What to check in a property's title deed before buying

A property's title record holds its entire ownership and lien history and should be reviewed before buying.

The property's title record (matrícula) is the official document, issued by the Real Estate Registry Office, that records the identity and complete history of a property from its origin — functioning, in practice, as the property's "birth certificate." It lists the current owner, the chain of previous transfers, and all annotations made on the property over time, such as construction, renovations, subdivisions and donations.

Before signing any purchase offer in João Pessoa, the most important step is to request an up-to-date title certificate — issued no more than 30 days earlier — from the real estate registry office with jurisdiction over the property's neighborhood. This certificate can be requested online, if you have the title number or the full address, or in person at the registry office.

When reading the document, the points of attention are liens and encumbrances: mortgages, court-ordered attachments, usufructs, easements, and any ongoing legal action mentioning the property or the seller. The absence of a recorded lien does not completely eliminate the risk — for this reason, it is also advisable to cross-check the title record with the seller's personal certificates (civil, labor, and tax enforcement lawsuits) before closing the deal.

Skipping this check is one of the most common causes of real estate litigation in the country: properties under attachment, sold by someone without the authority to dispose of them, or with pending issues that only surface after the buyer has already paid for the transaction.