Countries › Chile › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Title registration and due diligence in Chile: public deed, the Conservador de Bienes Raíces registries, promise contracts, prescription, registrar fees and certificates

Title registration and due diligence in Chile: public deed, the Conservador de Bienes Raíces registries, promise contracts, prescription, registrar fees and certificates

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Changing

Chilean real estate passes only when the deed of sale is registered with the Conservador de Bienes Raíces of the place where the land lies; the signed deed alone transfers nothing. Registrars keep three books (property, mortgages and encumbrances, prohibitions) and issue certificates that are the core of title review, which usually covers ten years because extraordinary prescription takes ten. Registrar fees are capped by decree and are small: in Santiago about CLP 258,000 (about US$262) on a CLP 300 million purchase.

USD figures use the Central Bank exchange rate of CLP 986.58 per US dollar published in the Diario Oficial for 23 October 2026 (CVE 2891564). UF figures use the SII value of CLP 41,221.08 for 26 October 2026, UTM figures the October 2026 value of CLP 72,151 and UTA figures the December 2025 value of CLP 834,504. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

How title passes	Public deed before a notary plus registration in the Conservador de Bienes Raíces textCódigo Civil art. 686 and art. 1801, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Registrar fee per registration (maximum)	2000 CLPDecreto Nº 588 exento of 1998 art. 1 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Registrar surcharge in Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and San Miguel (maximum)	0.2 %Decreto Nº 588 exento of 1998 art. 1 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Registrar surcharge in other Conservadores (maximum)	0.3 %Decreto Nº 588 exento of 1998 art. 1 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Amount above which no registrar surcharge applies	128000000 CLPDecreto Nº 588 exento of 1998 art. 1 Nº 1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Ordinary acquisitive prescription of real estate	5 yearsCódigo Civil art. 2508, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Extraordinary acquisitive prescription	10 yearsCódigo Civil art. 2511, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. A sale of real estate is not legally perfect until it is executed by public deed before a notary. Ownership of real estate, and usufruct, use, habitation and mortgage over it, pass only by registering the title in the registry of the Conservador for the territory where the property sits, and in each territory if it spans several. Where a thing must be transferred by registration, possession can only be acquired through registration, and registered possession ends only when the registration is cancelled by agreement, by a new registration transferring the right, or by court order.Código Civil, text set by DFL Nº 1 of 2000, Ministerio de Justicia, Art. 686, art. 687, art. 724, art. 728 and art. 1801, 2000-05-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. The Conservador keeps three registers: the Registro de Propiedad (transfers of ownership), the Registro de Hipotecas y Gravámenes (mortgages, censos, usufruct, use and habitation, fideicomisos, easements and similar encumbrances) and the Registro de Interdicciones y Prohibiciones de Enajenar (court and contractual prohibitions, attachments and litigation notices). Transfers of title, real rights and judgments declaring acquisitive prescription must be registered; conditions, easements, leases under art. 1962 of the Civil Code and prohibitions may be registered. The registrar may not refuse or delay a registration unless it is legally inadmissible, for example a copy that is not authentic, property outside its commune, or a visible defect that makes the title void, and must give the reasons in writing.Reglamento del Registro Conservatorio de Bienes Raíces of 24 June 1857, as amended by Ley Nº 21.772 (Diario Oficial 1 October 2025), Art. 13, art. 31, art. 32, art. 52 and art. 53, 2025-10-01 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley Nº 21.772 (Diario Oficial 1 October 2025) reformed the registry and notarial system: registrars must give the public free consultation terminals, written reasons for refusals, and must operate electronically with a digital repository and electronic certificates; the electronic duties start six months after the implementing regulation is published.

