must check the parties' capacity, the existence of any company involved and its representatives' powers. The published fee falls as the value rises, from 2% on the first ₡11 million to 1% above ₡33 million, and 13% IVA is added. Read more: Closing costs
Obligación de paso ↑
Court-ordered right of way. The right of an owner whose land has no access, or not enough, to a public road to demand passage across a neighbor's land, paying for the land taken and any damage. The neighbor chooses the route, and a court can award a strip as narrow as two meters. Read more: Road access
Opción de compra ↑
Purchase option, also promesa de compraventa. An agreement in which the seller commits to sell, or both sides commit to sell and buy, at a price that is set or can be set. The Civil Code does not use the word option; it calls this a promise of sale. Once the promise is accepted, either party can demand that the sale be made; ownership passes only on the day of the sale itself; and a promise that is not enforced within one month of becoming enforceable lapses.
Pacto de retroventa ↑
Buy-back clause. A clause in a sale letting the seller buy the property back by refunding the price, the contract costs and the buyer's necessary and useful repairs. The right lasts as long as agreed, but never more than five years, and it is lost when the term runs out.
Pagaré ↑
Promissory note. A document in which the signer promises unconditionally to pay a set sum of money within a set term.
Patente ↑
Business license. The municipal license to run a shop or other business. It is not granted without a land use certificate for that use. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Patrimonio Natural del Estado ↑
State natural heritage. Forested land owned by the State. It cannot be sold or seized, and it cannot be acquired by possession. Read more: The maritime zone, Due diligence guide
Permiso de construcción ↑
Building permit. The municipal permit needed before building or extending. The municipality must check the work against the land use certificate, and it will not issue a permit without a water availability letter. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate, The water letter
Permiso de uso ↑
Use permit. A permit a municipality issues on its own authority for land in the maritime zone. It can be revoked at any time without compensation, allows only structures that are easy to remove, and does not replace a concession. Read more: The maritime zone
Permuta ↑
Exchange, or swap. A contract trading one property for another. It follows the rules of a sale: each side is treated as the seller of what it gives, at that thing's price on the date of the contract.
Personería jurídica ↑
Legal standing, and the certificate of it. In law, the legal personality a company has once it is registered. In practice, the Registro's certification showing that a company exists and who can sign for it. A notary must check a company's existence and its representatives' powers before it signs, and the Registro will not issue the certification for a company behind on the company tax.
Plan regulador ↑
Local zoning plan. A canton's plan dividing its land into zones and setting what may be built in each. On October 7, 2026, INVU recorded one in 44 of Costa Rica's 84 cantons, and 22 of those plans covered only part of the canton. Where no plan applies, INVU's national rules set the limits. The coast has separate coastal plans. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Plano catastrado ↑
Registered survey plan. The surveyor's drawing of a parcel's shape, boundaries and area, registered with the Catastro. Its number carries the province's letters and the year, as in SJ-1234567-2019. It can disagree with the registry record, and any difference has to be resolved before money is paid. Read more: What is a folio real?
Plano de agrimensura ↑
Survey plan. A plan, on paper or electronic, that represents a property graphically and mathematically. Once it is registered in the Registro Inmobiliario it becomes a plano catastrado.
Plano visado ↑
Approved survey plan. A survey plan that carries the municipality's visado, its approval of a split. A lot split off a larger property needs one before the Registro will record the split. The Registry's regulation defines a visado as the approval of whichever institution is competent, and the word is used for other approvals too, so ask which one is meant. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Plataforma de valores ↑
Land value map. The official map of land values by zone that each municipality publishes in La Gaceta and uses to value land for property tax. Buildings are valued from a separate Hacienda manual. Read more: Property tax
Pleamar ordinaria ↑
Ordinary high-tide line. The line from which the 200-meter maritime zone is measured. The law defines it as a height: 115 centimeters above mean sea level on the Pacific, and 20 centimeters on the Caribbean. Read more: The maritime zone
Poder ↑
Power of attorney. The document by which one person authorizes another, the apoderado, to act for them. A poder generalísimo allows selling and mortgaging any property; a poder general covers only administration; a poder especial covers only the acts it names, and for an act recorded in the Registro, such as a sale, it must be made by public deed. General and generalísimo powers must be made by public deed and recorded in the Registro, and they bind third parties only from then.
Posesión ↑
Possession. Holding and using land without a registered title. Some rural land is held this way, with no folio real. Buying possession rights is a different and riskier transaction that a lawyer should handle from the start. See información posesoria. Read more: What is a folio real?
