If you are buying land in Mexico, be extra careful when you hear the
word ejido mentioned.
That might be the advice of 23 homeowners, many of them U.S. retirees,
who last week were evicted from their properties in the Punta Banda
region of Baja California.
Ejidos are collective farmlands, spawned under the presidency of
Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940), to foster distribution of land to Indians
and peasants. In the past, they could only be passed on from
generation to generation, but since 1993 they can be converted into
regular deeded land and sold.
According to Mexican law, the owners of the ejido, known as
ejiditarios, can sell their parcels of land once they have canceled
their ejido status and registered the plots in the public property
registry.
However, the history and title of ejido land is often murky and there
are frequent counter claims to the land, often dating back many years.
This is what happened in Punta Banda, where U.S. retirees unknowingly
built properties on ejido land that had been set up in 1973 following
a land invasion. The original owners eventually showed up and took
their case all the way to the Supreme Court, leading to last week's
eviction notices.
Most Lakeside realtors are especially wary of ejido land and advise
their clients of the risks.
"Don't touch it with a ten-foot pole if it's not in public deed," says
Richard Tingen, a 25-year veteran in the real estate business.
Enrique Rojas of Century 21 advises foreigners who want to avoid a
Baja California debacle to "do things the right way. Go through a
realtor and a notary public."
Notaries in Mexico are responsible for carrying out title searches,
which must be done when buying land or property.
But how can buyers be totally sure that the property they are
purchasing from developers has clean land title?
Arturo Duran, another realtor, says buyers can do several things for
themselves.
“You need to check that the developer is known and reliable. The best
thing you can do is to go to the registro publico de propiedad and
find if the land you are buying is ejido land or if there has been a
lean on it, or if the title is clear. Anybody who wants to can go and
check the books in this place.”
Duran says most of the realtors in the Lake Chapala area try to “make
sure the title deed is clear before they put property on the market,
to avoid these kinds of problems.”
Land reforms brought about by Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1992
enabled ejiditarios to sell their land. Prior to this, the lands were
frequently sold illegally, but with no guarantee for the buyer of
legal ownership.
Under Salinas, the Commission for Regulating Ejido Lands (CORET)
rapidly measured and divided lands via satellite, and the owners were
given their personal parcels (titulo parcelario). Each individual
ejido member had his or her well-defined plot of land. But in the
Zedillo years, CORET has slowed its efforts and many ejiditarios are
still waiting for their titulo parcelario, which means they can get a
public deed.
"Once (the parcel) is in the public registry of property, it can be
bought and sold, just like a house," confirms Javier Basulto of the
National Agrarian Registry in Guadalajara.
The last word goes to David Merryman, another well-known Lakeside
realtor, who advises avoiding ejidos at all costs.
"If I wouldn't do it with my own money, I cannot recommend it for
others," he says.