At the outset, a title study or due diligence over the property is done. Here, the seller, through the seller’s attorney or the real estate broker, must provide the following standard documents for urban properties:

• Copies of the deeds of sale or transfer and any other document that transfers title over the last 10 years
• Copies of the registrations of the property from the real estate registrar (such copies must correspond to the current registration as well as registrations recorded over the last 10 years)
• A certificate of ownership, issued by the real estate registrar, issued no earlier than 30 days before
• A certificate of mortgages, encumbrances and prohibitions for the last 30 years, issued no earlier than 30 days prior to the commencement of the due diligence procedure
• A certificate of non-municipal expropriation and a certificate from SERVIU with issuance dates no earlier than 30 days prior to the commencement of the due diligence procedure
• A copy of the effective possession decree (only if the seller or one of the previous owners acquired the property by inheritance)
• A certificate of final receipt for existing buildings on the property (related to the building licenses of the property)
• A certificate approving the sale of building floors and apartments, or that the property is part of a joint property ownership regime (if applicable)
• Certificate issued by the Treasury stating that there are no recorded debts for the territorial property, and if there are any debts, proof of their payment (this information can also be found online — to confirm that the property has no contribution debts, visit: www.tesoreria.cl)
• Certificate of Zoning Information (Certificado de Informaciones Previas) for the property that states other characteristics, such as whether height construction is allowed; if it is in a rural or urban zone; if the zoning rules of the property are compatible with commercial use; whether there is historical area protection; and if certain types of establishments may not be built; this document is issued by the Municipal Works Department (Direccion de Obras Municipales or DOM) of the corresponding municipality.

In certain special cases, the following are requested:

• For joint ownership – a certificate from the condominium manager certifying that there are no debts for common expenses, and if there are any, documents proving their payment
• Titles older than 10 years – when there is a need to verify the regularity of the registrations, marital status of any party, etc.
• For legal entities – proof of the representatives’ capacities. If the seller has been a legal entity in previous sales, the capacities of those who appear on its behalf must be proven, through the respective public deed or reduction to public deed of the appropriate document, except if they were partially or completely inserted in the respective deed of sale; if a delegate is involved, his or her capacity to act must also be proven
• Powers of attorney – (i) copies of powers of attorney deeds are required if in any of the prior sales, one of the parties appeared represented by proxy, except when the power of attorney has been inserted in the respective deed; (ii) certificate of enforceability of the power of attorney up to the date of the execution of the document
• Supplemental records – depending on the sale’s characteristics, additional records may be requested, such as (i) powers of attorney and delegation that are not issued more than one year prior to the respective date of sale, otherwise a certificate from the judicial archive stating that there is no revocation of the power of attorney in the margin of the master deed may be required; (ii) the power of attorney granted by the board of directors of a corporation, identifying the stockholders who actually attended the meeting of the board on that date (sufficient evidence for this is the notarial certificate attesting the board’s conformation pursuant to the public record established on Art. 135 of the Corporations Law); and (iii) the legal entity’s legal records, including copies of public deeds, registrations at the Registry of Commerce, publications in the Official Journal, and other evidence that prove the company’s existence and validity.

The purchase is executed in a purchase deed (mandatory), which shall be executed before a notary. Usually also an escrow agreement is executed, by which the price is held in escrow by the notary until the property is registered in the real estate registrar under the name of the buyer, free of encumbrances other than those recognized in the purchase deed.

The seller usually represents and warrants that the property is free of all encumbrances, easements, seizure of assets and mortgages. Representations regarding the absence of expropriations are quite common. The seller also warrants that the property is free of occupants and other furniture or goods. In case of rural properties, the buyer usually warrants that all workers have left the estate.

Finally, the seller represents that the property is free of debt and owed taxes.

The sale is binding the moment the purchase agreement is executed. However, the transfer of the buyer’s ownership rights is made with the registration of the property in the real estate registrar.

Titles are transferred upon registration.

Costs are usually split between parties, although there is no mandatory rule in this regard. Usually (a) the buyer pays for half of the notary costs for the execution of the public deed of sale; and (b) the seller pays for half of the notary costs for the execution of the public deed of sale as well as the total cost for registering ownership under his/her name at the property registry of the relevant real estate registrar. Deed costs are usually less than USD 500, while registrations are usually within that range as well.