How do you check a real estate project before buying in Peru?

What the developer must show you, and why that is not enough

When you buy from a developer or builder, the consumer code requires them to give you information before you sign. Article 77.2 of Ley N.° 29571 says:

“Los proveedores deben implementar y mantener procedimientos para proporcionar la información de manera previa y gratuita a la suscripción de un contrato considerando los aspectos siguientes: a. Partida registral en el caso de bienes inscritos o título en el caso de bienes no inscritos, que acredite que quien suscribe el o los contratos de compraventa es propietario del inmueble ofrecido o del inmueble matriz del cual se independizará el producto ofrecido. b. Situación del proceso de habilitación urbana o de licencias de edificación, según corresponda.”

(Before you sign, and free of charge, the seller must give you the land’s registry record showing that whoever signs the sale owns the property, or the parent property your unit will be split from, and the status of the urban development approval or building permit.) Article 76.2 adds that they must prove the municipal permits and the land’s registrations.

Being handed documents is not the same as checking them. This page explains how to confirm those facts yourself in official sources. The general list of what to ask for and sign is in buying a home in Peru: what to check before you sign.

Check 1: the land at Sunarp

The land’s registry record (partida registral) tells you who owns it and what weighs on it. The most complete tool is the certificado registral inmobiliario (CRI). Sunarp says it contains:

“La descripción física de un inmueble. La titularidad del dominio registral con 10 años de antigüedad. Las cargas, gravámenes y anotaciones vigentes con 30 años de antigüedad. Títulos pendientes de inscripción como bloqueos, hipotecas, transferencias, entre otros.”

(The physical description, ownership going back 10 years, charges, liens and annotations in force going back 30 years, and filings still pending, such as blocks, mortgages and transfers.)

To order it you need the registry number (or card, or volume and page), the registry office and the owner’s name. If the developer will not give you the registry number, treat that as a warning sign. The differences between the CRI, the copia literal and other certificates are in Sunarp copia literal and registry certificates.

What to look for in the CRI:

• The owner. It should match the company selling to you. If someone else is listed, ask in writing how they relate to the project.
• Charges and liens. Mortgages, attachments, lawsuit annotations.
• Pending filings. A transfer or mortgage still in process is not registered yet, but it shows up here.

This matters because article 2012 of the Civil Code says:

“Se presume, sin admitirse prueba en contrario, que toda persona tiene conocimiento del contenido de las inscripciones.”

(Everyone is presumed, with no proof to the contrary allowed, to know what is registered.) If a charge was on the record, you cannot later say you did not know.

Off-plan projects: the parent record

In an off-plan building your flat has no record of its own yet. What exists is the record for the whole plot, the partida matriz, from which the units will later be split. That is why the law speaks of the “inmueble matriz del cual se independizará el producto ofrecido”. What to check in that parent record, and how it turns into your own record, is covered in a separate guide on the partida matriz.

If the land has a mortgage

Developers often finance construction with a bank loan and mortgage the land. Article 1097 of the Civil Code explains why that matters to you:

“Por la hipoteca se afecta un inmueble en garantía del cumplimiento de cualquier obligación, propia o de un tercero. La garantía no determina la desposesión y otorga al acreedor los derechos de persecución, preferencia y venta judicial del bien hipotecado.”

(A mortgage ties a property to a debt. The owner keeps possession, but the lender gets the right to pursue the property, to be paid first, and to have it sold by a court.) “Pursue” means the mortgage follows the property even when the owner changes. A mortgage on the land is not a sign of fraud by itself, but before you pay you need to know how and when it will be lifted from your unit. What to ask and what the contract should say is covered in a separate guide on mortgages over the land.

Check 2: the building permit

The permit (licencia de edificación) is the municipality’s authorisation to build. Article 7 of Ley N.° 29090, as worded by Decreto Legislativo N.° 1675, says:

“Las licencias de habilitación urbana y de edificación constituyen actos administrativos mediante los cuales las municipalidades otorgan autorización para la ejecución de obras de habilitación urbana o de edificación.”

(Urban development and building permits are administrative acts by which municipalities authorise the works.)

What to do:

1. Ask the developer for the permit, or a document showing where the application stands. The law requires them to tell you the permit’s “situación” (status), so they may not have it yet. If they do not, get that in writing.
2. With the permit number, confirm with the district municipality that it exists and matches that plot and project (floors, units, address).
3. Compare the permit with what you are being sold. If the permit covers fewer floors or units than advertised, ask for a written explanation.

How permits and their categories work is in building permits in Peru.

Check 3: the company

Indecopi’s sanctions register

Article 119 of Ley N.° 29571 sets up a register of sanctioned businesses:

“Los proveedores que sean sancionados mediante resolución firme en sede administrativa quedan automáticamente registrados por el lapso de cuatro (4) años contados a partir de la fecha de dicha resolución. La información del registro es de acceso público y gratuito.”

(Businesses sanctioned by a final administrative decision are automatically listed for four years from that decision. The register is public and free.)

Indecopi also runs the Mira a Quién le Compras portal. The developer itself must tell you both exist (article 77.1, item e).

The housing ministry’s developer database

The Central de Información de Promotores Inmobiliarios is less known and holds more. Its regulation (D.S. N.° 006-2016-VIVIENDA) says its purpose is to give consumers information on developers and builders “referida a sus antecedentes, actividades y sanciones” (their background, activity and sanctions), and that it is “gratuita y pública” (free and public), on the websites of the housing ministry and Indecopi.

Under article 12 of the regulation, it includes, among other things:

“Nombre o razón social, según corresponda; RUC y domicilio fiscal. - Nombre de los accionistas. - Nombre y documento de identidad de los representantes legales. […] - Licencias de habilitación urbana y de edificación. […] c) Sanciones: Información sobre las sanciones impuestas que han quedado firmes en la vía administrativa y las que la agotan.”

(Company name, tax ID (RUC) and tax address, shareholders, legal representatives, urban development and building permits, and final administrative sanctions.)

Municipalities must send it the permits they grant and the final sanctions they impose on developers and builders (article 10.1). So it serves two purposes: the company’s history, and a cross-check that the project has a permit.

Look up the builder too, if it is a different company from the developer.

Sunarp: who signs for the company

If you will sign with a manager or attorney-in-fact, order a certificado de vigencia de poder for the company. Sunarp says it confirms “que la inscripción del representante legal en la partida registral de la empresa está vigente” (that the legal representative’s registration in the company’s record is in force).

What these checks do not tell you

A clean CRI, a valid permit and a company with no sanctions lower the risk, but they do not guarantee the project will be finished on time. That is our reading, not a written rule. If you already paid and the project stops, see what happens to your money if a real estate project falls through.

What this page does not cover

It does not cover the parent record or the mortgage over the land in detail; each has its own guide. Nor does it cover the clauses of an off-plan purchase contract, the documents the developer must hand over when you sign, handover of the unit, or complaints to Indecopi. We did not check Sunarp or municipal fees, or the developer database’s current web address.