Foreign individuals and entities are allowed to acquire property interest within the Baja California area (including Cabo San Lucas, San José del Cabo) through a deed in trust, or fideicomiso, executed before a notary public with a trustee, which must be a Mexican bank. In a fideicomiso, the bank holds the property title in trust for you and acts on your behalf in transactions. However, you retain the exclusive rights to the use and control of the property, and the bank must follow your instructions in all decisions to sell, will, lease or rent the property.

A number of Mexican banks, such as Republic National Bank of New York (Mexico), Bancomer BBVA, Banamex and Bital are in the business of acting as trustees under fideicomiso arrangements. Charges vary but generally consist of a one-time set-up fee (typically $550 US) together with an annual fee (also typically $550 US per year) and per transaction charges (typically $350 US per transaction).

Prior to closing an acquisition, the "fideicomiso" trustee must request a permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores) authorizing the acquisition. Such permits are routinely issued upon the payment of a $950 US fee within two to three weeks of the submittal of the request.

While processing a "fideicomiso" deed in trust a title search should be performed and a certificate of no liens should be obtained from the public registry of property as evidence of the property's legal status. Also, a certificate from the local tax authorities should be obtained to verify that the outstanding property taxes have been paid up to the date of the transfer.

In addition, title insurance is now available on certain properties from selected United States and Mexican title insurance companies. Owners at El Encanto have the opportunity to purchase title insurance from Fidelity. The escrows to purchase the properties are also held with Fidelity.

For more information:
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