How do you correct a property's registered area, boundaries or measurements in Peru: notary or court?

The problem: the registry says one thing, the land another

It happens often. You buy or inherit a property, measure it, and the area, boundaries or perimeter measurements (área, linderos y medidas perimétricas) do not match your entry (partida) at Sunarp. Sometimes the land is smaller, sometimes larger, sometimes one side is off.

Fixing that is called rectificación or saneamiento of area, boundaries and perimeter measurements. The route depends on two questions: is the real area larger than the registered one? And does it overlap a neighbor’s land, or does someone object?

This page covers the routes. If your problem is that you do not know where the line with your neighbor runs, see boundary disputes and deslinde.

The three routes under Ley 27333

Article 13 of Ley 27333 covers cases where “existan discrepancias entre el área real del terreno, sus medidas perimétricas y/o linderos, con los que figuren en la partida registral del predio” (there are discrepancies between the land’s real area, perimeter or boundaries and those in the registry entry). It gives three routes:

“a) Por mutuo acuerdo: Mediante escritura pública suscrita por el propietario del predio y los propietarios de todos los predios colindantes, en la que estos últimos manifiesten su conformidad con el área, medidas perimétricas y/o linderos, según corresponda.”

(By mutual agreement: a public deed signed by the owner and the owners of all adjoining properties, stating that they agree with the area, measurements or boundaries.)

“b) Procedimiento Notarial: […] siempre y cuando el área real del predio sea igual o inferior a la registrada en la partida. Cuando el área real es superior a la registrada procederá este trámite siempre y cuando exista una certificación registral de que la mayor área no se superpone a otra registrada.”

(Notary procedure: available when the real area is equal to or smaller than the registered one. When it is larger, only if a registry certificate shows the extra area does not overlap another registered property.)

“c) Procedimiento Judicial: Se tramita por el procedimiento judicial previsto en los Artículos 504 y siguientes del Código Procesal Civil, toda rectificación que suponga superposición de áreas o linderos, o cuando surja oposición de terceros.”

(Court procedure: any correction involving overlapping areas or boundaries, or where a third party objects, goes through the court process in articles 504 onward of the Código Procesal Civil.)

In practice:

There is also an exit at any point: article 13.2 says that if the owners reach agreement during the notary or court procedure, they can sign the mutual-agreement deed, “dándose por concluido el proceso iniciado” (which ends the procedure).

The court route: a proceso abreviado

Article 504 of the Código Procesal Civil says the claim of the “propietario o poseedor para que se rectifiquen el área o los linderos, o para que se limiten éstos mediante deslinde” (owner or possessor asking for the area or boundaries to be corrected, or fixed through deslinde) is handled as a proceso abreviado (shortened procedure). It adds: “Este proceso sólo se impulsará a pedido de parte” (the case only moves forward at a party’s request). If you do not push the file, the court will not do it for you.

Article 505 requires, for real estate, “planos de ubicación y perimétricos, así como descripción de las edificaciones existentes, suscritos por ingeniero o arquitecto colegiado y debidamente visados por la autoridad municipal o administrativa correspondiente” (location and perimeter plans and a description of the buildings, signed by a registered engineer or architect and stamped by the municipal or administrative authority). We read these articles in the Poder Judicial’s 2002 edition of the code. Check with your lawyer that they have not changed.

What Decreto Legislativo 1595 changes

Decreto Legislativo 1595, published in El Peruano on 17 December 2023, repeals Ley 27333 and regulates area correction in its article 9. It offers four procedures:

• Unilateral declaration by the owner in a public deed, with cadastral plans, plans stamped by the municipality or drawn up by a cadastral verifier, as long as Sunarp’s registry map (Base Gráfica Registral) does not show “plenamente acreditada la superposición con predios colindantes” (a fully proven overlap with adjoining properties).
• Non-contentious notary procedure. It adds a new rule: “Cuando se determine que el área del predio se incrementa en más del diez por ciento (10%) se efectúa la debida notificación a los colindantes registrales para su oposición de ser el caso” (when the area grows by more than 10%, registered neighbors are notified so they can object). A cadastral verifier takes part.
• Deed with the neighbors whose land overlaps, as shown by Sunarp.
• Court case under “numeral 3 del artículo 504” of the Código Procesal Civil, when the owner prefers it or the other routes cannot be completed.

Two important limits. First, these procedures “son aplicables únicamente a predios ubicados en suelo urbano que cuenten con licencia de habilitación urbana aprobada” (apply only to urban land with an approved urban development permit). Second, the notary procedure is handled “exclusivamente ante el/la Notario/a de la provincia en la que se ubica el predio” (only by a notary in the property’s province), and if there is no notary there, you go to court.

Which one applies today?

This is the point few people explain. Decreto Legislativo 1595 says:

“El presente Decreto Legislativo entra en vigencia a los ciento veinte días hábiles siguientes a la publicación de su Reglamento.”

(This decree takes effect one hundred and twenty business days after its Reglamento is published.)

We could not confirm on an official source whether that Reglamento has been published; we only found a draft. Until it is in force, the rule that applies is Ley 27333. Before you start, ask the notary which norm they will apply to your case.

If you already started under Ley 27333, Decreto Legislativo 1595 protects your procedure: those started under that law “se rigen por la misma hasta su culminación, salvo que, por solicitud escrita del administrado, se acoja a lo establecido en el presente Decreto Legislativo” (stay under it until they finish, unless you ask in writing to switch to the new decree).

What this page does not cover

We did not review the Reglamento of Ley 27157 (which Ley 27333 points to for the notary procedure), Sunarp’s Reglamento de Inscripciones del Registro de Predios, cadastral directives or Tribunal Registral precedents. We give no deadlines, notary fees or registry fees. We also do not cover rural land, correcting clerical errors in a registry entry, acquisitive prescription, or the full clean-up of a property’s title, which we explain in physical-legal title regularization.