USA Foreclosure Wiki

Puerto Rico

47 min read

Puerto Rico — Tax & Mortgage Foreclosure

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Territory note. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a state. Real-property tax is municipal, but it is assessed, billed, collected, and enforced centrally by the Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM) — a single insular agency serving all 78 municipios — not by 78 separate county/ municipal collectors. There is no county layer: the recording unit is the municipio, and the land registry is the unified Registro de la Propiedad. The enforcement statute is the Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, Ley 107-2020, Libro VII (Hacienda Municipal), which in 2020 absorbed and superseded the former property-tax-sale statutes (21 L.P.R.A. ch. 245) and repealed the standalone “Ley de Venta de Deudas Contributivas” (Ley 21-1997). Because the system is administrative-collector-driven (not a 50-state-style lien-certificate auction market and not sheriff-run), several standard modules below are marked where the 50-state framing does not map cleanly. Most primary sources are in Spanish; English glosses below are the author’s translation and the Spanish statutory text controls.

0. Identity & Classification

  • Recording unit: municipio (78). Land records are centralized in the Registro de la Propiedad (regional sections), not per-municipio recorders.
  • Tax sale type: tax deed sold by the collector at public auction (venta en pública subasta); the winning bidder receives a certificado de compra that ripens into absolute title if the short redemption window lapses. There is no investor lien-certificate auction of the Florida/Arizona type in current law (the assignable-tax-debt program, Ley 21-1997, was repealed).
  • Tax foreclosure process: administrative (CRIM seizes and sells without a court judgment; the debtor’s remedy is to go to court to dissolve the embargo). Arts. 7.072–7.080, Ley 107-2020. source
  • Mortgage foreclosure process: judicial (court action + judicial sale by the Alguacil/marshal under Regla 51, Reglas de Procedimiento Civil). No non-judicial power-of-sale.
  • Selling authority: CRIM (Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales) for tax sales; Alguacil (court marshal) for mortgage foreclosure sales.
  • Statutory home: Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, Ley 107-2020, Libro VII, Cap. III (Contribución Municipal sobre la Propiedad), Arts. 7.059, 7.072–7.091 — official OGP text
  • Tyler v. Hennepin compliance: compliant — Puerto Rico’s statute already required the surplus (sobrante) to be returned to the former owner long before tyler-v-hennepin-county. On both a movable-property sale and a real-property sale, “todo el sobrante que como producto de la venta se realizase en exceso de las contribuciones, penalidades y costas, será devuelto por el CRIM al dueño de la propiedad vendida o sus herederos o cesionarios” (Art. 7.075), and the surplus from a real-property auction is notified and tendered to the taxpayer (Art. 7.080). The government does not keep equity beyond the debt.

1. Tax Sale Mechanics

  • What is sold: a tax deed route — the delinquent real property itself is embargoed and sold at public auction; the buyer gets a certificado de compra (Art. 7.084). If unsold for lack of a sufficient bid, CRIM may take title in its own name (Art. 7.085) and then transfer it gratuitously to the municipio. source
  • Bidding method: highest-bid deed. Sale is to the highest bidder (“al postor que ofrezca mayor cantidad”) at or above a confidential minimum that is no lower than the principal tax debt or the market-value appraisal (Arts. 7.078–7.079). A 10% cash deposit on the bid is required, forfeited if the balance is not paid within 10 days (Art. 7.078).
  • Interest / penalty (delinquency, statutory): tax becomes morosa if unpaid within 90 days of the due date; surcharges of 5% (paid 31–60 days late) or 10% (paid after 60 days), plus 10% annual interest from the due date (Art. 7.059). source
  • Minimum bid composition: delinquent contributions + interest + surcharges + penalties + costs of the apremio (publication, edicts, 10%-of-tax collector’s fee); real-property minimum cannot be below the principal tax debt or the market appraisal (Arts. 7.073, 7.077, 7.079).
  • Sale frequency / typical month: no fixed statewide calendar; CRIM proceeds case-by-case after the 30-day post-notice cure period lapses. needs_verification (no single published auction calendar — sales scheduled per file).
  • Venue: in person, conducted by CRIM or its representative at the place fixed in the published notice (Art. 7.078).
  • Platform vendors: none of the commercial 50-state auction platforms apply; CRIM runs collections and notices through its own portal (portal.crim360.com).
  • Registration / deposit: 10% cash deposit of the bid amount required at the auction; balance due within 10 days or deposit forfeited (Art. 7.078).
  • Subsequent taxes (“subs”): not an investor-certificate “subs” regime. The redemption price (Art. 7.086) already folds in “contribuciones vencidas hasta la fecha de la redención,” and the CRIM lien annotation is exempt from the registry’s ordinary caducidad/lapse rules (Art. 7.076).

2. Right of Redemption → see right-of-redemption

  • Pre-sale right: yes — the taxpayer cures by paying the full delinquency (tax + surcharges + interest + costs) any time before the auction; the apremio notice gives a 30-day cure window after the embargo notice before sale (Arts. 7.059, 7.073). source
  • Post-sale period: 30 days from issuance of the certificado de compra (Art. 7.086) — a short window, not the one-year period that existed under the older Title 13 / Title 21 ch. 245 regime. Runs from the date the purchase certificate is issued. source
  • Who may redeem: the owner as of the sale date; their heirs or assignees; or any person who, at the sale date, held a right or interest in the property (including a mortgagee, tenant, or lessee), or their heirs/assignees (Art. 7.086).
  • Redemption amount formula: total purchase price + improvements and expenses incurred by the buyer + accrued costs and taxes due through the redemption date + 20% of all the foregoing as the buyer’s statutory compensation (Art. 7.086). If CRIM itself took the property, the same formula applies with the 20% characterized as a penalty (Art. 7.086).
  • Premium to certificate holder: 20% flat (not an interest rate) (Art. 7.086).
  • Procedure: pay the holder, who endorses a notarized receipt on the back of the certificado de compra; or, if the holder refuses or cannot be found, consign the redemption price with CRIM/the court, which issues a certificado de redención (Arts. 7.086–7.088). A mortgagee who redeems adds the sum to its mortgage; a tenant who redeems may deduct it from rent (Art. 7.086).
  • Extinguishment of the right: the redemption right is extinguished once the taxpayer accepts/receives the surplus from a third-party purchaser (treated as a waiver) (Art. 7.080), or when the 30-day window lapses unexercised — at which point the recorded certificado de compra becomes absolute title (Arts. 7.084–7.085).
  • Special tolling: sale postponement (not classic tolling) is available for elderly or terminally/permanently-ill taxpayers whose only home is the property and who cannot pay or qualify for a plan; the embargo annotation’s registry-lapse term is suspended until death or until the condition ceases (Art. 7.072). Bankruptcy: the depositary/trustee must pay taxes per the federal Bankruptcy Code (Art. 7.063); see bankruptcy-automatic-stay.

