Escritura vs. Acta de Posesión: Land Title in Puerto Escondido

Scroll through land listings in Puerto Escondido and you will notice something odd: two lots of similar size, in the same area, at very different prices. The cheaper one is rarely a hidden deal. More often it is sold with an acta de posesión instead of an escritura pública, and that difference is legal, not cosmetic.

If you are buying from Toronto, Austin or Vancouver, this is the single most important concept to understand before you wire a deposit. Here is how Mexican land tenure works, in plain terms, and what we check before a client commits.

Three ways land is held in Mexico

Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution says land originally belongs to the Nation, which can transfer ownership to individuals, "constituting private property". The same article (fraction VII) also recognizes ejidos and agrarian communities as legal entities and protects their ownership of their land.

Around Puerto Escondido, you will meet all three:

• Private property: transferred before a notario and recorded in the Registro Público de la Propiedad, the state public property registry. This is closest to what you know as fee simple ownership.
• Ejido: a collective landholding created by Mexico's agrarian reform. Under the Ley Agraria (Agrarian Law), an ejido has its own legal personality and assets (art. 9). Its land is split into a human settlement area, common-use land and individual parcels.
• Bienes comunales (communal land): land owned by an agrarian community and represented by a Comisariado de Bienes Comunales. The law makes it inalienable, imprescriptible and exempt from seizure, except when contributed to a company under article 100 (art. 99).

## Escritura vs. acta de posesión, in plain English

Escritura pública is a deed signed before a notario público. The role is far broader than a US notary public: the notario drafts the deed, verifies the property and handles registration. Before signing, the notario checks the chain of title, orders a lien certificate and confirms property tax and water are paid. Afterwards, the deed is recorded at the public registry, which is what makes your ownership enforceable against third parties.

Acta de posesión is the document used locally to record a right of possession on ejido or communal land. It is not a deed and not a private title. The land stays under the Agrarian Law and the decisions of the community's assembly. You are buying a position within that system, not the land itself.

What "dominio pleno" means

Dominio pleno is the Agrarian Law's route for an ejido parcel to become private property. In short:

• The ejido assembly first resolves, once most parcels have been surveyed and assigned, that members may adopt dominio pleno (art. 81).
• The member then asks the Registro Agrario Nacional (RAN), the federal agrarian registry, to remove the parcel from its records. The RAN issues a property title, which is recorded at the public registry, and the land becomes ordinary private property (art. 82).
• On the first sale, family members, people who have worked the parcel, other ejido members, residents and the ejido itself have a 30-day right of first refusal. If they are not notified, the sale can be annulled (art. 84).

Two caveats. Dominio pleno on one parcel does not change the status of the rest of the ejido (art. 83). And communal land does not follow this route, since the law declares it inalienable. That is why we will never tell you that a possession "can be titled later". Whether any path exists depends on the specific land, the assembly and the authorities.

## Why legal status drives such a large price gap

With an escritura you are paying for certainty: a registered chain of title, the ability to sell or pass the property on before a notario, and rights that hold up against third parties. With an acta de posesión you are paying for use of the land under collective rules.

Think about your exit. If you plan to rent the house out for a few years and sell, your future buyer will ask the same questions you are asking now. A titled lot reaches that moment with a file any notario can review. A possession depends on finding a buyer willing to accept the same conditions, usually at a price that reflects it.

It matters for foreign buyers in particular. Puerto Escondido sits in Mexico's restricted coastal zone, where foreigners hold residential property through a bank trust; our guide to the fideicomiso explains how that works. Before you fall for a lot, ask the notario and the trustee bank in writing whether that specific property can go into a fideicomiso.

Your due diligence checklist

Titled property (escritura)

• Registry search: confirm at the Registro Público de la Propiedad that the seller is the recorded owner and that the surface matches the deed. As the US law firm Fredrikson & Byron puts it, failure to register "is almost always a bad sign".
• Certificado de libertad de gravámenes: a lien certificate issued by the public registry, showing no mortgage, seizure or other encumbrance. Ask for a fresh one.
• Cadastral status, property tax and water: Oaxaca's cadastre law requires every property to be registered and requires a cadastral record and valuation before a notario authorizes a deed. The same law says cadastral registration creates no ownership or possession rights (art. 59). A property tax receipt is not a title.
• Survey: a topographic survey to confirm the boundaries on the ground match the documents.

Ejido or communal land

• RAN certificates: the RAN's procedure RAN-04-051 issues certificates of registration, of current rights, or the list of ejido or community members with current rights. They confirm who actually holds the right being sold.
• Assembly minutes and title: if a parcel is said to have dominio pleno, ask for the assembly resolution and the RAN-issued title, and check that it is recorded at the public registry.
• Who can acquire: the Agrarian Law allows an ejido member to transfer parcel rights to other members or residents of the same community, in writing before two witnesses, ratified before a notario, with notice to the ejido authority (art. 80). A communal member can assign rights to relatives and residents (art. 101). Ask a lawyer to state in writing what your own position would be.

All of these documents can be requested and reviewed remotely. We have closed purchases entirely remotely, with video tours, document review and contracts on recognized e-signature platforms. Our legal support service coordinates the review with independent notaries and lawyers.

The risks of buying with only an acta de posesión

• No private ownership to record: your right depends on the agrarian system and the assembly.
• Unregistered acts are weak: acts that should be registered at the RAN and are not only bind the parties and cannot be used against third parties (art. 150).
• Some land cannot be sold at all: acts that try to transfer settlement-area or common-use land are void, with limited legal exceptions (arts. 64 and 74).
• Later disputes: Fredrikson & Byron describes buyers who built on ejido land, only for the ejido to dispute the sale and sue to recover the improved property.
• No guaranteed conversion: a promise that "the escritura is coming" is only a promise.

When we would tell a friend not to buy

Do not buy on possession if you plan a significant build, a quick resale, or if no one can show you the chain of rights in writing. Some buyers accept possession with their eyes open, at a price that reflects it. The mistake is discovering the difference after the money has left your account.

How Ocean Puerto works

• Legal status on every listing: escritura pública, acta de posesión or both. To see titled property only, use the deed filter, or browse land for sale.
• Independent notaries and lawyers review the file before any deposit.
• No buyer commission: our commission is included in the price.

"Before you compare prices per square meter, ask what regime the land is under. Everything else follows from that answer," says Antoine Volatier, founder of Ocean Puerto, working the Puerto Escondido market since 2019.

New to the process? Start with our complete guide to buying in Puerto Escondido.

Talk to an advisor

Send us the listing you are looking at and we will tell you, in English, what its paperwork actually says. WhatsApp or email, your choice. Contact us here.