3. A promise to buy (promesa de compraventa) binds only if it is in writing, the promised contract is not one the law declares ineffective, it contains a term or condition fixing when the sale will be signed, and it specifies the sale so completely that only delivery or the legal formalities are missing. Ordinary acquisitive prescription of real estate takes five years of regular possession and extraordinary prescription ten years against anyone, which is why title studies usually look back at least ten years. A sale of real estate can also be rescinded for gross disproportion (lesión enorme) when the seller receives less than half the fair price or the buyer pays more than double it.Código Civil, text set by DFL Nº 1 of 2000, Art. 1554, art. 1888, art. 1889, art. 2508 and art. 2511, 2000-05-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Registrar fees are maximum amounts set by decree. Each registration costs CLP 2,000, plus a surcharge of 2 per thousand of the amount of the act in the Conservadores of Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and San Miguel, and 3 per thousand (the same surcharge increased by 50 percent) in all other Conservadores, calculated on amounts up to CLP 128,000,000. Promise contracts, cancellations and non monetary acts such as prohibitions, attachments and condominium rules pay no surcharge (non monetary acts pay a flat CLP 3,500). Certificates of registration, encumbrances and prohibitions cost CLP 1,500 for up to ten years and CLP 2,500 for more than ten years. Cancelling a mortgage and registering a replacement mortgage on a refinancing is charged at reduced rates, with the surcharge only on any increase in capital.
Cost to do it: Maximum surcharge CLP 256,000 in Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and San Miguel and CLP 384,000 elsewhere, plus CLP 2,000 per registration and CLP 1,500 to 2,500 per certificate.
Example: Registering a CLP 300,000,000 purchase in Santiago: CLP 2,000 plus CLP 256,000 (the surcharge is capped at CLP 128,000,000 times 2 per thousand) = CLP 258,000. A separate mortgage registration adds a similar amount. / About US$262 in Santiago and US$391 in other registries for any purchase above about US$129,700.Decreto Nº 588 exento of 1998, Ministerio de Justicia, Arancel de los Conservadores de Bienes Raíces y de Comercio (Diario Oficial 3 December 1998), as amended by Decreto Nº 200 exento of 2020 (Diario Oficial 7 February 2020), Art. 1 Nº 1, 2 and 8, and art. 2, 1998-12-03 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Since 2025 the law requires registrars to keep public consultation terminals free of charge, to give the reasons for any refusal in writing in the same act, and to answer information requests from State bodies within 30 calendar days. Where a refusal is caused by the notary's negligence, the law places costs for the affected party on the notary.Ley Nº 21.772, Modifica el sistema registral y notarial en sus aspectos orgánicos y funcionales (Diario Oficial 1 October 2025), Art. 13 and art. 5 bis of the Reglamento del Registro Conservatorio as amended; third transitory article, 2025-10-01 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Price	Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, San Miguel	Other Conservadores
CLP 60,000,000 (US$60,816)	CLP 122,000 (US$124)	CLP 182,000 (US$184)
CLP 128,000,000 (US$129,741)	CLP 258,000 (US$262)	CLP 386,000 (US$391)
CLP 300,000,000 (US$304,081)	CLP 258,000 (US$262)	CLP 386,000 (US$391)
CLP 1,000,000,000 (US$1,013,603)	CLP 258,000 (US$262)	CLP 386,000 (US$391)

Maximum registrar fees on a purchase (Decreto Nº 588 exento of 1998 art. 1 Nº 1)

Worked example

Buying a CLP 300,000,000 apartment (about US$304,081) in Santiago with a mortgage: the deed is signed at the notary, then the Conservador registers the transfer (up to CLP 258,000), the mortgage and the bank's prohibition to sell (CLP 3,500 flat). Certificates of ownership, encumbrances and prohibitions for the title study cost CLP 1,500 to 2,500 each.

Step by step

Order from the Conservador the certificate of current ownership (dominio vigente), the certificate of mortgages, encumbrances, prohibitions and litigation, and copies of the registrations covering at least ten years.
Obtain from the municipality the certificate of prior information (certificado de informaciones previas), the final works reception and the property number, and from the SII the fiscal assessment and any unpaid property tax (see real-estate/zoning-and-building-permits and real-estate/property-tax).
Sign a promise contract that meets Civil Code art. 1554, with a fixed date or condition for the deed, and usually register it.
Sign the public deed of sale; for a condominium unit, the seller declares in the deed whether common expenses are paid (Ley Nº 21.442 art. 6).
File the deed with the Conservador; the transfer is effective only from registration, which is also the date the tax law uses for holding periods (DL Nº 824 art. 17 Nº 8).
Check whether the land is indigenous land, in a border zone, a rural subdivision or affected by water rights issues (see the related pages).

Common traps

Signing the deed does not make you owner; until registration a second buyer who registers first can defeat you.
The registrar fee schedule is a maximum and dates from 1998; notary fees, legal fees and the title study are separate and set by each provider.
Encumbrances in the Registro de Hipotecas and prohibitions in the third register are easy to miss if only the ownership certificate is ordered.
Common expense debts follow the unit to the buyer (Ley Nº 21.442 art. 6), so ask for the administrator's certificate.

Sources

← Foreign ownership of real estate in Chile: equal treatment, the border zone ban for neighbouring country nationals, coastal and frontier state land, and inheritance by barred buyersProperty tax in Chile (impuesto territorial or contribuciones): rates, residential exemption, assessments, quarterly payment, vacant lot surcharge and the new exemption for owners aged 65 and over →