3. Surplus / Excess Proceeds → see surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules

  • Belongs to: the former owner (or heirs/assignees). Statutorily mandated return of all proceeds above tax, penalties, and costs (Arts. 7.075, 7.080).
  • Claim waterfall: (1) delinquent contributions, interest, surcharges, penalties, and apremio costs to CRIM; (2) sobrante to the former owner / heirs / successors. Recorded liens other than taxes survive against the property for a third-party buyer (Art. 7.084 — title passes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos”), whereas a CRIM self-award takes title “libre de toda hipoteca, carga o cualquier otro gravamen” (Art. 7.085).
  • Filing venue: with CRIM — the taxpayer requests the surplus from CRIM (or, in the third-party scenario, from the certificate holder) after CRIM’s post-sale notice (Art. 7.080).
  • Claim deadline: CRIM must notify the result of the sale and the amount of any surplus within 30 days of the auction; the taxpayer may request the surplus within that 30-day window (which also functions as / interacts with the redemption window), and after it CRIM must again notify that the surplus is available and pay upon proof of entitlement. Payment of surplus from a third-party sale is conditioned on the taxpayer delivering possession of the property (Art. 7.080). source
  • Escheat: no specific escheat-of-surplus trigger in Art. 7.080; general unclaimed-property/abandoned-funds rules would apply to long-unclaimed sums. needs_verification (exact escheat path for unclaimed tax-sale surplus not pinned to a retrieved primary source).
  • Documentation required: proof of ownership/heirship or interest as of the sale date; certified-mail notice trail; for third-party-sale surplus, evidence the taxpayer ceded possession (Art. 7.080).
  • Third-party recovery (surplus-recovery agents):
    • fee_cap_pct: none specific to tax-sale surplus recovery. needs_verification (no retrieved PR statute caps a surplus-recovery agent’s fee).
    • licensing_required: needs_verification — Puerto Rico has no retrieved statute analogous to the 50-state surplus-recovery-agent licensing/fee-cap laws.
    • assignment_of_claim_allowed: the surplus and redemption rights expressly run to the owner’s “cesionarios” (assignees), so assignment of the underlying claim/redemption right is contemplated (Arts. 7.080, 7.086). Whether a fee-based recovery contract is independently regulated is unverified.
    • cooling_off_period / contract_disclosure_rules / prohibited_practices: needs_verification — no retrieved PR consumer statute specific to surplus recovery; general Civil Code contract and unfair-practices law would govern.
    • citation: Arts. 7.080, 7.086, Ley 107-2020.
  • Notice to former owner required? Yes — CRIM must notify the sale result and surplus by certified mail, return receipt (Art. 7.080), and the apremio/ embargo notice must be served personally or by certified mail (and by edicto if the debtor cannot be found) (Art. 7.073).

▸ For Investors / Operators — A Puerto Rico tax-sale overbid generates a sobrante that the Código Municipal (Arts. 7.075, 7.080) returns to the former owner/heirs/assignees after CRIM is paid. Before committing capital, weigh the short 30-day redemption risk and the 20% statutory premium a redeemer must pay (§2/2b — note the certificate and the redemption right are both assignable to cesionarios), the path to marketable title (§5b — there is no quiet-title statute; the acción reivindicatoria / declaratoria de dominio in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia, plus the certificado de compra’s prima facie effect), and which liens survive (§7b — a third-party buyer takes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” under Art. 7.084, condominium assessments are a gravamen preferente under Arts. 60–61 of Ley 129-2020, and the IRS § 7425 120-day redemption may apply).

▸ For Former Owners — When a CRIM tax sale brings more than the taxes, surcharges, and costs, that sobrante belongs to you (or your heirs/assignees) under Arts. 7.075 and 7.080; CRIM must notify you of the result and any surplus by certified mail within 30 days of the auction, and the request is made to CRIM (or to the certificate holder in a third-party sale). Payment of a third-party-sale surplus is conditioned on your ceding possession of the property (Art. 7.080).

4. Mortgage Foreclosure

  • Process: judicial only. A creditor sues in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia; on judgment the court issues a writ to the Alguacil (marshal) to sell the encumbered property at public auction under Regla 51.3/51.7, Reglas de Procedimiento Civil de 2009. source
  • Pre-filing / mediation: for an owner-occupied principal residence, the Ley 184-2012 (“Ley para Mediación Compulsoria y Preservación de tu Hogar en los procesos de Ejecuciones de Hipotecas de una Vivienda Principal”) requires the court to refer the parties to a court-supervised mediation (within 30 days of service under the amended Art. 3) before the residence can be sold; the law has been amended repeatedly (Ley 268-2018, Ley 38-2019, Ley 73-2022). Ley 184-2012, LexJuris
  • Timeline (days): notice of sale by posting in 3 public places for 2 weeks and publication twice in a general-circulation newspaper (≥7 days apart); the judicial sale may occur after 14 days from first publication (Regla 51.7). No statutory NOD/confirmation hearing equivalent to deed-of-trust states. source
  • Reinstatement right: debtor may pay to stop the sale up to the judicial sale; exact statutory reinstatement window needs_verification.
  • Redemption after sale: Puerto Rico does not provide a general statutory post-sale redemption period after a judicial mortgage foreclosure sale (unlike the tax-sale 30-day right); confirmation of the judicial sale vests title in the buyer. needs_verification (no statutory post-mortgage-sale redemption located in a retrieved primary source; treat as “none” pending confirmation).
  • Deficiency judgment: permitted — if sale proceeds are insufficient, the marshal may pursue the debtor’s other assets “como en cualquier otra ejecución” (Regla 51.7); the tax-sale analog is Art. 7.079 (CRIM may pursue the shortfall against a delinquent taxpayer with other attachable assets). Fair-value-offset / one-action-rule specifics needs_verification.
  • Surplus distribution: surplus after satisfying the judgment, interest, and costs goes to junior lienholders by priority and then to the mortgagor (general Regla 51 execution principles). needs_verification for the precise distribution subsection.
  • Sale officer: Alguacil (court marshal).

