Auction notices and case files are written in legal language. Here, in plain English, are the 38 terms that come up most often and why they matter to anyone who wants to buy.
A provisional entry made in the National Registry (Registro Nacional) to warn third parties that there is a proceeding or situation that may affect the property, such as a lawsuit or an attachment (embargo).
When the documents show annotations, the earlier third parties who recorded them must be notified so they can assert their rights.
Someone who has already formally become a party to the court case file. An appearing creditor (acreedor apersonado) is one who has appeared in the proceeding and is acting in it.
It matters for suspension: if there are several appearing enforcing creditors, the suspension requires a request from all of them.
A measure that ties a debtor's asset to the outcome of the proceeding, preventing it from being freely disposed of.
The date of the attachment or of the annotation of the lawsuit is the reference point for knowing which earlier third parties must be notified.
The official announcement of the auction. It describes the property, its base price, and the date and time of the three auctions.
It is published twice, on consecutive days, in the Boletín Judicial. Do not confuse it with the notice (edicto) under article 157.4, which is published only once and is used to notify a third party who could not be located.
A deposit made to the order of the court into the corresponding account. It is one of the accepted ways to make the deposit to bid.
CPC art. 159The starting price of the auction, set in the ruling that orders the auction. Bids below it are not accepted.
It is the figure everything is calculated from: the deposit to bid (50%) and the reduced base prices of the second (75%) and third auction (25%).
Someone who takes part in the auction by offering a price. To be one, you must have made the required deposit.
The Code does not require bidders to have a lawyer, nor does it set up a national registry of bidders: you appear at the auction meeting the financial and identification requirements.
Costa Rica's official judicial gazette, published by the Judiciary (Poder Judicial), where auction notices (edictos de remate) and other court communications are published.
It comes out every business day, and since the Judiciary took over publishing it, publications in it are free. It is the official source for verifying an auction notice.
The limits of the property to the north, south, east and west, with a description of what or who borders it.
Compare them with what you see on site. A mismatch between the registered boundaries and the physical reality is a warning sign.
A day on which the courts work. Time limits set in days in the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) are counted in business days, unless otherwise provided.
This is what turns “five days” into roughly one calendar week, and “the third day” to pay into three of the court's working days.
A technical document registered with the Cadastre (Catastro) that defines the exact shape, size and location of a piece of land.
Check that the plan corresponds to the property and that the area matches. Discrepancies in area or location affect the real value.
The complete record of everything done in the proceeding: the lawsuit, the document the claim is based on, rulings, notifications, publications, motions and the records of earlier auctions.
The phrase that sums up a serious buyer's strategy: treat the case file as part of the property. You are not just buying the property in the Registry; you are buying the legal outcome of that case file.
A check for which the bank guarantees that the funds exist. It is one of the accepted ways to make the deposit to bid.
An ordinary personal check is not the same as a certified one. And do not assume that any cashier's check (cheque de gerencia) will be accepted: confirm with the court how to issue it and who it should be made out to.
The ruling in which the court, after the auction and the payment, verifies that the auction complied with the law and approves it.
This is the key moment: it orders the cancellations in the Registry, authorizes notarization (protocolización) and orders delivery of the property. It is also where challenges tend to concentrate.
The expenses and fees of the proceeding that the losing party must pay, in addition to the principal debt and its interest.
They matter a lot for a debtor who wants to stop the auction by paying: the amount deposited must cover everything claimed, court costs included.
A situation in which a criminal case must be resolved before something can be decided in the civil case.
The Code covers the case of a criminal proceeding for forgery of the document on which a mortgage or pledge foreclosure is based: in that case, approval of the auction may be suspended until the criminal case is over.
A right that burdens one property for the benefit of another, for example an access right-of-way or a power line easement.
It can greatly limit how the land can be used. It appears on the registry certificate and can sometimes be seen on the survey plan.
A burden on a property that is recorded in the Registry: mortgages, mortgage bonds, easements, usufructs and restrictions.
The fact that it is a judicial auction does not automatically mean that all encumbrances disappear. It depends on the rank of the debt being enforced.
The creditor who brings the enforcement proceeding: the bank, credit union, finance company or person who is owed the money.
