Mexico Real Estate Ownership:

What is a Fideicomiso?

A Fideicomiso is much like a USA Living Trust. Fideicomiso is a 50-year perpetually renewable and transferable Bank Trust through which Foreigners acquire irrevocable and absolute ownership and is provided specifically for non-nationals to own property in the formally restricted zones (border and beach areas.) The Trust system of ownership is sanctioned by the Mexican Government, provided for under the Mexican Constitution, and secured by the Central Bank of Mexico.

The Mechanics:

There are specific banks authorized by the Mexican Government to hold the Real Estate Fideicomiso. Title is delivered to the bank authorized to act as the trustee, designating the foreign buyer as the Beneficiary of the Trust (you.) The Beneficiary (you) retains the use and the control of the property and makes all the investment decisions. It is your Trust and not the property of the Government or the Bank. The Bank reviews all paperwork of the current owner/developer to ensure that the documents are complete and legal. The Fideicomiso is not an asset of the bank’s. If the Bank should ever fail, the Fideicomiso is simply transferred to another Authorized Bank. The Real Estate Fideicomiso may be offered either through a Master Trust or an Individual Trust.

Individual Trust Fideicomiso: 

The Beneficiary (you) maintains complete control over the Trust (to buy, sell, mortgage, encumber, will or inherit) and is not tied to a Master Trust. In an Individual Fideicomiso, every Beneficiary (you) is responsible for payment of their own taxes. A non payment by one property owner would not affect another property holder in the development. In a Master Trust the developer is responsible for payment of taxes, then appropriating them for reimbursement proportionately to each Fideicomiso held under the Master Trust. Mexican Developers DO NOT have any special dispensation under the law. If you do not have a Fideicomiso through an Authorized Bank then you have, at best, a lease. Any other form of “ownership” such as share of a corporation, squatters, owning with a Mexican National partner, or any other gimmick is not legal and is trying to circumvent the law!  The Real Estate Fideicomiso is designed specifically for non-nationals/foreigners to own land in the formally restricted areas (beach, border region) and is the ONLY legal way to own this land. The Fideicomiso is set in 50-year increments gauranteed renewable for perpetuity.

Casa Fina Offers irrevocable land ownership through an Individual Fideicomiso and absolute guaranteed protection through Stewart Title Latin America.

Atrticle by: Playa de Oro, Baja Real Estate Guide Feb., 2007

Mexico - See it, Love it, Live it! ® Casa fina Real Estate, 2007