5. Sale Procedure Playbooks

  • CRIM tax-collector sale — ordered steps → see treasurer-sale:
    1. Tax becomes morosa 90 days after due date; surcharges + 10% interest accrue (Art. 7.059).
    2. CRIM issues a written notification of embargo stating the full debt, and records a certificación de embargo in the Registro de la Propiedad for real property (Arts. 7.073, 7.076).
    3. Debtor has 30 days to pay; service is personal, or by certified mail (return receipt), or by edicto if the debtor cannot be found (Art. 7.073).
    4. Notice of auction published once in a general-circulation print or digital newspaper, plus posted edicts (Art. 7.077).
    5. Appraisal sets a confidential minimum bid ≥ principal tax debt or market value; auction to the highest bidder; 10% deposit required (Arts. 7.078–7.079).
    6. CRIM issues the certificado de compra within 60 days; records it free of charge (Art. 7.084). If no adequate bid, CRIM may self-award (Art. 7.085).
    7. Within 30 days of the sale, CRIM notifies the result and any sobrante by certified mail; surplus paid to the owner; 30-day redemption runs from the certificate (Arts. 7.080, 7.086).
  • Sheriff/marshal sale (mortgage) — ordered steps → see sheriff-sale: judgment → writ to Alguacil → posting (3 places, 2 weeks) + publication (twice, ≥7 days apart) → auction after 14 days → marshal’s deed → surplus to juniors then mortgagor; deficiency pursued against other assets (Regla 51.3, 51.7).
  • Notice requirements: tax sale — 1 newspaper publication + edicts + certified- mail/personal embargo notice (Arts. 7.073, 7.077); mortgage sale — posting in 3 public places for 2 weeks + 2 newspaper publications (Regla 51.7).
  • Upset bid / confirmation: no 50-state-style upset-bid period for tax sales; CRIM may postpone the sale day-to-day or for up to 60 days for just cause (Art. 7.081). Mortgage sales are confirmed by the court.
  • Payment terms: tax sale — 10% deposit at auction, balance within 10 days, or deposit forfeited (Art. 7.078).
  • Deed issued: certificado de compra (tax) recorded free of registry fees; becomes absolute title if not redeemed in 30 days, taking subject to recorded non-tax liens for a third-party buyer (Art. 7.084) but free of all liens for a CRIM self-award (Art. 7.085).

6. Due Process & Notice → see due-process-notice

  • Standard: federal constitutional minimum applies in Puerto Rico — notice “reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances,” to apprise interested parties (mullane-v-central-hanover); a mortgagee of record is entitled to actual (mailed) notice (mennonite-v-adams); returned mail can require additional reasonable steps (jones-v-flowers).
  • Statutory attempts (tax sale): personal service of the embargo notice; certified mail (return receipt) to the address of record; edicto/publication if the debtor cannot be located; certified-mail notice of the sale result and surplus (Arts. 7.073, 7.077, 7.080). The recorded certificación de embargo is itself deemed sufficient to notify the taxpayer and commence the apremio (Art. 7.076).
  • Consequence of defective notice: a sale conducted in violation of the statute is void (“todas las ventas así efectuadas serán nulas”), and a knowing/ fraudulent sale exposes the officer to criminal liability (Arts. 7.082–7.083). CRIM may itself cancel a judicially-declared void/irregular sale and issue a certificado de redención restoring the owner (Art. 7.090). An action to nullify a public-auction adjudication requires joining the successful bidder as an indispensable party (aponte-v-roman-torres).
  • Leading cases: mullane-v-central-hanover, mennonite-v-adams, jones-v-flowers, tyler-v-hennepin-county, aponte-v-roman-torres.

7. Title & Marketability

  • Deed warranty level: none — the buyer takes the property “tal y como está” with no warranty-of-eviction (saneamiento) action against CRIM (Art. 7.079).
  • Marketable immediately? No. Title is contingent during the 30-day redemption window; it becomes “absolute” only upon recording after the window lapses (Arts. 7.084–7.085), and a third-party buyer’s title remains subject to other recorded liens (Art. 7.084).
  • Quiet title required? Often advisable given the no-warranty deed and surviving non-tax liens; not statutorily mandated. Puerto Rico has no dedicated quiet-title statute; the analogous remedies are the acción reivindicatoria (Civil Code Arts. 820–823) and the acción declaratoria del dominio (Art. 824) in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia. See §5b.
  • SOL to challenge the deed: the certificado de compra is prima facie evidence of the recited facts in any later controversy (Arts. 7.084–7.085); the specific statute of limitations to attack the deed is needs_verification. General Civil Code limits on real actions over immovables are 30 years (Art. 1204(e), § 9496), distinct from any tax-deed-specific bar (not located).
  • Title insurance availability: Puerto Rico has an active title-insurance market, but coverage of CRIM tax-deed title turns on cure of the redemption window and surviving liens. needs_verification (no retrieved primary source on insurer practice).
  • Common defects: defective embargo/sale notice (void sale, Arts. 7.082, 7.090); surviving recorded mortgages/liens against a third-party buyer (Art. 7.084); unresolved heirship; redemption exercised within the 30-day window.

8. Case Law (real, verified)

CaseYearTopicHolding (plain English)Source
tyler-v-hennepin-county2023surplusA government that keeps sale proceeds beyond the tax debt commits an unconstitutional taking; the former owner is entitled to the surplus. PR already complies (Arts. 7.075, 7.080 return the sobrante to the owner).law.cornell.edu
mennonite-v-adams1983due_processA mortgagee of record is entitled to actual (mailed) notice of a tax sale; publication/posting alone is constitutionally insufficient. Binds PR tax-sale notice practice.law.cornell.edu
aponte-v-roman-torres1998sale_procedureAn action to nullify a public-auction judicial sale must join the successful bidder as an indispensable party; a third-party registry purchaser’s interest cannot be voided without their participation. (Arose from a judgment-execution auction; the indispensable-party rule applies to public-auction nullity actions generally, including tax-sale challenges.) Cited as 1998 TSPR 53 / 98 DTS 053.lexjuris.com
mullane-v-central-hanover1950due_process / redemptionNotice must be “reasonably calculated, under all the circumstances,” to apprise parties and afford an opportunity to object — the baseline for any redemption-affecting deprivation in PR.law.cornell.edu

Topic-tag coverage note. due_process (Mennonite, Mullane), surplus (Tyler), and sale_procedure (Aponte) are covered by verified cases. A squarely-on-point Puerto Rico appellate decision applying these doctrines to a CRIM property-tax sale or to the 30-day redemption right was not located in a retrieved primary source; the redemption tag therefore rests on statute (Art. 7.086) plus the Mullane baseline, and a PR-specific redemption case is listed in needs_verification.

9. Edge Cases (state-specific notes)

  • bankruptcy-automatic-stay — a bankruptcy trustee/depositary must pay property taxes per the federal Bankruptcy Code; CRIM collection is subject to the automatic stay (Art. 7.063, Ley 107-2020).
  • federal-tax-lien-redemption — IRS 28 U.S.C. §2410 / 26 U.S.C. §7425 120-day redemption applies in PR as a U.S. jurisdiction; interplay with the 30-day CRIM window is addressed in §7b (the federal 120-day clock is independent of and outlasts the 30-day CRIM redemption).
  • heirs-property — redemption/surplus rights expressly run to “herederos” (heirs); no estate may be distributed and no registry inscription made until current taxes are paid (Art. 7.063).
  • Elderly / terminally-ill homestead — CRIM may postpone the sale of the sole-home of an elderly or permanently-ill taxpayer who cannot pay, suspending the embargo’s registry-lapse term until death or recovery (Art. 7.072).
  • homestead-protections — “hogar seguro” exemption (Art. 249, Código de Enjuiciamiento Civil 1933) protects certain household movables from tax sale and is paid out when CRIM self-awards (Arts. 7.074, 7.085).
  • scra-protections — Servicemembers Civil Relief Act applies federally in PR. needs_verification (no PR-specific SCRA tax-sale case retrieved).
  • Void vs. voidable — statutory non-compliance or fraud renders the sale void (Arts. 7.082–7.083); CRIM can administratively cancel a court-declared irregular/void sale and re-vest the owner (Art. 7.090).
  • Repealed assignable-tax-debt market — note the now-DEROGADA Ley 21-1997 if reviewing pre-2020 chains of title where a Certificado de Venta (not a CRIM certificado de compra) appears.

