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Title registration and due diligence in Brazil: the matrícula, registration deadlines, deed certificates and adverse possession

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Every property in Brazil has one registry file, the matrícula, kept by the property registry (Cartório de Registro de Imóveis) where the property sits, and ownership passes only when the deed is registered there. The registrar must register or issue a list of requirements within 10 days of filing (5 days for a plain sale deed), and the filing priority lapses after 20 days if the buyer does not meet the requirements. Due diligence centers on the matrícula: what is recorded there binds the buyer, what is not recorded generally cannot be raised against a good faith buyer, and long possession can turn into title through adverse possession, now available out of court at the registry.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.3346 per US dollar for 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Effect of registration	Ownership of property between living persons passes only on registration of the title at the property registry Civil Code arts. 1.227 and 1.245, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Deadline for the registrar to register a filed title or issue requirements	10 daysLei nº 6.015/1973 art. 188, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Registration deadline for plain sale deeds and Serp electronic documents with no requirements	5 daysLei nº 6.015/1973 art. 188 § 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Days after which filing priority lapses if requirements are not met	20 daysLei nº 6.015/1973 art. 205, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Extraordinary adverse possession period (no title or good faith needed)	15 yearsCivil Code art. 1.238, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Ordinary adverse possession period (just title and good faith)	10 yearsCivil Code art. 1.242, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Each property has its own matrícula in Book 2 (Registro Geral), opened on the first registration or annotation. The matrícula identifies a rural property by its INCRA code and CCIR data, and an urban property by its features, boundaries, area, street, number and municipal cadastral code, and lists the owner with name, domicile, nationality and CPF or CNPJ taxpayer number. Every act listed in art. 167 (sales, mortgages, attachments, leases with a clause binding a buyer, incorporations, condominium conventions, subdivisions) is mandatory and is recorded at the registry where the property is located.
Cost to do it: Registry fees (emolumentos) are set by each state's fee law and table and depend on the property value; no single national amount exists. A foreign buyer also needs a CPF taxpayer number, because the matrícula records it.Lei nº 6.015 of 31 December 1973 (Lei de Registros Públicos), as amended by Lei nº 10.267 of 2001 and Lei nº 14.382 of 27 June 2022, Art. 167 I; art. 169 caput; art. 176 caput and § 1 I and II, 1973-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Registration deadlines. Once a title is filed (protocolado), the registrar must register it or issue a requirements note (nota devolutiva) within 10 days of filing. Sale deeds without special clauses, construction annotations, cancellations of security and electronic documents filed through the national electronic registry system (Serp) must be registered within 5 days when there are no requirements or unpaid fees. The effects of the filing priority (prenotação) end automatically if, 20 days after filing, the title has not been registered because the applicant failed to meet the requirements.
Cost to do it: No separate fee for speed; delays beyond these deadlines expose the registrar to the penalties of Lei nº 8.935 art. 32 (art. 188 § 2). The practical cost of missing the 20 day window is losing priority to a later filed title.Lei nº 6.015 of 1973, art. 188 as worded by Lei nº 14.382 of 27 June 2022 and art. 205 as worded by Lei nº 14.382, Art. 188 caput and § 1 I to III; art. 205 caput, 2022-06-27 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Lei nº 14.382 of 27 June 2022 (from Medida Provisória nº 1.085 of 27 December 2021) cut the general registration deadline to 10 days, created the 5 day track for plain sale deeds and Serp documents and reworded the 20 day lapse rule.

3. What the notary checks. In a public deed the notary records that the buyer showed proof of payment of the municipal transfer tax (ITBI), the tax certificates and the certificates of ownership and real liens (certidão de propriedade e de ônus reais), and keeps them on file. For urban property the deed may simply refer to the matrícula number and location instead of describing the property, if the description is in the registry certificate.
Cost to do it: Certificates are charged under state fee tables; the notary's deed fee is also set by the state table and rises with the property value.Lei nº 7.433 of 18 December 1985 (requirements for public deeds), art. 1 § 2 as worded by Lei nº 13.097 of 19 January 2015, Art. 1 caput, §§ 2 and 3; art. 2 caput and § 1, 1985-12-18 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Concentration in the matrícula. A transaction over property is effective against earlier acts unless the matrícula carries a registration or annotation of a lawsuit claiming the property, an attachment or enforcement proceeding, an administrative or contractual restriction or unavailability order, a lawsuit that could make the owner insolvent, or any court attachment. Matters not recorded on the matrícula cannot be raised against a third party who acquires the property or takes it as security in good faith, and no certificates beyond those the law requires may be demanded to establish good faith.
Cost to do it: An updated matrícula certificate (certidão de inteiro teor or de ônus reais) under the state table; buyers commonly still pull court and tax certificates on the seller as a commercial choice, even though § 2 means they cannot be required for good faith.Lei nº 13.097 of 19 January 2015, art. 54 as amended by Lei nº 14.382 of 2022 and Lei nº 14.825 of 20 March 2024, Art. 54 caput, items I to V, §§ 1 and 2, 2015-01-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Lei nº 14.825 of 20 March 2024 added item V (annotation of any court attachment on the property or the owner's assets).

