Find the owner's cédula
It is on the Registro Nacional record of the finca, on any Folio report, or on the seller's own paperwork. A company owner has a 10 digit cédula jurídica.
Folio / Free tools / Municipal tax check
Free · Cóbano, Quepos and Parrita · straight from the municipality
Does this property owe the municipality?
Property tax, trash collection, parks: unpaid municipal charges become a legal mortgage on the parcel and the next owner's problem. Enter the owner's cédula and see the account the way the municipality sees it, in seconds.
3municipalities with a public portal
5yrsbefore a municipal debt prescribes
$0for the status
$19for the full statement, same day
The municipality's own portal, live
The law behind it, quoted
No login, no card details
Built in Costa Rica
Why this matters before you buy
Costa Rican municipalities bill the taxpayer, not the parcel, and they do not chase a buyer at closing: the debt simply stays attached to the land. The Código Municipal makes it a preferential legal mortgage and Ley 7509 makes the new owner answer for it. A seller who is two quarters behind on property tax and trash collection hands you that balance with the keys. This tool reads the account the way the municipality's cashier would.
Coverage
Three municipalities, one public portal
These local governments publish every taxpayer's pending charges on an open consultation page. We read it for you and translate the lines.
CóbanoSanta Teresa, Mal País, Montezuma, Cabuya, Manzanillo. Charges carry the finca number, so one parcel can be isolated.Live
QueposManuel Antonio and the Quepos coast. Charges carry the finca number; the portal also lists the taxpayer's parcels.Live
ParritaPlaya Palo Seco, Esterillos, Bejuco. Charges are grouped by type, so the figures cover the taxpayer's whole account.Live
Nicoya (Nosara, Sámara), Santa Cruz (Tamarindo), Garabito (Jacó), Osa (Uvita, Dominical), Carrillo and Puntarenas use a system that only shows an owner their own account after login. For those, order the municipal clearance and we request it from the municipality.
Billed to a name, attached to the land
The owner pays trash and property tax by the quarter. Miss two and the interest starts; sell, and the balance does not leave with the seller.
What the law says
Arrears follow the property
How it works
Three steps, no account
Run the lookup
Pick the municipality, enter the cédula and, if you have it, the finca number. We ask the municipality's portal and show the status, the overdue total and a breakdown by charge type.
Decide what to do with it
Clean: one less thing. Overdue: order the $19 statement to show the seller, have it paid or deducted at closing, and ask the notary for the municipal clearance.
When you need paper
From a free status to a document
$19 · same day
Municipal account statement
- Every pending line: period, charge, amount, interest, penalty, overdue or current
- Filtered to one finca in Cóbano and Quepos
- Source and time of the query on the page, as a PDF you can forward
- Read by a person before it goes out
$39 · same day in these three cantons, a few days elsewhere
Municipal tax clearance
- The constancia de estar al día issued by the municipality itself
- What the notary asks for at closing
- Works for every canton, including the ones without a public portal
- Delivered by email
Buying? The $29 Folio report now includes this check for Cóbano, Quepos and Parrita parcels, next to the title, liens, survey plan and maritime zone.
Questions
Frequently asked
Why do municipal arrears matter when I buy?
Article 70 of the Código Municipal makes municipal tax debts a preferential legal mortgage on the property itself, and article 8 of Ley 7509 makes the current owner answer jointly for unpaid property tax. A debt the seller leaves behind becomes yours, ahead of other creditors.
Whose cédula do I enter?
The registered owner's. The municipality bills by taxpayer, not by parcel, so the lookup runs on the person or company that holds the title. The owner's cédula is on the Registro Nacional record; a Folio report shows it.
Which municipalities does this work for?
Cóbano (Santa Teresa, Mal País, Montezuma, Cabuya), Quepos (Manuel Antonio) and Parrita. These three publish their accounts on a public portal with no login. Other municipalities use a login-only system, so for them you order the municipal clearance and we request it.
Is this an official certification?
No. It is the municipality's own portal answer at the moment you ask, which is what a buyer needs before an offer. For a closing the notary wants the constancia de estar al día issued by the municipality; that is the $39 clearance.
What does the $19 statement add?
A one-page PDF with every pending line (period, charge, amount, interest, penalty, overdue or current), filtered to one finca where the municipality labels its lines that way, with the source and time of the query, ready to send to a seller, a lawyer or an escrow agent.
Can a property show nothing here and still owe money?
Yes, in two cases: the parcel is billed under a previous owner or a different name, or the municipality is not one of the three. Both are reasons to ask for the clearance before signing.
Sources. The lookup queries the municipalities' own public consultation pages. The statute articles were read in full on 26 October 2026 and are quoted in the original Spanish.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Folio is not a law firm and is not affiliated with any municipality.
- Concejo Municipal de Distrito de Cóbano, Consulta y Pagos en Línea
- Municipalidad de Quepos, Consulta y Pago de Impuestos Municipales
- Municipalidad de Parrita, Consulta y Pago de Impuestos Municipales
- Ley 7794, Código Municipal, artículos 70, 71 y 73
- Ley 7509, Ley de Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles, artículo 8
This page is general information, not legal advice. Folio is not a law firm and is not affiliated with any municipality.
