Countries › Uruguay › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Title registration and due diligence in Uruguay: the Property Registry, priority reservation, certificates, lapse periods and prescription

Title registration and due diligence in Uruguay: the Property Registry, priority reservation, certificates, lapse periods and prescription

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

Real estate title in Uruguay is secured by registering the notarial deed in the Property Registry run by the DGR; registered acts bind third parties from the moment of presentation, in order of presentation (Ley Nº 16.871 art. 17 and 54). A notary can lock in priority for 30 days with an online priority reservation, certificates prove the registered situation at the hour issued, and attachments lapse after five years and mortgages after thirty unless re registered. Ley Nº 20.531 cuts the outer limit for re registration from thirty to twenty years from 2027; the Registry charges 3 UR per act and refuses deeds without proof that the primary education tax is paid.

USD figures use UYU 40.21 per US dollar, the BCU quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Indexadas (UI) use UYU 6.6792 per UI, the BCU quotation for 27 October 2026; amounts in Unidades Reajustables (UR) use UYU 1,940.77, the UR for September 2026 published by IMPO (the latest published on 27 October 2026); the BPC is UYU 6,864 for 2026 (Decreto Nº 11/026). All were retrieved on 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Priority reservation validity	30 daysLey Nº 16.871 art. 55, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Period to cure or object to registry observations	150 daysLey Nº 16.871 art. 66, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Registry fee per act (common procedure)	3 URDGR procedure sheet, Ley Nº 16.871, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Mortgage registration lapses after	30 yearsLey Nº 16.871 art. 79, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Specific attachment registration lapses after	5 yearsLey Nº 16.871 art. 79, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Outer limit for re registration of originary registrations	20 yearsLey Nº 20.531 art. 205, as of 2027-01-01 · pending
Acquisitive prescription with good faith and just title	10 yearsCódigo Civil art. 1204, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Acquisitive prescription without title	20 yearsCódigo Civil art. 1211, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. The public registries are a technical service under the Ministry of Education and Culture, run by the Dirección General de Registros (DGR). The Real Estate Section of the Property Registry records public instruments that create, recognise, modify, transfer, declare or extinguish ownership, usufruct, use, habitation, surface rights, servitudes, mortgages and other real rights over real estate, Ley Nº 8.733 purchase promises, construction contracts and improvement debts, condominium bylaws, inheritance certificates, and claims and rulings affecting registered rights.
Cost to do it: Registration fees: see the DGR rule below.
Example: A deed of sale, a mortgage and a purchase promise over the same flat are each registered acts. / A foreign buyer's title is only as good as the registered chain of deeds.Ley Nº 16.871 (Public Registries), Art. 1, art. 2 and art. 17, 1997-09-28 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Registered acts are enforceable against third parties from the moment they are presented to the Registry, and registration follows the order of presentation, with effects backdated to the date and hour of the presentation entry. Between the parties, the transfer works from delivery, actual or fictitious. The acquirer has the burden of registering and is liable to the seller if it does not.
Cost to do it: Delay costs nothing in fees but can cost the property: a later attachment presented first takes priority.
Example: If a seller's creditor registers an attachment at 10:00 and the buyer's deed is presented at 11:00, the attachment is enforceable against the buyer. / Closing and presentation on the same day matter more than the price paid.Ley Nº 16.871, Art. 54 and art. 85, 1997-09-28 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Before signing a sale, mortgage, purchase promise or assignment, the designated notary may register a priority reservation online with digital signature. It lasts 30 calendar days from presentation: if the protected act is signed and registered within that period, it binds third parties from the date it was signed and ranks ahead of anything registered after the reservation was filed.
Cost to do it: Filed by the notary as part of the closing work; registry fee as published by the DGR.
Example: A reservation filed on 1 November protects a deed signed on 20 November and presented on 25 November against an attachment registered on 10 November. / For a US$500,000 purchase financed by a bank, the reservation protects both the buyer and the lender while funds are wired.Ley Nº 16.871, Art. 55, 1997-09-28 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. The Registry will not register an act where the transferor differs from the registered owner (continuity of title), unless the transferor is legitimated or a court orders it, and refuses registration if the property has no cadastral number (padrón). Documents with defects are registered provisionally and the applicant has 150 calendar days from presentation to cure them or object; objections go to the DGR, which decides within 30 calendar days after the registrar's report, silence meaning rejection.
Cost to do it: No fee to object; professional time to cure defects.
Example: A deed signed by an heir before the inheritance certificate is registered is observed and registered provisionally until the chain is completed. / Allow time in the closing timetable for observations on cross border powers of attorney.Ley Nº 16.871, Art. 57 and art. 66, 1997-09-28 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. The registries are public. The DGR issues certificates of the entries on given properties or persons, of the absence of entries, and searches by name across registries. A certificate proves the registered situation at the date and hour it is issued.
Cost to do it: Certificate fees as published by the DGR.
Example: The buyer's notary requests certificates of the property and of the seller (for attachments, interdictions and prior promises) immediately before closing. / A clean certificate dated the morning of closing is the core of title diligence for any foreign buyer.Ley Nº 16.871 (art. 74 heading by Ley Nº 19.355 art. 436), Art. 72 to art. 77, 2015-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Registrations lapse automatically: five years for specific attachments and other interim measures, claims affecting property, construction contracts and expropriations; fifteen years for leases; thirty years for mortgages and for purchase promises registered after the law came into force; thirty five years for mortgages in favour of the BROU. Re registration is allowed, but under the current text originary registrations cannot be extended beyond thirty years from the first registration, except purchase promises. Ley Nº 20.531 cuts that outer limit to twenty years, with a transition: registrations already over twenty years lapse five years after the new law takes effect.
Cost to do it: Re registration fees as published by the DGR.
Example: An attachment registered in 2022 lapses in 2027 unless the creditor re registers it. / A lender's mortgage registered in 2000 and repeatedly re registered will face the twenty year outer limit once Ley Nº 20.531 applies.Ley Nº 16.871 art. 79 and 80; Ley Nº 20.531 (Rendición de Cuentas 2025) art. 205, Art. 79, art. 80 and art. 81, 2026-10-01 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley Nº 20.531, promulgated on 1 October 2026 and generally in force from 1 January 2027, replaces the final paragraph of Ley Nº 16.871 art. 80: the maximum extension of an originary registration by re registration falls from thirty to twenty years, with transitional rules in art. 205 a) to c).

