Check before you pay
Argentina Title Search for Land: What the Informe de Dominio Shows and How to Get It
General information, not legal, immigration or tax advice. Rules, exchange rates and prices change and every case has its own details. Before you pay, sign or apply for residency, check the current rules with an Argentine notary (escribano), lawyer or accountant.
Quick answer The informe de dominio is the title search report: a document from the Property Registry (Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble) that shows who is recorded as the owner of a lot and whether it has mortgages, attachments (embargos) or other restrictions. It is how you check the title before you pay. It does not replace the certificado de dominio, the certificate the notary (escribano) uses for the deed, or the inhibitions report (informe de inhibiciones), which looks at the person and not at the lot.
Which documents exist and what each one is for
| Document | What it looks at | Who can request it |
|---|---|---|
| Informe de dominio (title search report) | The property: registered owner, history of transfers, mortgages, attachments and other encumbrances | Owners, notaries, lawyers and others with a legitimate interest, depending on the province |
| Certificado de dominio (title certificate) | The same, but with a priority reservation: this is the one used to sign the deed | Only the notary who will authorize the transaction |
| Informe de inhibiciones (inhibitions report) | The person: whether the seller is barred from disposing of assets (for example, because of a debt) | With a legitimate interest; some registries call it "personal annotations" |
| Informe de titularidad (ownership report) | Which properties are recorded in a person's name in the registry | With a legitimate interest |
The key difference: a report does not give priority over other transactions. The Chubut registry law says so, for example (Law III-18, art. 36): reports lack a priority reservation (carecen de reserva de prioridad) and do not replace the certificate. For a buyer, the report is a way to check the title in advance, and the notary obtains the certificate when the deed is signed.
How to request it, province by province
Each province has its own registry, forms and fees. The data below is current as of October 2026, according to each province's registry.
| Jurisdiction | Registry and how to request | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Río Negro | Río Negro Property Registry (RPI), with branch offices. The title certificate is requested only at the request of a notary. Reports are requested on the registry's form (Solicitud de informe sobre asientos vigente), showing a legitimate interest (Law 17.801, art. 21). | According to the Río Negro registry, the certificate is valid for 35 days if the notary is domiciled in the province and 45 days if not. |
| Neuquén | Neuquén RPI, with forms D (title), I (inhibition) and T (ownership). You must show a legitimate interest. Professionals with a web user request it online. | Since May 4, 2026, payment is made only through the Sistema Único de Pagos (the province's single payment system). |
| Chubut | RPI under the Ministry of Government; Law III-18 applies. Owners, notaries, lawyers, procuradores, engineers and land surveyors (agrimensores) can request reports. | Certificates for the deed can only be requested by notaries and the judicial or administrative officials who authorize the document. A certificate that has already been withdrawn cannot be submitted again. |
| Buenos Aires Province | Provincial Property Registry, with an online procedure for subscribed users. The title search report is listed in the procedures guide as "act 752". | There is a standard and an urgent option. |
| CABA (City of Buenos Aires) | Property Registry of the Federal Capital. Report No. 1 covers title and encumbrances and requires the matrícula or the property's dominial registration data (otherwise a Report No. 4 comes first). | According to the official page, it takes 4 days (standard), 2 (urgent) or the next business day (express). |
Fees are updated often and change with urgency. Before you request a report, check the current fee table of each province's registry. In the City of Buenos Aires, for example, the fee system was simplified from August 3, 2026 (Administrative Provision 6/2026 of the Property Registry).
How long is a certificate valid?
There is no single period. Law 17.801 (art. 24) sets 15, 25 or 30 days, depending on whether the notary is domiciled in the registry's seat city, elsewhere in the province or outside the province, and lets local rules set longer terms only for notaries from the interior of the province. The Río Negro registry states 35 days for notaries domiciled in the province and 45 days for notaries outside it (other provinces and the City of Buenos Aires); confirm with the registry which provincial rule it applies. Reports, on the other hand, have no priority reservation; as a precaution, a recent one is usually requested before paying.
What to check when the report arrives
- The owner matches the seller. Same name and same ID number. If there are several owners, check the percentages.
- The registration number (matrícula) and the cadastral designation match the listing and the survey plan.
- Mortgages, attachments, usufructs, easements or other encumbrances. Any of them changes what you are buying.
- Precautionary measures and annotations. A precautionary measure (medida cautelar) on the property can stop the sale.
- The history. How many times it has changed hands and whether the chain of owners is unbroken. For a buyer under a boleto (private purchase agreement) to have priority over third parties, the Civil and Commercial Code requires that the buyer contracted with the registered owner or can step into the position of someone who did through an unbroken chain of successive buyers (art. 1170). See what a boleto protects and what it does not.
- The seller's inhibitions report. The title search report does not show whether the person is inhibited.
What the report does not tell you
- It does not prove who has possession or where the real boundaries are. For that, use the survey plan (see cadastre, plan and survey (in Spanish)).
- It does not show unpaid taxes or municipal fees. For the taxes that come with owning land, see property taxes on land in Argentina.
- It does not say whether the owner's estate proceedings (sucesión) are open or closed, or whether there are heirs with rights.
Step by step
- Gather the registration number (matrícula), the tax account number (partida) or the cadastral designation from the listing or from the seller.
- Request the title search report from the province's registry (online or at a branch office) or through a professional.
- Request the owner's inhibitions report.
- Compare it with the survey plan and with the details in the listing.
- Hire a notary. Law 17.801 (art. 23) prevents a notary from authorizing a transfer without the recorded title and the registry's certification on the status of the property and of the persons.
- If you sign a boleto first, review what a boleto without a deed protects and what it does not.
See also: land scams in Argentina: red flags, buying land directly from the owner, how to buy land in Argentina.
Sources
- Law 17.801 on the Property Registry (in Spanish): argentina.gob.ar
- Civil and Commercial Code, art. 1170 (in Spanish): argentina.gob.ar
- Chubut Law III-18 (registry) (in Spanish): gobierno.chubut.gov.ar
- Neuquén RPI (in Spanish): jusneuquen.gov.ar
- Title certificate in Río Negro (in Spanish): rionegro.gov.ar
- Fee system simplification at the City of Buenos Aires Property Registry, from August 3, 2026 (in Spanish): colegio-escribanos.org.ar
- Buenos Aires Province Property Registry, title search report (in Spanish): rpba.gov.ar
- Report No. 1 on title and encumbrances in CABA (in Spanish): argentina.gob.ar
Argentina updates
Rule changes, prices and new guides for buying property and living in Argentina. No fixed schedule.