Argentina Property Ownership

In Argentina, the forms of ownership are comparable to those in the US. Rights in real property are based on Roman Law. The ownership right is guaranteed by the National Constitution and ruled by the Civil Code. Argentines and foreigners are treated the same way, and are both protected by the Foreign Investments Law.
In addition, the United Estates and Argentina signed a bilateral investment agreement in 1992 through which US investors have the right to take disputes to international arbitration when other methods of reaching agreements have failed.
Foreigners can own real property in Argentina with only one restriction: only Argentine nationals can own property along the borders of Argentina with another country.
Foreigner investors also can take confidence in the safety of their investments in Argentina from governmental expropriation. First, the Argentina government has not engaged in any expropriations since the government established its current and continuing course of economic reform and development in1989. Second, US investors can take heart from the explicit statement in Article IV of the US and Argentina investment agreement that investments will not be expropriated at fair market value. The US-Argentina agreement can be reasonably regarded as securing the general treatment of international investors in the country.
Sources: Property Register/ U.S. Deparment of State, County Commercial Guide, Fiscal Year 1999: Argentina/ PriceWaterHouseCoopers: Global Real Estate Now – Spring 1999.

Argentina Transaction Information

The Property Register, where title of ownership is recorded, is public and anyone can verify the status of a certain property (ownership, burdens, mortgages, etc.).
Property listings are available by three main networks in the city of Buenos Aires, some of which consist of groupings of other smaller systems.
1. The SOM System (http://www.som.com.ar), a pioneer in the sector active mainly in the northern district of the city of Buenos Aires. Some 85 agents belong to this network.
2. Intersistemas (http://www.intersistemas.com.ar) is different in that it groups together 19 smaller systems and thus has a wide network of 1,000 real estate agents in the city of Buenos Aires and the Greater Buenos Aires region.
3. Multisistemas is a network linking 600 real estate agents in the city of Buenos Aires and the Greater Buenos Aires region.
In all cases, the broker provides its clients with a listing of properties available for sale or rent, and information is updated daily using computer systems. At present, the possibility of being considered to establish a national network to link the various networks in the interior of the country with the city of Buenos Aires as part of a program for regional integration and possible links with other countries as the real estate market becomes globalized.

Argentina Trade Associations

Name: Federacion Inmobiliaria de la Argentina-FIRA (Real Estate Federation of Argentina)
Address: Dean Fuentes 394. Centro Cordoba 5000. Argentina.
Phone: 54351 4210-552 / 4241-930 / 4215-323
Fax: 54156 501-026
Internet: http://www.argenprop.com.ar/FIRA.htm
The real estate Federation of Argentina (FIRA) was founded in 1983. The Association has a code of ethics and constitution and bylaws.
Members of the association joined through real estate firms. There are approximately 40,000 members of FIRA. This number represents 75% of all practicing real estate sales people in Argentina.
The real Estate Federation of Argentina has a Bilateral Cooperation agreement with the National Association of REALTORSÒ

Name: FIABCI
Address: Av. Alvear 1777. 1014 Capital Federal. Argentina.
Phone: 541 8127-338
Fax: 541 8127-338
E-mail: fiabci@lyris.com.ar
Internet: http://www.fiabci.com/ar
The FIABCI is an international association of real estate professionals based in France.

Name: Camara Inmobiliaria de Argentina-CIA (Argentina Real Estate Chamber)
Address: Av. Independencia 942/44. 1099 Buenos Aires. Argentina.
Phone: 541 3000-768
Fax: 541 3079-285
E-mail: cia@citec.com.ac
Internet: http://www.cia.org.ar

Name: Asociacion de Ejecutivos de la Vivienda -AEV (Real Estate Entrepreneurs Association)
Address: Suipacha 207. 1er Piso. Ofc. 116. 1008 Buenos Aires. Argentina
Phone: 541 3272-321
Fax: 541 3270-476
E-mail: aev@netex.com.ar

Argentina Land Rights

Argentine law establishes different ways to acquire the ownership right of a property. All conditions are fulfilled when the title is enrolled in the Property Register. These include promissory sales contract, exchange, grant, inheritance, grant on will, and acquisitive prescription. Rental contracts are ruled by Civil Code which states that:
· the maximum lease term allowed is ten years. Contracts with a longer term will be considered valid only for the first ten years. The minimum lease term is two years for residential real estate and three years for commercial or other properties. Contracts with a shorter term will be considered valid for the term established by law. Some exceptions to the minimum term include embassies, consulates, and real estate owned by the government.
Once the lease contract is signed, the tenant is obliged to leave one monthly rent per contract year as a deposit, which will be returned when the lease term ends. This deposit protects the owner against damage to the property.
A tenant may cancel the lease from six months after its origination upon appropriate notice. If this happens during the first year, the tenant must pay the equivalent of a month and a half of rent. If this happens after that date, he must pay the equivalent of one months rent as a penalty. The owner cannot interrupt the lease contract before its end. Contract terms can be re-negotiated when the term is completed, if an agreement is not reached for its renewal, the owner can request restitution of the property. Though the tenant might continue occupying the property after expiration of the lease, Argentina Law will not consider it as automatically renewed.
If the rent is not paid for two consecutive months, the owner has a right to demand payment within 10 days. After 10 days, the owner can petition the courts to have the tenant removed.

