How does the land registration system function? Who are the players?
There is a national cadastral office called “Catastro” (a registry of all the land within the country) and from which all properties are indexed. The players in the land registration system are the Registrar of the Public Registry Office and the notary. In a real estate purchase and sale transaction, the players also include the buyer and the seller. The notary, although usually paid by the buyer, does not act as counsel to any of the parties to the transaction. His function is merely to insure that the transaction is carried out pursuant to law. The purchase-and-sale transaction entails an extensive investigation by the lawyer acting for the buyer at the Public Registry Records of the chain of title (which refers to that sequence of registered documents capable of providing notice to subsequent purchases of the property) as well as of any liens placed on the property. Once the purchase-and-sale transaction has been closed and the public deed signed by the notary, the lawyer acting for