Distinct historical/assignable-debt route (now repealed). From 1997 to ~2020, CRIM could sell transferable delinquent tax debts to private third parties under the Ley de Venta de Deudas Contributivas, Ley 21-1997: a 30-day pre-sale certified-mail notice to the owner (Art. 8 / 21 L.P.R.A. §5926), a Certificado de Venta assignable/pledgeable to subsequent holders (Art. 11), a 15% annual carrying interest to the debt-purchaser (Art. 15(c)), a 30-day post-auction redemption with a 20% buyer’s premium, and surplus to the owner (Arts. 24–26 / 21 L.P.R.A. §§5942–5944). The official OGP text now carries the banner “DEROGADA” (repealed); the Municipal Code did not re-enact a transferable-debt market, so today’s enforcement is the CRIM administrative-sale route above. Ley 21-1997 (DEROGADA), OGP

10. Operations

2b. Redemption Advanced

Assignability of the statutory redemption right:

  • Who holds the right: the owner as of the sale date, “sus herederos o cesionarios” (their heirs or assignees), or “cualquier persona que en la fecha de la venta tuviere algún derecho o interés en los mismos, o sus herederos o cesionarios” (any person holding a right or interest at the sale date, or their heirs/assignees). (Art. 7.086, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Is the right assignable? The redemption right runs expressly to the owner’s cesionarios (assignees). A third party can therefore acquire standing to redeem by taking an assignment/conveyance of the owner’s interest, or by being a pre-existing interest-holder (mortgagee, tenant). A mortgagee who redeems adds the sum to its mortgage credit and recovers it at the mortgage interest rate; a tenant who redeems may deduct the redemption amount from rent (Art. 7.086).
  • Purchase mechanism: by becoming a cesionario of the owner’s interest, or by holding a qualifying lien/lease interest as of the sale date. No court approval is required to redeem; the redeemer pays the holder (or consigns with CRIM/court). needs_verification — no retrieved PR appellate decision squarely on whether a stranger-investor’s bare assignment taken solely to acquire redemption standing is attackable.
  • Restrictions: No “natural-persons-only” or “heirs-only” limit; the statute names heirs, assignees, and any interest-holder of record as of the sale date.

Equitable vs. statutory redemption:

  • Puerto Rico’s tax-sale redemption is statutory (Art. 7.086), a 30-day right running from issuance of the certificado de compra. There is no separate post- sale equitable redemption surviving the 30-day window; once it lapses unexercised, the certificate becomes absolute title (Arts. 7.084–7.085).
  • Pre-sale cure (paying the full delinquency to avoid the auction) is available any time before the sale (Arts. 7.059, 7.073) — that is payment to avoid the sale, not post-sale equitable redemption. As a civil-law jurisdiction, PR does not apply the common-law “equity of redemption” doctrine; the right is purely statutory. needs_verification of any PR case recognizing an equitable redemption distinct from the Art. 7.086 statutory right.

Installment redemption:

  • The Código Municipal provides no statutory installment plan to redeem a tax-sold property; redemption under Art. 7.086 requires payment of the full purchase value + improvements + costs + taxes through redemption + the 20% premium within the 30-day window. (CRIM may offer pre-sale planes de pago for the underlying delinquency, but that is cure, not post-sale installment redemption.) needs_verification — no PR primary source authorizing partial/ installment redemption of a tax sale.

Assignment of the purchaser’s certificate/deed mid-redemption:

  • Permitted. The certificado de compra and the rights it conveys run to “el comprador, sus herederos o cesionarios” (the purchaser, their heirs or assignees); the certificate is prima facie evidence of the recited facts “en cualquier controversia… que envuelva o concierna a los derechos del comprador, sus herederos o cesionarios” (Art. 7.084). The purchaser may therefore assign the certificate (and the right to receive the redemption payment, or to take absolute title if the window lapses) to an assignee. (Art. 7.084, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Restrictions: No entity-type restriction stated; the statute contemplates the purchaser being “otra persona, natural o jurídica” (Art. 7.086). needs_verification of any CRIM regulation prescribing a recordation form for a mid-redemption certificate assignment.

3b. Surplus Advanced

Claim assignability — surplus (Arts. 7.075, 7.080):

  • Full assignment permitted? The sobrante is returned to “el dueño de la propiedad vendida o sus herederos o cesionarios” — the statute expressly contemplates the surplus running to the owner’s assignees (cesionarios), so an assignment of the surplus claim is recognized. (Arts. 7.075, 7.080, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Assignment vs. fee agreement: The operative distinction (assignment of the fund vs. a contingent-fee/POA recovery contract) is not separately regulated by the Código Municipal; general Civil Code contract law (Ley 55-2020) and consumer- protection law (DACO) would govern a recovery contract. The Code regulates neither the fee level nor the form of a surplus-recovery agreement.
  • Fee cap applies to assignments? No cap found in Ley 107-2020 for surplus- recovery agents or assignees. needs_verification — no PR statute analogous to the 50-state surplus-recovery-agent fee-cap/licensing/cooling-off laws was located; general unfair-practices and contract law presumed to govern.

Statute of limitations on the surplus claim:

  • The Código Municipal (Art. 7.080) sets a 30-day post-auction window for CRIM to notify and for the taxpayer to request the surplus, after which CRIM must again notify and pay upon proof of entitlement; the statute states no outer escheat/ bar deadline for the surplus itself. The general 4-year prescription for personal actions (Civil Code Art. 1203, § 9495) would presumptively govern a suit to compel payment, absent a special period. needs_verification — no retrieved primary source fixes a tax-sale-surplus-specific SOL or escheat trigger; trigger and outer bar both unconfirmed.
  • Trigger: the auction date / CRIM’s certified-mail notice of the surplus (Art. 7.080). The general 4-year personal-action clock (Art. 1203) runs from when the action could be brought.

Competing claimant procedure:

  • Filing race? No statutory first-to-file rule in Art. 7.080. CRIM pays the surplus to the taxpayer/heirs/successors on proof of entitlement; where ownership or heirship is contested, the dispute is resolved in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia. An action to void the underlying adjudication must join the successful bidder as an indispensable party (aponte-v-roman-torres).
  • Interpleader / priority: The Código Municipal does not prescribe a formal interpleader for CRIM to initiate; competing surplus claims among heirs/assignees are litigated under the Civil Code and Rules of Civil Procedure. needs_verification — no PR primary source detailing a CRIM interpleader or a surplus-priority waterfall among competing private claimants.

