debzor
New Member
Simple question. Experience and informed advice welcomed rather than speculation...
J
JMBroad
New Member
Minor piece of clarification - "beach property" = actual property located on a beach or do you mean "a property with private access to a beach" or "legally owning the actual beach"
I know of properties which have been bought and sold with private beaches - in the sense that the beach can only be accessed by land through the property and there is no public access however I also know of similar lands where the government created a public access to the beach (after almost 25 years of there being no access and the beach being considered "private")
I have not yet come across any beach which is privately owned and can not be used by the local population. Because of the numerous examples where the beach is for all means and purposes "private" yet the public are entitled to use it if they access it by the sea, I believe it is not possible for anyone to own a beach.
debzor
New Member
Sorry for the confusion, and I agree - all beaches in Brazil are public, even the ones that claim to be 'private'.
I was referring to property located within (or close to) the 33m of the 1831 high tide mark, ie on marina land. Beach property in that sense.
J
JMBroad
New Member
In that case yes they can - I know a chap who bought all the land surrounding a stunning bay 25 years ago and owns all the land surrounding the beach - the only part of the land he doesn't own is the beach - it was on this land that the government recently made a road giving access to the beach for the local population.
debzor
New Member
He is a foreigner, non-resident in Brazil, with no Brazilian business?
jeduardo
New Member
I owned beachfront property in Ponta Negra for 15 years. Actually there was a public road (Av. Erivan França) between my property and the beach. The property is actually "área de marinha" owned by "Patrimonio da União" and the legal document which gives you possession is called RIP (Registro Imobiliário Patrimonial). Not only did I pay IPTU for property there is also an annual tax which goes to "Patrimonio da União". All documentation was put in place back in 1981 with only my U.S. Passport and brazilian CPF. I did not have RNE at the time.
If you are buying from a 3rd party make sure they have a valid RIP in place and effectuate the transfer via Patrimonio da União and not via Cartório.
If you are buying from a 3rd party make sure they have a valid RIP in place and effectuate the transfer via Patrimonio da União and not via Cartório.
G
growler
New Member
I am not aware of any restriction in general preventing foreigners from owning beachfront property, indeed, many do.
lagarto
New Member
Beachfront property restriction
For foreigners purchasing land up to 100meters of Marine area there is a need to have authorization from the Republic President which is then passed on to the SPU who registers Marine land. This is now all dealt with in Brasilia causing a delay in the transfer documents required to transfer Title. It can in theory be denied.
jeduardo
New Member
Do you have a link where we can see this statute that requires Presidential approval for foreigners? Thanks
lagarto
New Member
Presidential approval
Until December last year all SPU land was dealt with at the local tax office in Fortaleza for the state of Ceará. Now it is in Brasilia for all states and has caused extreme delays in providing the CAT transfer doc required to transfer title deed.
The information came from my lawyer which I have quoted below in Portuguese, after I asked the question...
Until December last year all SPU land was dealt with at the local tax office in Fortaleza for the state of Ceará. Now it is in Brasilia for all states and has caused extreme delays in providing the CAT transfer doc required to transfer title deed.
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mikesmith
New Member
*Until December last year all SPU land was dealt with at the local tax office in Fortaleza for the state of Ceará. Now it is in Brasilia for all states and has caused extreme delays in providing the CAT transfer doc required to transfer title deed.*
We transferred a beach property here in Genipabu/Natal through the Patrimonio da Uniao just last week.We paid the laudemio(5%) and received the CAT transfer document 5 days later on-line.We now have to take the public deed back to the SPU to get it registered there.This takes around 60days.
There is no restriction on foreign nationals buying beachfront properties.We have sold quite alot over the last 5 years here in the north of Natal and have not had any problems transferring title so far.
We transferred a beach property here in Genipabu/Natal through the Patrimonio da Uniao just last week.We paid the laudemio(5%) and received the CAT transfer document 5 days later on-line.We now have to take the public deed back to the SPU to get it registered there.This takes around 60days.
