I bought a property without a Habite-se. Now what?

In São Paulo, the Habite-se (certificate of occupancy) is now called the Certificate of Completion. This certificate, or an equivalent City Hall document, is what the Property Registry Office (Cartório de Registro de Imóveis) uses to record the construction on the property record (matrícula). Without the recording, the property record keeps showing the lot rather than the built property.

Anyone who bought or inherited a property in this situation has different paths, depending on the history of the construction. The first step is to find out whether it had a permit from City Hall.

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Ways to regularize

If the work was done with a Construction Permit (Alvará de Execução), the way forward is to request the Certificate of Completion, with a declaration from a licensed professional. If it was done without a permit but complies with the law, with a difference of up to 5%, the document is the Regularization Certificate (Certificado de Regularização), which has the same effect at the registry office.

If the construction does not comply with the law but was completed by July 31, 2014, it may be regularized under the Amnesty (Law No. 17.202/2019), with applications until November 30, 2026. In other cases, the building must be brought into compliance with the law before regularization is requested.

An exception at the registry office

The Public Records Law has an exception: a single-family, single-story house completed more than 5 years ago, in an area occupied by low-income residents, can be recorded with the owner's declaration with a notarized signature, without the Habite-se.

While the construction is not on the property record, sale, financing and probate may stall, because the documents do not show the property as it really is. In extreme cases, the irregular work may be subject to a stop-work order (embargo) and taken to court.