Deceased-owner procedure:

  • The sobrante and redemption rights expressly run to the owner’s “herederos” (heirs) and successors (Arts. 7.075, 7.080, 7.086). Puerto Rico is a forced-heirship civil-law jurisdiction: an estate is administered and heirs are declared under the Civil Code (Ley 55-2020) succession provisions, typically by a declaratoria de herederos (judicial or notarial declaration of heirs). No estate may be distributed, and no registry inscription made, until current property taxes are paid (Art. 7.063, Ley 107-2020). needs_verification — whether CRIM accepts a direct-heir surplus claim on a notarial declaratoria de herederos without a full judicial estate proceeding when heirship is unambiguous.

Fraudulent-conveyance / fraudulent-transfer exposure:

  • Puerto Rico has not adopted the UVTA/UFTA. Its fraudulent-conveyance remedy is the civil-law acción rescisoria o pauliana (Civil Code Arts. 298–300, §§ 6231– 6233): “Son rescindibles los negocios jurídicos realizados en fraude de acreedores” (Art. 298), and “La acción rescisoria o pauliana es la que el acreedor puede interponer para rescindir los efectos de un negocio jurídico realizado en fraude de su crédito” (Art. 299). (Arts. 298–299, Código Civil 2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Effect / good-faith carve-out: A rescission judgment declares the transaction inoponible (unenforceable) against the creditor to the extent needed to satisfy the credit and reaches the transferee and sub-transferee, except one who acts in good faith and acquires for value (a título oneroso) (Art. 299). The action is subsidiary — available only when the creditor has no other means to collect (Art. 300). Fraud is presumed in transfers to relatives within the 4th degree of consanguinity / 2nd of affinity, in gratuitous transfers, and in onerous transfers made after a judgment or attachment order (Art. 298).
  • Exposure: A surplus-claim or redemption-right assignment by an insolvent owner for less than reasonably equivalent value is exposed to a pauliana rescission by the owner’s creditors within the limitations period.
  • SOL: The pauliana is a personal/rescissory action; Arts. 298–300 fix no special period, so the general 4-year prescription for personal actions (Art. 1203, § 9495) presumptively applies. needs_verification — no retrieved primary source states a pauliana-specific prescription period or its precise accrual trigger.

Surplus-claimant notice:

  • CRIM must notify the taxpayer/successors, by certified mail with return receipt, of the sale result and any surplus within 30 days, and again that the surplus is available to claim (Art. 7.080). The Código Municipal does not separately require CRIM to notify junior lienholders of the surplus. needs_verification — whether any PR authority requires affirmative lienholder notice of a tax-sale surplus.

5b. Title Advanced

Quiet title — when required vs. optional:

  • No dedicated quiet-title statute. Puerto Rico, a civil-law jurisdiction, has no Anglo-American “quiet title” action. The functional equivalents in the 2020 Civil Code are the acción reivindicatoria (Arts. 820–823, §§ 8101–8104 — the owner-out-of-possession’s recovery action against a possessor with no justifying title) and the acción declaratoria del dominio (Art. 824, § 8111 — an action to obtain a judicial declaration of ownership against one who disputes or claims it). (Arts. 820–824, Código Civil 2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Against a registered owner: where the reivindicatoria is directed at a person whose right is recorded in the Registro de la Propiedad, the registry/mortgage-law requirements must also be satisfied (Art. 822) — i.e., the Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria (Ley 210-2015) and registry-faith principles govern.
  • When needed: practically advisable after a CRIM tax deed to clear surviving recorded liens (Art. 7.084) and confirm title against the former owner/heirs, but not statutorily mandated. The certificado de compra is itself prima facie evidence of the recited facts (Arts. 7.084–7.085), shifting the burden to a challenger.
  • Action type and court: judicial, in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia (the court of general civil jurisdiction) for the region where the property lies. No administrative or statutory-presumption substitute exists.
  • Typical timeline and cost: needs_verification — no retrieved primary source or reliable practice figure for PR reivindicatoria/declaratoria timelines and costs.

Judicial confirmation before the deed issues: No — the CRIM tax sale is administrative; CRIM issues the certificado de compra without court confirmation (Art. 7.084). (A mortgage judicial sale, by contrast, is confirmed by the court under Regla 51 and Ley 210-2015.)

SOL to attack the tax deed / chain-of-title cure:

  • No tax-deed-specific limitations period was located. General Civil Code prescription: real actions over immovables prescribe in 30 years (Art. 1204(e), § 9496), the mortgage action in 20 years (Art. 1204(d)), and partition/division of common property and the petición de herencia do not prescribe (Art. 1205, § 9497). (Arts. 1203–1205, Código Civil 2020, retrieved 2026-06-02) needs_verification — whether a shorter tax-deed-specific bar exists in CRIM regulation or case law.
  • Usucapión (acquisitive prescription): the 2020 Civil Code reduced ordinary good-faith usucapión of immovables to 10 years; a registry-protected third party may defeat a usucapient by filing within one year of acquisition. (General framework; exact interaction with a CRIM tax deed needs_verification.)

Marketable Title Act: Puerto Rico has no Anglo-American Marketable Record Title Act (no 30-year “root of title” cutoff statute). Title marketability is governed by the registry-faith principles of the Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria (Ley 210-2015) and the Civil Code prescription periods above. needs_verification — no PR MRTA-equivalent statute located; flagged as honest gap.

Deed seasoning / title insurance: Puerto Rico has an active title-insurance market, but underwriting of a CRIM tax-deed title turns on lapse of the 30-day redemption window, cure of surviving recorded liens (Art. 7.084), and the registry chain. needs_verification — no retrieved primary source on PR title-insurer seasoning practice for CRIM tax deeds.

5c. TRO & Injunctive Relief

Recognized grounds to halt a sale:

  1. Notice / due-process defect — failure of the Art. 7.073/7.077 embargo and auction-notice chain to be “reasonably calculated” to reach the owner (Mullane, Mennonite, Jones v. Flowers); a statutorily non-compliant sale is void (Arts. 7.082, 7.090).
  2. Payment / redemption dispute — a timely cure or redemption tender refused or misapplied.
  3. Constitutional — taking without just compensation / Fifth Amendment (Tyler type), though PR routes the sobrante to the owner.
  4. Homestead / elderly-ill postponement — the Art. 7.072 sale-postponement right.
  5. SCRA — active-duty servicemember protections (federal).
  6. Bankruptcy automatic stay — sale in violation of 11 U.S.C. § 362 (see bankruptcy-automatic-stay).

Legal standard:

  • Puerto Rico’s injunction practice is governed by Regla 57 of the Reglas de Procedimiento Civil de 2009. Rule 57.3 lists the factors a court weighs in granting a TRO (orden de entredicho provisional) or preliminary injunction: “(a) the nature of the harm that the applicant might suffer; (b) the irreparable nature of the injury or the absence of an adequate legal remedy; (c) the likelihood of the applicant’s success; (d) the likelihood that the action will become moot; (e) the impact of the remedy sought on the public interest; and (f) the due diligence and good faith exercised by the applicant.” (Regla 57.3, Reglas de Procedimiento Civil, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • A TRO without notice (Rule 57.1) issues only if it “clearly appears from the facts shown by affidavit or by the verified complaint that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the applicant before the adverse party… can be notified and heard,” and counsel certifies its notice efforts. (Rule 57.1)

Court with jurisdiction: The Tribunal de Primera Instancia for the region. For a CRIM tax sale (administrative), injunctive relief is a separate civil filing in the TPI — there is no pending case in which to move (the debtor’s separate remedy is an action to dissolve the embargo). For a mortgage foreclosure (already pending in the TPI), relief is sought in that action.

