Hello my name is Santiago Lampón. I am a lawyer and a notary in Puerto Rico and in this episode of Puerto Rico Legal video blog, this is actually part one of a two part subject, I am going to cover how to find the title in Puerto Rico. Now there are some assumptions I want you to look at while you are watching this video; and the first one and foremost is that the property that you are looking for or the title you are looking for is registered at the property registry in Puerto Rico.
In part two of this episode I am going to cover those that you cannot find the information that I am going to discuss now, which would lead you to find the title of the property registry. Now the other assumption is that you have information and I am going to give you the three pieces of information and the source for some of that information.
First you most likely have a lot number or should have a lot number for the property. Important. There is a distinction to be made here. The lot number assigned under Puerto Rico law and at the Property Registry in Puerto Rico has no bearings or no correspondence with the lot number that the property may actually have in life, meaning out there. Like, you have a little house in your small town or big city or whatever and that house has a number, number 1159. That has nothing to do; I’m jut making that up, that has nothing to do with the number that the property may be identified with at the property registry.
You could search the property registry like for example lets say you have this property in San Juan that you are looking for and your number 1159 and you look for 1159 and nothing shows up. Then there is another one that has 1159 in Fajardo and another one in Pozo, these are different cities in Puerto Rico. So the number that you are looking for has nothing to do with number sitting in front of the house or the apartment.
Where do you get this lot number? You get it from a deed. At the deed or within the deed you would have a description of the property and it is going to give you a lot number which is the official number used by the property registry.
Another way you can find the title or property at the property registry is by using the name of the person who appears as owner of the property. If you believe that John Doe is the owner of the property you can do a name search, but where? There are different districts that have different and unique and separate records regarding property use in Puerto Rico. If the property is located in San Juan there are sub districts in San Juan, three or for of them, I believe four of them. And when you are looking for a property you need to make sure you know specifically where that property is located so we can associate a registry with that property. And then your search can be fruitful. So property lot number, the deed where the information appears or the names.
One piece of advice or warning, when you are looking for property you see the name of the owner that is highly unsuccessful action. Maybe it is not fair to say highly unsuccessful but I rather not use it. But if we need to use it that’s fine but if you don’t have any of this information then you need to watch part 2 of this video. My name is Santiago Lampón. I am a lawyer and a notary in Puerto Rico. You have watched an episode in Puerto Rico Legal Block. You can send me an email or give me a phone call if you have any questions. Have a great day.