Buying a Ejido Land – Baja Legal Advice

Do You Want to Buy Ejido Land?

Think again.

Since I have been asked this many times, I hereby submit for your benefit, a detailed description of the process required by law to privatize Ejido Land, pursuant to the Mexican Agrarian Law.

The process consists of four stages, which are the following:.- The whole Ejido community must be current with their respective plot rights. To do this they must have performed, previously, a meeting to establish individual metes and bounds (article 56 of the Agrarian Law).

Also, the Ejido must have held a general meeting to authorize the adoption of their full domain over plots (articles 23 Fraction IX and 81 of Agrarian Law). This Assembly must have complied with the formalities contained in Articles 24 to 28 and 30 to 32 of the Law, within which the following is essential:

The general assembly must have been called with at least 30 days’ notice and have notified the Agrarian Reform to have a representative attend the meeting on behalf of the federal government.

The legal quorum required for the installation of the meeting, on a first call it is required by law that three-quarters of the Ejidos members be in attendance, and the resolutions must be taken and approved by two-thirds of those in attendance.

If the meeting cannot be held on the first call, it must immediately be convened to take place on the second or subsequent meeting, which must be carried out within a period of no less than 8 days and no more than 30 days.

The legal quorum for these cases must consist of at least 50% + 1 of the total number of ejidatarios and the resolutions must be approved by at least 2/3 of the attendees. In both cases, it is indispensable that those in attendance sign the resulting Minutes and the representative of the Office of Agriculture and a Notary Public must also sign the minutes too.

The Ejido must request the formal recording of the minutes with the National Agrarian Registry (RAN or Registro Agrario Nacional), the agency is required by law to verify the compliance with all legal requirements since the absence of any one of them makes the resolutions and minutes null and void for all legal purposes.

Once the Minutes are recorded, each Ejido member or individual possessor of plots may request an individual certificate from the National Agrarian Registry certifying redemption of his/her rights as individual property holders, such certificate or deed must be registered with the Public Register of Property and Commerce in the State as well as with the city land register known as Catastro. Only until this process concludes, the Ejido member will be able to sell his/her plot, if the entirety of process has not been concluded, the Ejido shall continue to maintain its social character as Ejido Land ad property will not be able to be disposed of legally.

The Agrarian Law stipulates that the assignment of land must be based on the value reflected in an appraisal issued by the Institute of Administration and Appraisals of National Assets (INDAABIN) or any banking institution.

Additionally, and as part of the requirements, the Ejido member, whose deed is recorded with the Public Register of Property and Commerce, must notify in writing to the Ejido (Comisariado Ejidal) his intention to sell his plot, this must be done before two (2) witnesses or a Notary Public, so that this intention be made publicly known.

This previous step is required because the relatives of the transferor, persons who have worked the plots for more than a year, other ejidatarios, residents and members of the Ejido in general, have first-right-of-refusal to acquire the land, thus ejidatarios have 30 calendar days to exercise such right. Once this step has been observed, the ejidatario may legally sell a property within his plot to anyone (Mexicans and foreigners including corporations), and must also comply with all federal, state and local tax laws.

If the land is located within an area declared as a reserve for the nucleus of the community, in accordance with current urban development plans, the state and municipal governments will then have the first right of refusal (pursuant to articles 89 of the Land Law and 47 of the General Law of Human Settlements).