Thanks to the geographical and paradisiacal condition within the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic has a lot to offer in real estate matters, this, together with the modernization of the legal regulatory framework and its consistent economic development, makes it an ideal place to acquire a property, either for definitive residence, second home or to invest in this Tourist Pole.
RD has a system of road and highways, of preponderance if when compared to the countries in the region, which simplifies traveling within the country; In addition to a modern and efficient airport and port system made up of eight international airports and fourteen major ports located a short distance from the country’s production centers.
Real estate property is a fundamental right regulated by the provisions of the Dominican constitution, and in addition by law 108-05, its implementing regulations; as well as all the legal framework of acquisition and formalization of the property protect the titled real estate property in question, whose main objective is to provide all rights guarantees to the subject of commercial law.
In order to enjoy the protection offered by the Dominican real estate jurisdiction system, the interested party, after determining the property they are acquiring, one must access the law system to give it public faith before any third party in an imprescriptible manner.
In the case of foreigners, it is not subject to any special condition, applying the same regime as to national acquirers. Additionally, according to regulations issued by the Supreme Court of Justice, all foreigners who are interested or who are involved in the acquisition of a property in the Dominican Republic must obtain a Tax Identification Number or RNC. Originally, the process is relatively simple and can be carried out together with the payment of the applicable transfer taxes before the National Directorate of Internal Taxes.
Before any acquisition, we consider it appropriate to corroborate the legal situation of the property in the offices of the Registry of Titles offices and the cartographic technical status of the same, before the regional management of cadastral measurements, with the assistance of an expert lawyer in real estate law and a Inspector, to validate that you intend to acquire it, it is legal, legitimate, belongs to your seller and can be transferred; as well as checking the exact geographical location of the same, according to the Dominican cartographic records, we will call the due diligence process before purchasing the property.
After this exhaustive investigation, the decision taken on the property to be acquired and with the assistance of a notary public, the transfer document of ownership will be drafted and signed.
The tax phase is exhausted, Real estate transfers, according to Law 831-45 on the proportional tax to the acts intervened by the Registrar Titles, are subject to a single tax of 3% on the value that is higher than that stipulated in the contract of sale or exchange, and the one assigned by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes to the property in question through an authorized appraiser. It is important to highlight that the buyer will be able to make the payment corresponding to this tax within 6 months from the date of the transfer of the property. After this period, surcharges and interest will be calculated.
Even though the purchaser has the aforementioned deadline for tax purposes, we recommend that, immediately after making the local tax payments, it is very important to quickly submit the transfer documentation before the corresponding Title Registry.
To this end, the buyer must have the following documentation, for deposit at the Title Registry office:
1) Original appropriately notarized of the sales document or the law enforcement figure chosen for the transfer or resettlement.
2) Original of the Duplicate Property Title in the name of the seller, which will be canceled and replaced by a new one in the name of the buyer.
3) The identity documents of both the buyer and seller are this natural person or commercial entity. (company.)
4) Tax documents stating that the property of the negotiation is up to date.
5) Payment of the real estate transfer tax, before the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII), whose payment percentage will vary according to the legal figure used for said transfer.
Similarly, both the General Directorate of Internal Taxes; As well as the corresponding Registry office can corroborate any additional documentation if it deems appropriate in pursuit of the legality and legitimacy of the transfer, for such reasons to avoid tortuous processes, errors and time wasting, we recommend the assistance of a legal professional with expertise in the real estate registry matter.
After all this process is exhausted, the registry owner accesses the Dominican real estate system, which endows it with a registry advertising regime, thus allowing his property to acquire economic capital gain compared to its formalization; as well as the tranquility that your property is protected by a system recognized nationally and internationally.
From PADILLA CONSULTING LAW, we offer you in an integrated way of all these services, from the legal and technical cartographic point of view so that your acquisition can be carried out efficiently and in the shortest amount of time possible.