Bond requirement: Required. Rule 57.4: “No restraining order or preliminary injunction shall issue except upon the giving of security by the applicant, in such sum as the court deems just, for the payment of such costs and damages as may be incurred or suffered by any party who is found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained.” The Commonwealth, its municipalities, agencies, instrumentalities, and officers acting officially are exempt from the security requirement. (Regla 57.4, retrieved 2026-06-02) The dollar amount is set by the court.

Emergency timeline / duration: A TRO granted without notice “shall expire by its terms within such time after entry, not to exceed ten (10) days, as the court fixes,” extendable for a like period for good cause or by consent; the motion for a preliminary injunction is set for hearing “at the earliest possible time” and takes precedence (Rule 57.1). An ex parte TRO meeting the affidavit/verified-complaint showing can be obtained on an emergency basis at the court’s discretion.

Effect on a completed sale: A statutorily non-compliant or fraudulent CRIM sale is void (Arts. 7.082–7.083), and CRIM may itself cancel a court-declared void/irregular sale and re-vest the owner via a certificado de redención (Art. 7.090). An action to nullify a completed public-auction adjudication must join the successful bidder as an indispensable party (aponte-v-roman-torres); a registry-protected good-faith purchaser for value is harder to dislodge. needs_verification — no retrieved PR decision squarely on whether a post-adjudication injunction voids or preserves a completed CRIM tax sale.

Non-judicial notes: The CRIM tax sale is administrative, so there is no pending case in which to move; a separate emergency civil action in the TPI is required. Mortgage foreclosure is judicial, so relief is sought in the existing action.

Leading cases: aponte-v-roman-torres (indispensable-party rule for nullity of a public-auction sale), jones-v-flowers (due-process standard).

7b. Lien Survival & Purchaser Exposure

IRS 120-day redemption (26 U.S.C. § 7425):

  • Applies. Puerto Rico is a U.S. jurisdiction; where a federal tax lien is recorded junior to the lien being foreclosed, the United States must be given notice of the sale (≥ 25 days before, by the party conducting the sale) under § 7425(c). If properly noticed, the federal lien is discharged but the IRS holds a 120-day post-sale right of redemption (§ 7425(d)); if not noticed, the federal lien survives the sale. (26 U.S.C. § 7425, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Interaction with the 30-day CRIM window: the federal 120-day clock is independent of and outlasts the 30-day CRIM statutory redemption — a CRIM tax-deed buyer can hold “absolute” title under Art. 7.084 yet still face an IRS redemption for up to 120 days from the sale where a federal lien existed. A federal-tax-lien search before bidding is essential. See federal-tax-lien-redemption.

HOA / condominium super-priority:

  • Condominiums (Ley de Condominios, Ley 129-2020): an owner’s obligation for its proportional share of common expenses “constituirá un gravamen sobre dicho apartamento” (constitutes a lien on the apartment) (Art. 60, 31 L.P.R.A. § 1923e). Art. 61 (§ 1923f) ranks that credit: it “tendrá preferencia sobre cualquier otro crédito de cualquier naturaleza excepto (a) [credits of the Government of Puerto Rico and the municipality for the last five (5) annual installments and the current unpaid property taxes]; (b) [a 2-year insurance premium]; and (c) recorded mortgage credits.” (Arts. 60–61, Ley 129-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02) So the condo assessment lien is junior to property-tax credits and to recorded mortgages, but superior to all other credits — there is a statutory priority, but it is not a super-priority over a recorded first mortgage or over the tax lien.
  • Involuntary acquirer cap (the operative super-priority figure): an adquirente involuntario — defined as the mortgagee who acquires the apartment through a foreclosure or dación en pago (Art. 2(b)) — “será responsable solamente de las deudas por gastos comunes surgidas y no satisfechas durante los seis (6) meses anteriores al momento de adquirir la propiedad” plus the running balance accruing after acquisition, but excludes late-payment penalties, derramas (special assessments), interest, and sanctions attributable to the prior owner (Art. 60). (Art. 60, Ley 129-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02) This 6-month look-back is Puerto Rico’s functional HOA “super-priority” exposure for a foreclosure purchaser.
  • Survives a tax sale? Because the condo assessment lien is expressly excepted below the Government/municipal property-tax credit (Art. 61(a)), a CRIM tax sale enforcing that tax credit takes ahead of the assessment lien. But a third-party CRIM tax-deed buyer takes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” (Art. 7.084), so a recorded assessment lien may survive against that buyer to the extent not paid from the proceeds; a CRIM self-award takes free of all liens (Art. 7.085). needs_verification — no retrieved PR decision squarely holding a condominium assessment lien is or is not extinguished as against a third-party CRIM tax-deed buyer.
  • Planned-community / non-condo HOAs: the Ley de Control de Acceso and HOA governing documents govern; whether a non-condo HOA has any statutory assessment-lien priority is needs_verification (Ley 129-2020’s priority applies to Régimen de Propiedad Horizontal condominiums).

Environmental / CERCLA liens: A federal CERCLA lien (42 U.S.C. § 9607(l)) is a federal claim treated like a federal tax lien for notice/discharge purposes; CERCLA owner/operator liability runs with the land regardless of how title was acquired, so a CRIM tax-deed buyer of a contaminated site can face cleanup liability independent of the recorded lien. needs_verification — no PR-specific authority retrieved on CERCLA-lien survival of a CRIM tax deed; reflects the general federal rule. No PR environmental super-lien located.

Municipal / code-enforcement liens: A third-party CRIM tax-deed buyer takes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” (Art. 7.084), so recorded municipal liens of record survive against that buyer; a CRIM self-award takes free of all liens (Art. 7.085). needs_verification — whether unrecorded municipal code-enforcement charges attach to or survive against a CRIM tax-deed buyer.

Mechanic’s / materialman’s liens: Priority of a recorded construction/refaction lien against a CRIM tax deed turns on recording dates and the superiority of the property-tax credit; a third-party buyer takes subject to recorded liens (Art. 7.084). needs_verification — no retrieved PR authority squarely on mechanic’s-lien survival of a CRIM tax deed.

Junior-mortgage exposure: A CRIM tax sale enforces the municipal property-tax credit, which Art. 61(a) ranks ahead of recorded mortgages for the last 5 annual installments + current taxes. Common mistake: assuming a third-party CRIM deed wipes everything — it does not. Under Art. 7.084 a third-party buyer takes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” (subject to recorded liens, including recorded mortgages and the condo assessment lien), and an un-noticed federal tax lien survives (§ 7425). Only a CRIM self-award takes free of all liens (Art. 7.085).

