How to buy an abandoned house in Peru

In Lima, Arequipa or Trujillo there are many houses that have been closed up for years: leaking roofs, dry gardens and a pile of unpaid Impuesto Predial notices. Buying an abandoned house can be an excellent deal, but it requires investigating the partida registral at SUNARP, the owner's succession status and, in some cases, resorting to adverse possession of ownership.

Why so many homes are abandoned

• Successions never recorded after the owner's death.
• Families that migrated and left the property unmanaged.
• Properties foreclosed by banks and not recovered in time.
• Houses in areas with pending physical-legal saneamiento.
• Conflicts between co-heirs that paralyze every decision.

Two distinct scenarios

1. Owner or heirs locatable

When there's a living titleholder (or identifiable heirs), the path is direct purchase, conditional on regularizing the succession and clearing encumbrances.

2. Vanished owner or no succession

This is where adverse possession comes in: a person who has possessed the property continuously, peacefully and publicly can become owner after meeting legal terms.

Indispensable prior investigation

Partida registral at SUNARP

Request a literal copy of the property's partida. There you'll find:

• Current titleholder and history.
• Encumbrances, liens and mortgages.
• Preventive entries, embargos or precautionary measures.
• Status of the declaratoria de fábrica (if any).

Municipality

• Status of Impuesto Predial and arbitrios.
• Historical autoavalúo (HR/PU).
• Construction licenses and zoning certificates.

Physical inspection

• Structures, roofs, electrical and sanitary installations.
• Risks of dampness, pests or settling.
• Belongings on the property that may generate dispute.

Adverse possession: requirements in Peru

The Peruvian Civil Code (articles 950 to 953) recognizes usucapión:

• Continuous, peaceful and public possession for:
  • 5 years with proper title and good faith.
  • 10 years without proper title.
• Can be processed via notarial route (Law 27157 and its regulation) when there's no opposition or recorded third-party rights in conflict.
• Otherwise, it goes to the Judiciary.

The notarial procedure requires proving possession with witness declarations, utility receipts, payment receipts to the municipality and, in many cases, location plans signed by a registered architect.

Step-by-step procedure (direct purchase)

1. Locate the titleholder or heirs

With the partida registral you identify the owner. If they died, cross- check with SUNARP's succession registries to verify whether a declaration of heirs already exists.

2. Open succession when applicable

If the succession has not been processed, heirs must do so before a notary before being able to sell. The notary issues the protocolary act of declaration of heirs and, later, the public deed of division and partition.

3. Settle debts

Before transfer, you must cover:

• Overdue Impuesto Predial and arbitrios.
• Possible utility debts (water, electricity, gas).
• Maintenance fees if under a horizontal-property regime.

4. Sale by public deed

The minuta and public deed are signed. The notary requests the seller's non-obligation certification for Income Tax and verifies bancarización of the payment.

5. Recording at SUNARP

The deed is recorded in the Property Registry. Pending encumbrances are canceled here and the new owner is registered.

6. Reconnection of services

Request the connection or change of holder at SEDAPAL/EPS, Enel/Luz del Sur and the gas company, presenting the new ownership documents.

Example in Lima Norte

200 m² abandoned house in Los Olivos:

• Market value after remodeling: S/420,000.
• Price agreed with heirs: S/280,000.
• Overdue Predial and arbitrios: S/9,500.
• Notarial succession procedure: S/3,800.
• Public deed + SUNARP: S/4,500.
• Structural repairs and finishes: S/65,000.

Estimated total cost: ≈ S/362,800, with a reasonable margin given the area's market value.

Typical risks

• Precarious occupants: if someone occupies the property without a contract, the eviction (sumarísimo proceeding for ocupación precaria) can take several months.
• Uncancelled liens: old mortgages, embargos for labor or tax debts.
• Pending independización: if the house is part of an unsplit parent lot, you must process the independización at SUNARP.
• Unlicensed construction: unrecorded extensions force a building regularization procedure at the municipality.

How to protect yourself

• Work with a specialized lawyer in physical-legal saneamiento.
• Negotiate that the seller cover tax debts before signing.
• Bank all payments above S/2,000 / US$500.
• Ask the notary for a clear checklist of documents and timelines.
• Consider requesting a title study that reviews the property's last 30 years.

Final recommendations

• Assume a regularization project can take 6 to 18 months from the first meeting to final recording.
• Compute your return considering the financial cost of time and legal risk.
• If you plan to remodel and sell, evaluate the district's real demand before closing the purchase.

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