Get the finca number
It is on your deed (escritura), your plano and the municipal tax receipt. If you only know where the lot is, tap it on Folio's free map and the number appears with the registered area.
For owners, especially owners abroad
Someone filed against your land. The next 48 hours decide it.
A neighbour says the lot was sold. A bank letter names a mortgage you never signed. An Alerta Registral email lands in your inbox. Here is how to read your own finca record tonight, what a filing in the queue means, and the order of the three moves that protect the property.
122registry fraud complaints in 2025
65in 2022, nearly half
3moves in the first 48 hours
$15per asset, the Registry's alert, 2026 tariff
Official Registro Nacional documents
Pulled for you, fee included
Delivered by email
Built in Costa Rica
Short answer
Read the finca record today: the free consulta on rnpdigital.com or the certificación literal (official, dated to the hour). The anotaciones section shows any document presented against the property and not yet inscribed, with its citas and the notary who authorised it. If you do not recognise it: (1) a lawyer or notary asks the Registry to stop the entry, and since December 2025 an owner can ask the Registry to annul it when the inexactitude can be objectively proven; (2) file the denuncia with the Fiscalía Adjunta de Fraudes y Cibercrimen; (3) switch on the Alerta Registral so the next filing wakes you within hours. Speed matters because once a transfer is inscribed and the land is passed on to a buyer in good faith, article 456 of the Civil Code protects that buyer, and your fight gets longer and more expensive.
Tonight, from anywhere
Read your own finca record
Three steps, no lawyer needed yet.
Open the record
On rnpdigital.com, with a free account, Consulta por Número de Finca shows the owner, the area, the boundaries, the anotaciones and the gravámenes. For an official document with the date and hour, order the certificación literal: Folio pulls it for $39, in your inbox within 2 business days.
Read four lines, in this order
Propietario, Anotaciones, the citas of any pending document, Gravámenes. The sample below shows where each one sits and what it means. Screenshot the consulta with the date visible; it is your first piece of evidence.
Where to look
The four lines of your record that answer the question
Illustrative sample · fictional data
República de Costa Rica
Registro Nacional
Literal de bienes inmuebles
Partido: Guanacaste · Matrícula: 5-000000-000
Propietario: Jane Example · Pasaporte 000000000 · Dueña del dominio
Anotaciones sobre la finca: Si hay
Citas: 2026-000000-01-0001-001 · Documento: Traspaso por compraventa · Presentado: [fecha y hora] · Notario: [nombre]
Gravámenes o afectaciones: No hay
Who the Registry says owns it
If this line still shows you, the property has not moved yet. If it shows someone else, the transfer was already inscribed and the question becomes how and when, which the Registry's history of the finca shows.
The line that changes the day
"Si hay" means at least one document is in the Registry's queue against this finca. "No hay" means nothing is pending at the date and hour of the certificate. A sale you never signed appears here first.
The filing itself
The citas identify the document; the kind of movement (a sale, a mortgage, a power of attorney), the date of presentation and the notary who authorised it. With the citas, your lawyer pulls the document and the notary's name goes into the complaint.
Liens and encumbrances
A fraud does not always sell the land. A mortgage taken out against it with a forged signature lands here instead. Read both sections every time.
Illustrative sample with fictional data, laid out like the Registry's document. The real certificate carries a certification number and the Registro Nacional's digital signature, verifiable on rnpdigital.com.
Order the certificación literal · $39The 48 hours
Three moves, in this order
What the owners who kept their land did first.
Hour 0 to 2: pin down what was filed
Pull the record and keep the dated copy. Note the citas, the kind of movement and the notary's name. Do not call the notary or the "buyer": your lawyer does that, in writing, after the complaint exists.
Hour 2 to 24: stop the entry at the Registry
A Costa Rican lawyer or notary asks the Registry to hold the document while it is reviewed. Since December 2025 the reform to the Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Registral also lets the owner ask the Registry to annul an entry when the registry inexactitude can be objectively proven. The window is the time the document spends in the queue.
Day 1 to 2: file the denuncia
At the Fiscalía Adjunta de Fraudes y Cibercrimen, through the Ministerio Público or the OIJ, with the certificación literal, your identity document and proof you did not sign: passport stamps, boarding passes, a sworn statement. The prosecutor in charge of these cases says the Registry's measures do not replace the complaint.
Same week: close the other doors
Switch on the Alerta Registral for every finca and company you own. Tell your bank if a mortgage was involved. If a company owns the land, check the company's record too: forged share transfers and liquidator appointments are in the same prosecutors' files.
Why it happens
Who is targeted, and what the law says
Why owners abroad
The Fiscalía de Fraudes names the usual targets: older adults, properties with no registry movement for years, and foreigners who invest here but do not live here. Criminals check whether the owner is in the country.