Pozo artesanal ↑
Hand-dug well. A shallow well dug by hand. Anyone may open one for household use without a permit, and since 2022 it need not be registered. Household use means one family, plus irrigation of up to half a hectare. Read more: The water letter
Pozo artesiano ↑
Drilled well, also pozo perforado. A well bored by a drilling company, which is what English speakers usually call artesian. It needs its own permit, and supplying more than one household needs a concession however the well was made. Read more: The water letter
Prescripción positiva ↑
Acquisition by possession, also usucapión. Becoming the owner of a property by possessing it. For real property the Civil Code requires a title that could transfer ownership, good faith and ten years of possession. Land in the State's natural heritage and in the maritime zone cannot be acquired this way. Read more: Due diligence guide
Prima ↑
Down payment. The part of the price the buyer pays up front, with the rest usually financed by a bank or by the seller. For investor residency through a property bought with a mortgage, the down payment must reach USD 150,000, on its own or together with other qualifying investments. Read more: Investor residency
Protocolo ↑
Notary's protocol. The numbered volumes in which a notary writes, in order, every public deed they authorize. The notary keeps them and later returns them to the national notarial archive. Copies issued from them are testimonios.
Registro Nacional ↑
National Registry. The registry where ownership, mortgages and other rights over property are recorded. Its Registro Inmobiliario brings the property records and the cadastre together. What it records is presumed true, but nobody checks it against the land, and recording a void contract does not make it valid. Its online portal is rnpdigital.com. Read more: Title search, What is a folio real?
Reglamento de condominio ↑
Condominium rules. The rules of a condominium and its administration, included in the deed that creates it. They govern the owners' assembly, which must meet at least once a year, and the administrator. Read them before you buy a unit.
Reservas de ley ↑
Statutory reserves. Strips along roads and watercourses that the law reserves, noted on many rural properties. They reduce the usable area at the edges of a lot, so allow for them when placing a building. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Retención ↑
Withholding. When the seller is not domiciled in Costa Rica, the buyer must withhold 2.5% of the total price and pay it to Hacienda, on account of the seller's capital gains tax. The buyer is responsible for it even though the tax is the seller's. Read more: Closing costs
Retiro ↑
Setback. The distance a building must keep from the front, side or rear boundary of its lot, stated in the land use certificate. In the sample certificate from Cóbano in our zoning article, side and rear setbacks are 3 meters for a single-storey building. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Riesgo ↑
Risk. See amenaza.
rnpdigital.com ↑
The Registry's website. The Registro Nacional's site for free lookups and for buying certifications. Registering asks for a first name, both surnames, a mobile number, an email and a password, but no ID number. Read more: Title search
Saneamiento ↑
Seller's warranty, covering evicción and vicios ocultos. In any sale for value, the seller guarantees that the buyer can freely exercise the right sold. If a third party takes the whole property through a better right, the buyer can claim from the seller its value at that time and the costs of the contract and of the lawsuits, among other items; after a partial loss, a proportional payment or, if the part lost matters enough, undoing the sale. Hidden defects are different: they do not let a buyer annul the sale unless they amount to an error that voids consent or the contract says otherwise, so write any warranty against defects into the contract.
Segregación ↑
Splitting off a lot, also fraccionamiento. Dividing a property into new lots. In INVU's subdivision regulation the term covers any division, including a partition among co-owners and the localization of an undivided share. Every split needs the municipality's visado on the survey plan for the new lots, and the municipality must refuse it if a lot would be smaller than the minimum, lack adequate access to a public road or lack basic services. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Servidumbre ↑
Easement. A right recorded against a property, for example for access, utilities, water or a view. It is very common and often harmless, but read it: an access easement through your building site is not harmless. Read more: Liens and encumbrances, Road access
Servidumbre de paso ↑
Right-of-way easement. A registered right to cross someone else's land to reach a public road. One serving farm land must be at least 7 meters wide, and it permanently limits what the land can become: only more farm parcels can be split from it. Long use alone does not create one. Read more: Road access
SETENA ↑
National Environmental Technical Secretariat (Secretaría Técnica Nacional Ambiental). It runs the environmental assessment that development projects may need before building. Its process is generally aimed at projects rather than at someone buying a single house. Read more: Flood and landslide maps, Due diligence guide
SNIT ↑
National territorial information system (Sistema Nacional de Información Territorial). The national map portal, led by the IGN, that publishes official map layers, among them the hazard maps and the maritime zone's public-zone boundaries. Read more: Flood and landslide maps, The maritime zone
Sociedad anónima ↑
Corporation (S.A.). A common company form for holding property in Costa Rica. Its capital is divided into shares, its shareholders answer only for what they contributed, and it is identified by its cédula jurídica followed by "S.A."; the president of the board represents it, along with any directors the founding deed names. Holding a property through a company has consequences: the property does not count toward investor residency, though the shares can if the company runs a business; it gets no sole-property tax exemption; and buying the company does not automatically avoid transfer tax. Read more: Investor residency, Closing costs, Property tax
Sociedad de responsabilidad limitada ↑
Limited liability company (S.R.L., also Limitada or Ltda.). The other common company form, whose partners answer only with what they contributed. Like a sociedad anónima, it is identified by its cédula jurídica, followed by "S.R.L." or "Ltda.".
