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co-ownership rights over common areas of the property concur, to guarantee the security and peaceful coexistence of the co-owners. This kind of ownership is very usual in residential or commercial buildings. The main purpose of this type of property is the maintenance of the common areas of the housing or retail project. It constitutes a limitation to the ownership right and generates to the owners of private properties the obligation to contribute to the maintenance of common property areas, through a monthly administration fee which is paid to the condominium administration. d. Joint Ownership: Joint ownership consists of two or more people owning the same property. This joint ownership is allocated in each person according to the percentage determined in the public deed by means of which they are acquiring the ownership right over the property. If it is not indicated in the public deed the participation percentage of ownership to which each person is entitled of, it is understood that the ownership right is distributed in equal percentages. e. Usufruct: There is an ownership retaining usufruct, which consists in the kind of ownership in which the owner conserves the right to dispose over the property but not the right to use and enjoy the property, which are given to another person. The usufruct title is an example of this ownership form. f. Rural Property: In relation to rural property is important to mention that the acquisition of these kind of properties must consider the accomplishment of legal requirements
related to the statutory limitations to acquire rural property in Colombia according to the Colombian agrarian legislation. 4. Notarial Aspects: As it was mentioned before, the transfer of real estate in Colombia must be done with the formality of a public deed held before a Public Notary. Similarly, when fiduciary contracts involving transfer of real estate are constituted, the formality of a public deed must be complied with, even though the transfer of fiduciary rights over them can be made by means of a private document. The public deed content is public which means that anyone can access the information of a real estate transaction. The process to prepare a public deed begins when the interested party approaching any Public Notary office in the country, since there is freedom of choice except when dealing with transactions in which the state participates as a party, because there it would apply a distribution system to select among notaries. Once the request is made, the officials of the pubic notary will inquire which legal transaction is going to be held and request the documents required for each specific deal; in the case of the sale and purchase agreements, the required documents are: (i) No liens’ certificate ( certificado de tradición y libertad ) of the properties involved in the transaction; (ii) Documents of existence and legal representation of the parties; (iii) Proof of payment of property taxes of the last five years; (iv) No debts certificate issued by the applicable tax authorities in relation to the properties; and, (v) No debts certificate issued by the administration when the properties are subject to the condominium regime. The deed process takes approximately five
ILN Real Estate Group – Buying and Selling Real Estate Series
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