5. Adverse possession (usucapião). A person who possesses a property as owner for 15 years without interruption or opposition acquires it regardless of title or good faith, cut to 10 years if the possessor lives there or made productive works. With just title and good faith the period is 10 years, or 5 years if the property was bought for value based on a registry entry later cancelled and the possessor lives there or invested in it. Special short forms exist for urban plots up to 250 m² used as a home (5 years) and rural plots up to 50 hectares made productive by the family (5 years).
Cost to do it: Court route: court fees and lawyer. Registry route (next rule): notarial certificate of possession, survey plan by a licensed professional, registry fees and lawyer.Lei nº 10.406 of 10 January 2002 (Civil Code), Arts. 1.238, 1.239, 1.240 and 1.242, 2002-01-10 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Out of court adverse possession is processed directly at the property registry of the district where the property sits, filed by the claimant through a lawyer, with a notarial record (ata notarial) attesting the possession period, a plan and description signed by a licensed professional, clean court distribution certificates and evidence of the origin and length of possession, such as tax payments. Holders of rights in the property and neighboring properties who did not sign the plan are notified and have 15 days to respond, with silence treated as consent; the Union, state and municipality also have 15 days, and a public notice gives third parties 15 days. A justified objection sends the case to court.
Cost to do it: Notary fee for the ata notarial, surveyor's fee for the plan, registry fees under the state table and a lawyer's fee; no court fee unless an objection sends the case to court.Lei nº 6.015 of 1973, art. 216-A, added by Lei nº 13.105 of 16 March 2015 (Code of Civil Procedure) and amended by Lei nº 13.465 of 11 July 2017 and Lei nº 14.382 of 2022, Art. 216-A caput, items I to IV, §§ 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10, 2015-03-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Type	Requirements	Period
Extraordinary	Possession as owner, uninterrupted and unopposed	15 years
Extraordinary, reduced	Same, plus home or productive works on the property	10 years
Ordinary	Just title and good faith	10 years
Ordinary, reduced	Bought for value on a registry entry later cancelled, plus home or investment	5 years
Special urban	Urban area up to 250 m² used as the family home, no other property	5 years
Special rural	Rural area up to 50 hectares made productive by the family, used as home, no other property	5 years

Adverse possession periods (Civil Code arts. 1.238 to 1.242).

Worked example

Closing timeline for a São Paulo apartment. The buyer signs the public deed on day 0 and files it at the registry on day 1. Because it is a plain sale deed with no requirements and fees are paid, the registrar must register it by day 6 (Lei nº 6.015 art. 188 § 1 I). If the registrar issues a requirements note instead, the buyer has until day 21 to comply before the filing priority lapses (art. 205), after which a later filed attachment could take precedence.
Due diligence scope. A buyer paying R$1,500,000 (about US$281,183) checks the updated matrícula for liens, lawsuits and unavailability orders. A lawsuit against the seller that is not annotated on the matrícula cannot, as a rule, be raised against the buyer in good faith (Lei nº 13.097 art. 54 § 1), so the matrícula certificate is the key document; other searches are a risk management choice.

Step by step

1. Obtain the matrícula number and an updated full certificate from the registry where the property sits.
2. Read every registration (R) and annotation (Av) entry: owner chain, mortgages and fiduciary liens, attachments, lawsuits, leases with a clause binding buyers, environmental or administrative restrictions.
3. Get the buyer a CPF (individual) or CNPJ (company) number, which the matrícula records (Lei nº 6.015 art. 176).
4. Pay ITBI and collect the certificates the notary must record (Lei nº 7.433 art. 1 § 2), then sign the public deed.
5. File the deed at the registry the same or next day; track the 10 day (or 5 day) registration deadline and answer any requirements note within the 20 day priority window.
6. Collect the new matrícula certificate showing the buyer as owner.

Common traps

Signing but not filing. Until registration the seller remains owner, and the 20 day priority window only protects a filed title (Lei nº 6.015 art. 205; Civil Code art. 1.245).
Relying on an old certificate. Annotations made after the certificate date bind the buyer; get a certificate dated close to signing (Lei nº 13.097 art. 54).
Ignoring long time occupants. A third party in possession for 10 or 15 years can claim title by adverse possession, now even at the registry (Civil Code arts. 1.238 and 1.242; Lei nº 6.015 art. 216-A).
Unregistered lease clauses. A tenant's lease binds a buyer only if it has a clause of validity on sale and is recorded on the matrícula (Lei nº 6.015 art. 167 I 3), so check the leases physically as well.

Sources

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