Sucesión ↑
Estate. Everything a person owned and owed at death, except rights and obligations that end with them. A property still registered to an owner who has died belongs to the estate, which its albacea represents, until it is adjudicated to the herederos.
Testamento ↑
Will. The document in which a person decides who receives their property at death. An open will is made before a notary and three witnesses, or two if the testator writes it, or before four or six witnesses without a notary. The testator may dispose freely of their property, provided support is secured for minor or dependent children, and for parents and a spouse who need it.
Testimonio ↑
Certified copy of a deed. The notary's reproduction of a deed from the protocol: a literal copy of the original, plus a closing certification that gives it legal force. The original stays in the protocol.
Timbres ↑
Stamp duties. Small charges paid at transfer as a share of the value: a 0.2% municipal stamp, an agrarian stamp of up to 0.15%, and small Archivo Nacional and Colegio de Abogados stamps. The old fiscal stamp was repealed in December 2024. Read more: Closing costs
Traspaso ↑
Transfer of ownership. The change of a property's registered owner, by sale, gift, inheritance or another title, recorded in the Registro Nacional. A transfer pays the 1.5% transfer tax and the registry and stamp charges, and selling the shares of a company that owns property can also count as a transfer for the tax. Read more: Closing costs
Urbanización ↑
Subdivision with new streets, a housing or commercial development. In INVU's subdivision regulation, the division of land for urban use by opening streets and providing services, as opposed to a simple split. The developer must cede land for public use free of charge: for a residential development, 20 m² per lot, between 5% and 20% of the developable area.
Uso de suelo ↑
Land use. Short for the land use certificate, as in "ask the municipality for the uso de suelo". See certificado de uso de suelo. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Uso no conforme ↑
Nonconforming use. A use that existed before the zoning and does not fit it. It may continue and is certified as such, but it can only change into a use the zoning allows, and new work needs a permit that conforms. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Usucapión ↑
Acquisition by possession. See prescripción positiva.
Usufructo, uso y habitación ↑
Usufruct, use and habitation rights. Rights for someone else to use the property or live in it. The owner can sell, but the person holding the right stays, so the right has to be canceled or accepted knowingly. Read more: Liens and encumbrances
Valor fiscal ↑
Fiscal value. The value shown in the registry record, taken from the document recorded for the property. It can be many years old and is no guide to what the property is worth today. Read more: Title search
Ventanilla Digital ↑
Digital filing window. The button on rnpdigital.com for filing documents with the Registry. Lookups and certifications are under the other button, Consultas y Certificaciones. Read more: Title search
Verificación de certificaciones ↑
Certification check. A box on the Registro Nacional's login page where anyone, without an account, can enter a certification's RNPDIGITAL number and compare the copy they were given with the Registry's own. Read more: Title search
Vía pública ↑
Public road. The legal term for any public way: land in the public domain, designated for transit and actually used for it. A road needs both, on paper and on the ground. Read more: Road access
Vicios ocultos ↑
Hidden defects. See saneamiento.
Visado ↑
Municipal approval of a survey plan. The municipality's approval of the plan for lots split off a property. It checks that each new lot meets the minimum size, has adequate access to a public road and has basic services. The municipality must answer within 15 days, free of charge, and without the visado the Registro Nacional will not record the split. Read more: Zoning and the uso de suelo certificate
Zona deficitaria ↑
Water-deficit zone. An area where conditions prevent optimal water service. The declaration must be published on AyA's website. Read more: The water letter
Zona homogénea ↑
Homogeneous value zone. A group of nearby properties with similar development and use, given one land value on the municipality's value map. Read more: Property tax
Zona marítimo terrestre ↑
Maritime zone (ZMT). The 200-meter strip along both coasts, measured from the ordinary high-tide line and owned by the State. The first 50 meters are public zone; in the next 150, the restricted zone, land is used through concessions. Read more: The maritime zone
Zona pública ↑
Public zone. The first 50 meters of the maritime zone, plus any mangrove however far it runs inland. Outside narrow exceptions, no one may occupy it. Read more: The maritime zone
Zona restringida ↑
Restricted zone. The 150 meters of the maritime zone behind the public zone, where a municipality can grant concessions. No building may be approved there until the ICT has declared the stretch, a coastal plan is published and the concession is registered. Read more: The maritime zone
Ready to check a specific property?
The due diligence guide uses these terms in twenty questions: what a property is, what rights exist over it, and whether it can be used for what you are buying it for. Or start from a report that has already pulled the official records for one parcel.
Not ready yet? View a sample report first.
Reports are informational and not a substitute for legal advice.