Argentina Forms of Ownership

Real property in Argentina may be held in severalty or concurrence. Concurrent forms of ownership include:
General Partnership: Two or more persons with unlimited and joint responsibility, which is formed for commercial purposes under a firm name which must include "sociedad colectiva." All modifications of partnership agreement require unanimous approval of partners, unless otherwise provided, and all other resolutions shall be adopted by majority vote.
Limited Partnership: Involves two or more persons. Active partners have same responsibilities as partners of a general partnership, while silent partners are liable to the extent of their capital contribution. Firm name must include worlds "sociedad en comandita simple", and names of all active partners should appear therein. Administration of a limited partnership is undertaken by active partners or third parties and is subject to same norms as general partnerships. Resolutions are adopted in same manner as general partnership. Silent partners have the right to vote in accounting matters and the appointment of administrators. Under Limited Partnerships, there are three types:
1. Cooperative Societies "sociedad de capital e industria", which are formed by individuals who supply capital and are subject to unlimited liability, and one or more individuals who contribute only their personal services and are not personally liable.
2. Cooperative Societies which cannot be restricted as to the number of members or shares, capital or duration.
3. Joint Adventure which are typically formed for one or more specific temporary commercial transactions and are subject to the general laws of contracts. If members knowingly allow their names to be used in business, they incur unlimited and joint liability.

Argentina Real Estate Info Summary

	Title & Contracts in Argentina Deeds: Contract that is notarized and recorded with the Property Register within 15 days Adverse possession: Deeds in the common law sense do not exist in Argentina. Contracts involving the conveyance of, or the encumbrance of real property must be in the form of public documents and must be duly authenticated and registered.
	Title documents evidencing ownership are recorded in the Property Register corresponding to the location of the property. Recordation gives full right to the ownership of real property. Under Federal law, must be recorded all documents that constitute, transmit, declare, modify, or extinguish rights upon real estate; impose attachments and any other injunctions; and any other document required by law, which can vary by province.
	The nature, form, objects and obligations of contracts are governed generally by the Civil code. To constitute a contract there must be an offer and acceptance, express or implied. The offer is void if the offeror dies or becomes incapacitated before acceptance is received. Offers may be retracted any time before acceptance if the offer has not renounced his right to retract. Verbal offers must be accepted immediately. The offeree may retract his acceptance any time before it reaches the offeror. A contract which should be in the form of a public instrument (notarized), but which is drawn up as a private document, constitutes an obligation to reduce the same to a public instrument. In Argentina, it would be illegal to set conditions of sale for exchange of the purchase price. Also, the seller may also not set the conditions that the property may be reclaimed through the return of the price of purchase. It is recommended the use of a lawyer familiar with these local matters.
	Property Taxes: Ad valorem: The Government taxes real property according to its fiscal value. The fiscal value is based on different attributes of the property, such as size of land and or building, the site, the type of construction, etc. Income tax: The Government taxes the net income of the real estate exploitation, and also benefits obtained through their sale. This tax ranges between 11 and 30%. Value added tax: The tax is 21% of the building cost if new construction. Rental operations and sale of used units are not subject to VAT. Stamp tax: This tax is applied on real estate transactions. The stamp tax is based on a percentage of the overall transaction price, and can be from 1 to 4%. The rate varies according to the province.
	Title must be registered within 15 days of its signature
	Land Use & Control
	In the area of commercial real estate, there is great variety across the country in terms of zoning regulations on shopping centers, wholesale stores, and other retail establishments generally. Regulations of commercial developments in some areas of the country are so strict that they discourage investment through the imposition of burdensome time-consuming procedures.

Argentina Mortgages & Financing

Loans range from 11% to 12% interest rate in dollars, with a maximum loan-to-value of 80% to 90% of the initial loan-to-value. Its terms range from 12 to 20 years. Loans may be in pesos or dollars, although if in pesos, the interest rate is typically higher. Mortgages must be recorded to be valid against third parties, and do not pass title to the mortgagee. Mortgagor retains title subject to lien of mortgage. A mortgage on real property extends to land and buildings, other improvements, rents and insurance proceeds. A mortgage must be in the form of a notarial or public instrument and the contract to which it is accessory may be in the same document. The instrument constituting the mortgage must contain the names and domiciles of the debtor and creditor, the date and nature of the contract to which it is accessory and where filed, the situation of the property and its boundaries, and if rural property, the district, and if urban the city or town and street, and the exact amount of the debt. Prior to 1992, mortgage loans on real property were difficult to obtain because of political and economic instability. Banks are now becoming more active in mortgage markets by decreasing interest rates and extending repayment terms. Today, banks typically invest 15% of their portfolios into real estate loans.

From the late 70’s to the early 90’s, banks were almost absent from real estate lending (see Mortages section, above). Recently, however, banks have aggressively re-entered the market extending credit to builders and developers, lending on individual purchases and participating in real estate equities. Banks typically require loan to value ratios between 50% and 70%, although as this ratio improves the demand will surely increase. The National Mortgage Bank hopes to lead the securitization process in Argentina through a credit line which will purchase loans for new housing and issue mortgaged backed securities in the capital market.The NMB's ability to offer subsidies for the construction of primarily single-family urban homes has been strengthened as well by the new laws permitting the securitization of loans. In 1998 alone, it was planning to both privatize itself and to raise new capital through offerings of US$200 million of mortgage-backed securities in American capital markets. (Rolon, 1998) Residential financing for law income persons is available through FONAVI (National Fund for Housing). FONAVI’s funds are collected from taxes on gasoline and from employee contributions to the social security system.