Due-diligence checklist (PR CRIM tax-deed buyer):

  1. Registro de la Propiedad title/lien search — recorded mortgages and gravámenes inscritos survive against a third-party buyer (Art. 7.084).
  2. Federal tax lien search — § 7425 notice / 120-day IRS redemption exposure.
  3. Condominium status — unpaid assessments are a gravamen (Art. 60); an involuntary acquirer faces the 6-month look-back (Art. 60); condo lien ranks below tax and recorded mortgages (Art. 61).
  4. CRIM clearance — Certificación de Todos los Conceptos / account status.
  5. Notice-chain review — Art. 7.073/7.077 embargo and auction notice (void-sale risk, Arts. 7.082, 7.090).
  6. Heirship / declaratoria de herederos — unresolved estates are a frequent defect (Art. 7.063 blocks distribution/inscription until taxes paid).
  7. Bankruptcy search on the prior owner — active automatic stay at the time of sale?
  8. Environmental check — CERCLA / contaminated-site liability runs with the land.
  9. SCRA servicemember check on the prior owner.
  10. Redemption status — confirm the 30-day window (Art. 7.086) has lapsed unexercised.

10b. Purchaser Obligations During the Redemption Period

Puerto Rico’s tax-sale redemption is a short 30-day post-sale window (Art. 7.086). During it the buyer holds the certificado de compra; absolute title vests only on recording after the window lapses (Arts. 7.084–7.085).

Subsequent taxes:

  • The redemption price under Art. 7.086 already folds in “contribuciones vencidas hasta la fecha de la redención” (taxes due through the redemption date), so taxes accruing during the window are recovered by the buyer as part of the redemption amount; there is no separate certificate-holder “subs” accrual regime. (Art. 7.086, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02) needs_verification — whether the buyer must affirmatively advance subsequent taxes during the 30 days, or simply recovers them on redemption.

Owner-expiration notice:

  • The expiration-notice duty falls on CRIM, not the purchaser. CRIM must notify the taxpayer of the sale result, surplus, and (functionally) the redemption window by certified mail with return receipt within 30 days of the auction (Art. 7.080). The Código Municipal places no affirmative obligation on the tax-deed purchaser to notify the former owner that the 30-day redemption is about to expire. (Art. 7.080)

Owner occupancy:

  • The statute conditions payment of a third-party-sale surplus on the taxpayer ceding possession to the buyer (Art. 7.080), implying the owner may remain in possession during the redemption window until that cession. The certificado de compra becomes absolute title only after the window lapses (Arts. 7.084–7.085); a tenant who redeems may deduct the redemption sum from rent (Art. 7.086). needs_verification — no PR primary source squarely on the purchaser’s right to enter before absolute title vests.

Costs collectible on redemption:

  • Full purchase value + improvements and expenses incurred by the buyer + accrued costs and taxes through the redemption date + 20% of all the foregoing as the buyer’s statutory compensation (Art. 7.086). Unlike most U.S. tax-lien states, PR expressly makes documented improvements and expenses recoverable on redemption. (Art. 7.086, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Maintenance obligation:

  • The Código Municipal imposes no express maintenance duty on the tax-deed purchaser during the 30-day redemption window. After absolute title vests, the new owner has the ordinary obligations of a property owner (and, for a condominium apartment, the common- expense obligation under Arts. 59–60, Ley 129-2020). needs_verification — no PR statute imposing a purchaser maintenance duty during redemption.

11b. Restrictions & Special Rules

Entity / foreign-ownership restrictions:

  • The Código Municipal contemplates the tax-sale buyer being “otra persona, natural o jurídica” (a natural or juridical person) (Art. 7.086), so corporations, LLCs, and trusts may buy; there is no natural-persons-only restriction. (Art. 7.086, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • Foreign ownership: Puerto Rico generally imposes no foreign-ownership bar on real property (foreign buyers have the same rights as U.S. citizens), with the notable exception of the constitutional 500-acre limit on the holding of agricultural land by a corporation/juridical entity (P.R. Const. Art. VI, § 14, and implementing law). needs_verification — exact statutory citation and whether the 500-acre agricultural limit reaches a tax-deed acquisition.

Insider prohibition:

  • Express and severe. “Todo funcionario, empleado o representante del CRIM que compre directa o indirectamente alguna parte de cualesquiera bienes muebles o inmuebles vendidos para el pago de contribuciones no satisfechas… todas las dichas ventas serán nulas” — any CRIM official, employee, or representative who buys (directly or indirectly) at a tax sale is liable (with official bond) for all the owner’s damages, the sale is void, and the buyer commits a felony ($5,000 fine or 5 years, or both) (Art. 7.083). A related provision criminalizes an official who fraudulently sells exempt or already-paid property or chills bidding (Art. 7.082). (Arts. 7.082–7.083, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Right of first refusal / government priority:

  • Before paying a third-party-sale surplus to the taxpayer, CRIM may allow any Puerto Rico government instrumentality or agency to acquire the auctioned property (if the agency’s business is compatible), by paying the surplus to the taxpayer and the debt to CRIM (Art. 7.080) — a government priority-acquisition mechanism. On a CRIM self-award, CRIM transfers title gratuitously to the municipio where the property sits, which is obligated to receive it (Art. 7.085). (Arts. 7.080, 7.085, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)

Land bank program:

  • Yes — a statutory land bank exists. The Código Municipal (Art. 4.005, “Community Land Bank (CLB)”) authorizes any municipality, by ordinance, to create a non-profit corporate Community Land Bank under the General Corporations Act (Ley 164-2009) “con el fin de adquirir propiedades abandonadas, vacantes o en ruinas para rehabilitarlas y así retornarlas a un uso productivo” — to return abandoned/vacant/ruined properties to productive, tax-paying use and increase affordable housing. (Art. 4.005, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02) As of 2026, several municipalities (e.g., Toa Baja, Vega Baja, Yauco, Hormigueros, Isabela) had approved CLBs. The CRIM-to-municipio gratuitous transfer of self-awarded tax properties (Art. 7.085) feeds municipal land-disposition programs including the CLB.

Deficiency judgment:

  • After a CRIM tax sale: where a third-party auction price is insufficient to cover the full debt, “el CRIM podrá cobrar de dicho contribuyente moroso el importe de la contribución con sus recargos e intereses que quedare en descubierto” — CRIM may pursue the shortfall against the delinquent taxpayer’s other attachable assets (Art. 7.079). (Art. 7.079, Ley 107-2020, retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • After mortgage foreclosure: permitted; the marshal may pursue the debtor’s other assets “como en cualquier otra ejecución” (Regla 51.7). Fair-value-offset / minimum-bid protections under Ley 210-2015 and any anti-deficiency limit needs_verification.

Anti-deficiency statute: No general anti-deficiency statute was located in a retrieved primary source for Puerto Rico mortgage foreclosures; the judicial-sale minimum-bid (tipo mínimo) mechanics under Ley 210-2015 function as a partial protection. needs_verification.