7. The Registry charges a fee per act. The DGR sheet for registering acts states 3 UR per act or contract presented (common procedure), and the online real estate minuta procedure for sales, promises and mortgages lists a cost of UYU 2,530. Payment is made after presentation with the barcode voucher at authorised payment networks. The DGR states that documents are graded within 5 business days and usually returned in about 10 days.
Cost to do it: 3 UR is about UYU 5,822 (US$145); the minuta procedure lists UYU 2,530 (US$63).
Example: A sale plus a mortgage on the same deed are two acts: 6 UR, about UYU 11,645. / About US$290 in registry fees for a deed with sale and mortgage at the 3 UR per act rate.DGR (Ministry of Education and Culture) official procedure sheets on gub.uy, updated 11 February 2026, Fees and timelines as published, 2026-02-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27

8. Notaries may not authorise any sale of real estate without proof that the annual primary education tax (Impuesto de Enseñanza Primaria) is paid in full, including the current year, or that the property is exempt; the DGI issues the certificate, the notary is jointly liable if it omits the check, and the Registry does not register documents without it. Banks may not grant or renew loans secured on real estate without the same proof.
Cost to do it: The DGI certificate is part of the closing; tax arrears must be paid first.
Example: Unpaid primary education tax for the current year blocks registration of the buyer's deed. / Budget for clearing the seller's tax arrears from the price at closing.Ley Nº 15.809 art. 641 (wording by Ley Nº 19.535 art. 77) and art. 642 (wording by Ley Nº 17.930 art. 433), Art. 641 and art. 642, 2017-09-25 official text · verified 2026-10-27

9. Ownership of real estate and other real rights can be acquired by possession of ten years in good faith with just title, or by twenty years of possession without title and regardless of bad faith. Separately, families in precarious housing who possess, as owners, an urbanisable private plot for five years may ask a court to declare ownership, up to 300 square metres, once per possessor.
Cost to do it: Prescription claims require a court ruling, which is itself subject to 4 percent ITP.
Example: A seller whose title rests on a prescription ruling should show the final ruling and its registration. / Unattended land, common with absentee foreign owners, can be lost to twenty years of adverse possession.Código Civil art. 1204 and art. 1211 (wording by Ley Nº 19.889 art. 463); Ley Nº 18.308 art. 65, CC art. 1204 and 1211; Ley Nº 18.308 art. 65, 2020-07-09 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Entry	Lapses after
Specific attachments and interim measures, claims, expropriations, construction contracts	5 years
Leases and sharecropping	15 years
Anticresis	20 years
Mortgages, and purchase promises registered under Ley Nº 16.871	30 years
Mortgages in favour of the BROU	35 years
Reciprocal mortgages under horizontal property	Do not lapse

Lapse periods for registry entries (Ley Nº 16.871 art. 79)

Worked example

A foreign company agrees to buy a warehouse for US$1,200,000 with bank financing.
Its notary files a priority reservation (30 days), orders registry certificates on the property and the seller, the cadastral certificate and the DGI primary education tax certificate, and checks the chain of title back through prior deeds.
At closing the deed (sale) and the mortgage are presented the same day: two acts at 3 UR each, about UYU 11,645 (US$290), plus ITP and notarial fees.
The deed binds third parties from presentation and, under the reservation, ranks ahead of anything registered after the reservation was filed.

Step by step

Instruct a Uruguayan notary (escribano); in Uruguay the notary runs title diligence, drafts the deed and registers it.
Obtain the cadastral certificate and the registry certificates on the property and on each seller.
Check the primary education tax and, for rural land over the thresholds, the INC offer (see the rural land page).
File a priority reservation before signing if the closing will take more than a day.
Sign, pay ITP and taxes, and present the deed to the Registry the same day; follow up within 5 business days for observations.
Cure any observation within 150 days or the provisional registration falls away.

Common traps

The registry protects the first to present, not the first to pay: never release funds without immediate presentation or a priority reservation.
Attachments lapse after five years unless re registered, so old debts may not show on certificates but may still exist as claims.
Ley Nº 20.531 shortens the outer limit for re registrations to twenty years; long standing registrations should be reviewed.
A property with no padrón cannot be registered at all.
Twenty years of open possession by others can extinguish an absentee owner's title.

Sources

← Transfer tax (ITP) on Uruguayan real estate: who pays, rates, the cadastral base and exemptionsRural land in Uruguay: the individual ownership rule for companies, Executive authorizations and the INC first offer →