Special rules apply to it: in certain cases it can bid using the debt owed to it, and it is the party that can request suspension of the auction.
An auction at which nobody made an admissible bid. There was no winner.
It leads to the next auction with a reduced base price: 75% of the original at the second, 25% at the third. Nobody loses money.
The status of a court ruling when it can no longer be appealed or the deadlines to appeal have passed.
Between the court approval of the auction and registration in the Registry, you usually have to wait for the ruling to become final. That is one of the reasons there is no fixed timeframe for registration.
A forced sale of an asset ordered by a court in an enforcement proceeding, so that the proceeds can be used to pay the creditors.
It is not an ordinary purchase: there is no seller to show you the property or guarantee its condition, the deposit is high and the payment deadline is very short.
A court proceeding to collect a sum of money in which, if the debt is not paid, the debtor's assets are auctioned off and the proceeds are used to pay it.
It is the general framework for the real estate auctions governed by articles 157 to 165 of the Civil Procedure Code.
A security interest recorded on a property that guarantees payment of a debt. If the debt is not paid, it allows the property to be foreclosed on and auctioned.
Check how many there are, their rank and which one is being enforced: buying in the foreclosure of the first mortgage is not the same as buying in the foreclosure of the third.
A security that represents a debt secured by a property and that can be transferred to others. It appears as an encumbrance on the registry certificate.
Look for them specifically when you review the Registry: there may be several on the same property, with different ranks.
The act by which a notary public incorporates the court documents and the ruling into an instrument that can be filed with the National Registry.
It is the bridge between “I won the auction” and “the property is in my name”. The notary plays a different role from the lawyer who reviews the case file.
The act by which a ruling is formally communicated to the parties or to interested third parties.
Publication in the Boletín does not replace individual notifications. The auction can only be held once all interested parties have been notified and the five-business-day period has also passed.
The portion or share of ownership that belongs to one holder when a property is owned by several people. An auction may sell just one share, not the whole property.
Read the auction notice carefully: buying “el derecho 001 de la finca X” (share 001 of property X) is not buying the whole property, and that completely changes its value and how it can be used.
A formal synonym for auction (subasta or remate). It appears often in court rulings and case law.
If you read “la almoneda se declaró insubsistente”, read it as “the auction was declared void” (“el remate se declaró insubsistente”).
The order of priority among several encumbrances on the same property. A first-rank debt is paid before a second-rank one.
It is the factor that most determines the financial risk of an auction. If a lower-rank debt is being enforced, certain earlier encumbrances may survive the auction.
The real estate as it is recorded in the National Registry, identified by a registration number (matrícula).
Check that the property number in the auction notice matches exactly the one on the registry certificate and on the cadastral survey plan.
A document issued by the National Registry (Registro Nacional) showing the legal status of a property: owner, encumbrances, annotations and restrictions.
This is the document you should compare against the auction notice and against the ruling that orders the auction before you set your maximum price.
A person who occupies a property without any title to back it up.
It is one of the occupancy scenarios you need to investigate before bidding, because it may require additional court action to obtain physical possession.
A halt to the auction ordered by the court.
It only applies at the request of the creditor—or of all the appearing enforcing creditors—or when someone deposits enough to cover everything claimed, court costs included. A negotiation with the bank does not, by itself, suspend anything.
Someone who acquired a right over the property before the attachment or the annotation of the lawsuit.
When they appear in the documents, they must be notified so they can assert their rights within five days. If they cannot be located, they can be notified by a notice (edicto) published only once.
A person's right to use and enjoy property that belongs to someone else, usually for life.
An existing usufruct can prevent you from using the property even if you are the registered owner. Always check for it on the certificate.
The declaration made when there was a winner but they did not pay the full price within the deadline.
30% of the deposit is paid to the enforcing creditors as fixed compensation and the rest is applied to the senior debt. At the new auction, the required deposit becomes the full base price.
The person who wins the auction, that is, whoever made the best admissible bid and to whom the court awards the property.
The auction record must identify the winning bidder, who must provide a means for receiving notifications. Being the winning bidder does not yet make you the registered owner.
Each published property comes with its base price, its three dates, its encumbrances and its location on the map.