What is an anotación de demanda on a Peruvian property record, what does it do and how is it removed?

What an anotación de demanda is

When someone sues over a right that is recorded at Sunarp, they can ask the judge to note the lawsuit on the property record (partida registral). It is a provisional measure (medida cautelar). Article 673 of the Código Procesal Civil says:

“Cuando la pretensión discutida en el proceso principal está referida a derechos inscritos, la medida cautelar puede consistir en la anotación de la demanda en el registro respectivo. Para su ejecución, el Juez remitirá partes al registrador, los que incluirán copia íntegra de la demanda, de la resolución que la admite y de la cautelar.”

(When the claim concerns recorded rights, the provisional measure can be to note the lawsuit in the registry. The judge sends the registrar the documents, including a full copy of the claim, the order admitting it and the provisional-measure order.)

At the registry, the lawsuit goes in as a provisional notice (anotación preventiva). Sunarp’s regulation defines these in article 64:

“Las anotaciones preventivas son asientos provisionales y transitorios que tienen por finalidad reservar la prioridad y advertir la existencia de una eventual causa de modificación del acto o derecho inscrito.”

(Provisional notices are temporary entries meant to reserve priority and warn that the recorded right may change.)

Article 65 lists “las demandas y demás medidas cautelares” (lawsuits and other provisional measures) first among what can be noted.

The registrar does not enter it blindly. Point 32.4 of the regulation says lawsuit notices “se anotarán siempre que haya compatibilidad con los títulos inscritos” (are entered as long as they are compatible with what is already recorded).

What it does: it does not freeze the property, it warns and gives priority

Many people think a recorded lawsuit freezes the property. It does not. Article 673 ends with this sentence:

“La anotación de la demanda no impide la transferencia del bien ni las afectaciones posteriores, pero otorga prevalencia a quien ha obtenido esta medida.”

(The notice does not prevent a transfer of the property or later charges on it, but gives priority to whoever obtained it.)

Sunarp’s regulation says the same in general terms: a provisional notice does not stop other entries on the record (article 67). The owner can still sell or mortgage.

What changes is the order. The Civil Code says “la prioridad en el tiempo de la inscripción determina la preferencia de los derechos que otorga el registro” (the earlier registration wins, article 2016). And article 68 of the regulation adds that once the protected right is recorded, it “surtirá sus efectos desde la fecha del asiento de presentación de la anotación” (takes effect from the date of the notice). So a claimant who wins ranks ahead of anyone who bought or lent against the property after the notice.

Why a buyer cannot say they did not know

Two Civil Code articles matter here. Article 2012:

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

(Everyone is presumed, with no proof allowed to the contrary, to know what is recorded.)

And article 2014, as worded by Ley 30313, which protects a good-faith buyer only against causes “que no consten en los asientos registrales y los títulos archivados que lo sustentan” (that do not appear in the registry entries and the archived titles behind them).

A recorded lawsuit is in the entries. Our reading is that someone who buys a property with a lawsuit noted on it cannot later claim they did not know. This follows from those two articles, but is not written in those words.

If you are buying and the record shows a lawsuit notice

Do not sign or pay before you:

1. Read the whole entry. It gives the court, the case number and what is being claimed.
2. Request the archived title. It holds the documents the judge sent, including the claim and the provisional-measure order. See archived title vs registry entry.
3. Find out where the lawsuit stands. A case that has just started is not the same as one where the claim was dismissed.
4. Insist on cancellation before payment. If the seller says they won, have the cancellation recorded first.

For everything else to check, see buying a home in Peru.

How it is removed

Sunarp’s regulation says provisional notices “se extinguen por cancelación, por caducidad o por su conversión en inscripción” (end by cancellation, by expiry or by becoming a full registration, article 92). For a lawsuit notice, the usual route is cancellation by court order.

By court order

Article 102 of the regulation is clear:

“Las inscripciones o anotaciones preventivas extendidas en virtud de mandato judicial se cancelarán sólo por otro mandato judicial, sin perjuicio de lo señalado en el literal d) del Artículo 94 de este Reglamento.”

(Entries made by court order are cancelled only by another court order, except where they expire by law.)

If the claimant loses, article 630 of the Código Procesal Civil says the measure is cancelled by law when the first-instance judgment dismisses the claim, “aunque aquella hubiere sido impugnada” (even if that judgment is appealed). Even so, to get it off the record, the practical step is to ask the court to send Sunarp an order lifting it. That is our reading of articles 630 and 102 together.

If the lawsuit is against you, you can also challenge the measure through an objection or a request to vary it. See provisional measures and attachment.

By expiry: do not count on it

Two traps:

• The one-year period does not apply. Article 66 of the regulation sets a one-year life, but only for notices under literals c) and d) of article 65: titles whose grantor’s right is not recorded, or titles with fixable defects. A lawsuit falls under literal a).
• The five-year rule changed. Article 625 of the Código Procesal Civil used to say every provisional measure expired five years after it was carried out. Ley 28473 amended it in 2005. It now reads: “En los procesos iniciados con el Código de Procedimientos Civiles de 1912, la medida cautelar se extingue de pleno derecho a los cinco años contados desde su ejecución.” (In cases started under the 1912 Code of Civil Procedure, the measure ends by law five years after it was carried out.)

There is also a 1996 law, Ley 26639, that the Tribunal Registral has applied to the expiry of some court-ordered entries. We could not read its official text, so we do not tell you what period it sets or whether it reaches your case. If the notice is very old, ask a lawyer or Sunarp.

Do not confuse it with other notices

• Attachment by registration (embargo en forma de inscripción) is a different provisional measure, used in money claims. See provisional measures and attachment.
• The provisional notice a notary requests over forgery or identity theft, and the forgery block, are anti-fraud measures with their own periods. See protecting your property from registry fraud.

What this page does not cover

We do not cover how to request a lawsuit notice, what happens to a mortgage or attachment recorded after it when the claimant wins, or lawsuit notices in other registries, such as vehicles or companies. We also did not review court rulings or Tribunal Registral decisions on lawsuit notices.