How it is done
A deed signed before a notary by someone impersonating you, or a power of attorney you never gave. In the prosecutor's words, "la firma del notario endosa la suplantación de identidad": the notary's signature carries the impersonation, whether the notary knew or was deceived.
What the law calls it
Estafa (Penal Code art. 216), falsificación de documentos públicos (art. 366, prison of one to six years) and falsedad ideológica (art. 367): a genuine-looking deed with a false statement inside it. Prosecutors charge them together.
Why the queue is the moment
Article 455 of the Civil Code: a title counts against third parties from its date of presentation. Article 456: once inscribed, an act by whoever the Registry shows as owner is not undone against a third party in good faith. Before inscription you stop a document; after, you sue people.
The complaint numbers, from the prosecutors
Complaints of registry fraud on real estate filed with the Fiscalía Adjunta de Fraudes y Cibercrimen: 65 in 2022, 99 in 2023, 119 in 2024, 122 in 2025, and 70 more in the first ten months of 2026. In the second half of 2023 alone the fraud prosecutors counted 82 files, 49 of them properties and 25 vehicles. The advice the prosecutors give is the same as ours: read your record, keep contact with a neighbour, switch on the alert.
What we have not confirmed
- The law number of the December 2025 reform. The press calls it a reform to the Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Registral; we did not read the Gaceta text, so we quote what the reform allows in the words the Fiscalía used, not the article.
- The Registry's exact form or desk for the request to stop a filing. Every source describes the measure; none publishes a step-by-step. A Costa Rican lawyer or notary files it; ask yours which route they use.
- Whether the Registry's online account, needed for the Alerta Registral, opens with a passport instead of a cédula. The Registry director aimed the service at foreigners; we did not see the sign-up form.
From the map to the document
Start free, end with the certificate
TonightOrder the certificación literalThe Registry's official record: owner, area, plano and every lien, annotation and pending filing with its citas, dated to the hour. Pulled by Folio, sent by email.$39FreeFind the finca number on the mapTap any lot in Costa Rica: finca number, area, perimeter and boundary on satellite imagery. No account.Free property check
Questions
Frequently asked
How do I find out if someone filed against my property?
Read the finca record. The free consulta on rnpdigital.com (account needed) shows the registered owner and the anotaciones section; the certificación literal is the same record as an official document with the date, the hour and the citas of every pending filing. If you do not have the finca number, Folio's free map shows it when you tap the lot.
What is an anotación and why does it matter?
A document presented to the Registry and not yet inscribed. It sits in the queue with a tomo and an asiento de presentación. Under article 455 of the Civil Code a title counts against third parties from the date it is presented, so the queue is where a fraudulent sale is still stoppable.
Can the Registry undo a fraudulent transfer?
Since December 2025 a reform to the Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Registral lets an owner ask the Registry to annul an entry when a registry inexactitude can be objectively proven, and the Registry can stop movements on the property while a possible fraud is reviewed. The prosecutor in charge says this does not replace the criminal complaint.
Where do I file the complaint?
With the Fiscalía Adjunta de Fraudes y Cibercrimen (through any office of the Ministerio Público or the OIJ). Bring the certificación literal, your identity document and anything that shows you did not sign: passport stamps, boarding passes, a statement that you were abroad. Your lawyer can file it for you.
What crimes are these?
The Penal Code names three that prosecutors combine in these cases: estafa (article 216), falsificación de documentos públicos (article 366) and falsedad ideológica (article 367), the last one being a true-looking deed with a false statement inside it. Penalties for the forgery articles run from one to six years.
How do I stop it from happening again?
Alerta Registral: the Registry emails you every time a document is presented against your finca, US$15 per asset on the 2026 tariff. Also keep your finca numbers written down, keep in touch with a neighbour, and read the record once a year even when nothing has happened.
Sources. Complaint figures: unidad de admisibilidad, Fiscalía Adjunta de Fraudes y Cibercrimen, reported by Diario Extra and The Tico Times, "Someone Can Sell Your Costa Rica Land While You're Away", 26 October 2026 (also the December 2025 reform and the Registry's power to stop movements). Melissa Lara, Fiscalía de Fraudes, in El Observador, 31 January 2024. Código Penal arts. 216, 366 and 367; Código Civil arts. 455 and 456, consolidated texts read 9 November 2026. Alerta Registral: Registro Nacional tariff 2026 and Folio's Alerta Registral guide. Document prices and delivery times from Folio's registry catalogue, 9 November 2026. Photo: Pexels.
This page is general information, not legal advice. A Costa Rican lawyer files the stop request and the complaint; Folio pulls Registry documents and reads them for you.
This page is general information, not legal advice. A Costa Rican lawyer files the stop request and the complaint; Folio pulls Registry documents and reads them for you.