There is no restriction on foreign nationals buying beachfront properties.We have sold quite alot over the last 5 years here in the north of Natal and have not had any problems transferring title so far.
debzor
New Member
Actually there is a law that states that foreigners cannot themselves own any property or homes within 100m of the maritime coast, unless it is part of a condominium of at least 3 homes, without the permission of either the President or Secretary of the Treasury. I can reference the law if required.
(This is in addition to the general restriction on foreign ownership of land near borders or military instalations and bases, parcels of land greater than 50 modules, land with national security implications, and any beaches and ocean islands. Clearly it is all about national security.)
The only ways around this beachfront law are:
1/ Claim the condominium exemption
2/ Put the property in a Brazilian name or Brazilian company name
3/ Do not register the escritura with the marina department (SPU) - but this may present problems when you want to sell
4/ Hope for ignorance of the law at the SPU - actually quite common!
5/ 'Persuade' two engineers at the SPU to agree and sign off that your property is not within 100m of the coast
Out of interest, here in Pernambuco, the SPU is still in Recife and we do not need to use Brasilia, unlike in Fortaleza apparently.
(This is in addition to the general restriction on foreign ownership of land near borders or military instalations and bases, parcels of land greater than 50 modules, land with national security implications, and any beaches and ocean islands. Clearly it is all about national security.)
The only ways around this beachfront law are:
1/ Claim the condominium exemption
2/ Put the property in a Brazilian name or Brazilian company name
3/ Do not register the escritura with the marina department (SPU) - but this may present problems when you want to sell
4/ Hope for ignorance of the law at the SPU - actually quite common!
5/ 'Persuade' two engineers at the SPU to agree and sign off that your property is not within 100m of the coast
Out of interest, here in Pernambuco, the SPU is still in Recife and we do not need to use Brasilia, unlike in Fortaleza apparently.
debzor
New Member
Just for clarification, this is not about transferring title, but rather registering the title after transfer with the SPU as required by law. Many brokers and agents who are not CRECI licensed are not aware of this, just like many Brazilians, but clearly you are!
The completed and registered esritura must be taken with the ID of the buyer and registered with the SPU. It looks like in Natal the SPU is also local?
M
Matida Fernandes
New Member
The only restriction for foreigners non resident buyng land in Brazil are the ones considered in National Security sites (for example next to a military base or on the borders of Brazil, as stated by Rob) and Rural Areas (not all of them). Going to the point, I have a non resident English client who bought over 15 beach frot properties (located within (or close to) the 33m of the 1831 high tide mark - Decreto-Lei 9.760/46) and we had no problem at all registering them, and I mean in the Cartorio (Notarial) and in the GRPU (Gerencia Regional do Patrimonio da União) which is the local SPU in most of the states of Brazil. The law doesn´t put any restriction, so should be odd if they didn´t authorize.
debzor
New Member
The law that restricts foreigners owning beachfront is article 205 of the Decree 9.760/46.
Read my earlier post about how to get around it.
M
Matida Fernandes
New Member
Ok. Let me try to explain. As you probably know the article 205 has to be combined with art. 100, letter "a". Letter "a" says that any "aforamento" regime over the properties mentioned needs an authorization from those government sections listed. Article 205 says that a foreigner needs an authorization from the President to buy those properties, but the Decreto 3.125/1999 gives the power (a delegate power) to authorize the aforamento to the "Ministro de Estado do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão", who is, in fact, the head of Patrimonio da União. So, in another words, there is no difference in between a Brazilian and a foreigner buying beach side property, both need an authorization from SPU (GRPU in cases where this one, like Natal).
The reason for that is, as explained before, to restrict the sale of properties located in within areas considered of National Security to Brazil. This areas are already listed to the local SPU offices, and they´ve been like that for ages. That´s why foreigners have no problems to get a proper registration to their beach side properties.
debzor
New Member
Yes, I see what you are getting at, except that a foreigner still (potentially) needs more than a simple registration at the SPU, they need the delegated approval of the President.
But your answer has been a great help. thank you.
D
dwc
New Member
ownership
Hi,Using the words beach and beachfront is a case of semantics. In Brazil one can own BEACHfront ,that is property that is titled and the plot Fronts the beach,linear feet paralleling the ocean--The title must be Escritura only so make sure it is titled as such and all past taxes have been paid...dwc