One-action rule: No California-style one-action rule was located in a retrieved PR primary source; for condominium assessments, Art. 11 of Ley 129-2020 allows a single foreclosure proceeding after credit distribution under Art. 10, but that is a procedural consolidation, not a one-action bar. needs_verification — confirm absence of a one-action rule for ordinary mortgage foreclosure.

Who this page is for

▸ For Investors / Operators — Start with §1 (CRIM administrative tax-deed auction, confidential minimum ≥ tax debt or appraisal, 10% deposit), §2/2b (the short 30-day redemption, the 20% redeemer’s premium, and that both the certificado de compra and the redemption right are assignable to cesionarios), §5b (path to title — there is no quiet-title statute; use the acción reivindicatoria / declaratoria de dominio in the Tribunal de Primera Instancia, plus the certificado’s prima facie effect), §7b (liens that survive — a third-party buyer takes “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos,” the condo assessment gravamen preferente with its 6-month involuntary-acquirer look-back, and the IRS § 7425 120-day redemption), and §11b (broad entity eligibility, the Art. 7.083 insider-purchase felony/void-sale bar, and the Community Land Bank under Art. 4.005).

▸ For Former Owners — Start with §3 (the sobrante — any auction price above the taxes, surcharges, and costs belongs to you or your heirs/assignees under Arts. 7.075 and 7.080; CRIM must notify you by certified mail within 30 days, and a third-party-sale surplus is paid once you cede possession), §2 (redemption — paying the purchase value plus the 20% premium within 30 days of the certificate to recover the property), and §5c (grounds and the Regla 57 procedure for an emergency injunction to halt a sale).

11. Meta

  • sources:
  • needs_verification:
    • PR-specific appellate case applying due-process / redemption / Tyler to a CRIM property-tax sale (redemption topic tag currently statute-backed only).
    • Aponte v. Roman Torres official D.P.R. parallel page cite (commonly given as 145 D.P.R. 477) — the retrieved LexJuris page confirms caption and 1998 date but does not display the D.P.R. page number.
    • Exact escheat path / outer SOL for unclaimed tax-sale surplus (Art. 7.080 fixes no bar; general 4-yr personal-action prescription presumed).
    • Ley 184-2012 mandatory-mediation exact section text (title/Arts. 2–3 via LexJuris + search corroboration; primary slip not parsed).
    • Whether PR provides any statutory post-sale redemption after a mortgage foreclosure (treated as none; not confirmed against a retrieved primary source).
    • Reinstatement window; mortgage deficiency fair-value-offset / minimum-bid protection; anti-deficiency and one-action-rule absence; precise surplus-distribution subsection.
    • SOL to challenge a CRIM tax deed (no tax-deed-specific bar located; general 30-yr real- action / registry-faith principles apply); quiet-title-equivalent timeline/cost; title- insurer treatment of CRIM tax-deed title; PR has no MRTA-equivalent.
    • Pauliana-specific prescription period and accrual trigger (Arts. 298–300 fix none; general 4-yr personal-action rule, Art. 1203, presumed).
    • Whether a condominium assessment lien / municipal code lien / mechanic’s lien is or is not extinguished as against a third-party CRIM tax-deed buyer (Art. 7.084 “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” supports survival; no on-point case retrieved).
    • Non-condo (planned-community) HOA assessment-lien priority, if any.
    • CERCLA-lien survival of a CRIM tax deed; any PR environmental super-lien (none located).
    • Whether the tax-deed buyer must advance subsequent taxes during the 30-day window or only recovers them on redemption; purchaser’s pre-absolute-title entry right.
    • 500-acre agricultural-ownership limit exact citation and whether it reaches a tax-deed acquisition; any CRIM regulation prescribing a mid-redemption certificate-assignment form.
    • Third-party surplus-recovery-agent regulation (fee cap, licensing, cooling-off, disclosure) — none located; general contract/consumer (DACO) law presumed to govern.
    • Whether CRIM accepts a direct-heir surplus claim on a notarial declaratoria de herederos without full judicial estate administration.
  • open_questions:
    • Does Reglamento 9536 (2024) set a published auction calendar or alter the 30-day redemption mechanics? (Full regulation PDF not parsed.)
    • Is the 30-day redemption measured from issuance vs. recording of the certificado de compra in CRIM practice?
    • Does a CRIM third-party tax deed in practice survive a recorded first mortgage, given Art. 7.084’s “sujeto a los gravámenes inscritos” versus Art. 61’s tax-credit priority?
  • cross_links: right-of-redemption, surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules, due-process-notice, treasurer-sale, sheriff-sale, tyler-v-hennepin-county, mennonite-v-adams, mullane-v-central-hanover, jones-v-flowers, aponte-v-roman-torres, bankruptcy-automatic-stay, federal-tax-lien-redemption, heirs-property, homestead-protections, scra-protections
  • changelog:
    • 2026-06-01: Initial page. Built from official OGP/municipio copy of Ley 107-2020 (Libro VII, Arts. 7.059, 7.072–7.091) and repealed Ley 21-1997, plus Regla 51 (mortgage) and verified federal landmarks (Tyler, Mennonite, Mullane) and PR Supreme Court Aponte v. Roman Torres. Documented the CRIM-centralized, administrative, tax-deed, 30-day-redemption, surplus-to-owner system and the repeal of the assignable-tax-debt market.
    • 2026-06-02: Wave 2 — added the 7 advanced modules (2b, 3b, 5b, 5c, 7b, 10b, 11b) and applied the neutral-reference + segmented-CTA voice (two CTA pairs: after §3 and before §11). New primary sources fetched and parsed: Código Civil 2020 (Ley 55-2020) Arts. 298–300 (acción pauliana), 820–824 (reivindicatoria/declaratoria del dominio), 1203–1205 (prescription); Ley de Condominios (Ley 129-2020) Arts. 59–61 (assessment gravamen + 6-month involuntary-acquirer look-back + lien preference); Reglas de Procedimiento Civil Regla 57.1/57.3/57.4 (official English — TRO/injunction standard, 10-day TRO, mandatory bond with government exemption); Código Municipal Art. 4.005 (Community Land Bank), Art. 7.079 (tax-sale deficiency against delinquent taxpayer), Arts. 7.082–7.083 (insider-purchase void-sale felony); 26 U.S.C. § 7425 (IRS 120-day); Ley 184-2012 (mortgage mediation). Cleared rubric rows 11/13/14(partial)/15 via the 7 modules, the quiet-title-equivalent map, and the condo assessment-lien priority. gap_score 18 → 23 — increase is entirely additional honest needs_verification flags (row 2, 1 pt each) surfaced by the new modules; no rows 3–5 contributions (every legal claim carries a retrieved primary-source cite).

Local pages

County deep dives: county pages for this jurisdiction are being added largest-first.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Puerto Rico tax and mortgage foreclosure law for research purposes only and may be incomplete or out of date. Most sources are in Spanish and the Spanish statutory text controls; English glosses are the author’s translation. Statutes and case law change. Consult a licensed Puerto Rico attorney before acting. Verify every figure and deadline against the cited primary sources. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

Graph View

Backlinks