The whole process explained with a real example and real numbers: when and where the auction is held, how much money you need to have ready, what happens if nobody bids, how long you have to pay if you win, and at what point the property is actually in your name.
If you only read one part of this page, make it this one. These are the five figures that define a judicial real-estate auction under the Civil Procedure Code (Law 9342).
In the Boletín Judicial (Costa Rica's official judicial gazette), on consecutive days. Not one, not three, even if the creditor is a bank.
Counted from the day after the first publication, and with all interested parties already notified.
This is the ordinary bidder's deposit in the first and second auctions. In the third, the deposit is 100% of the bid.
At 100%, 75% and 25% of the original base price. All three dates usually appear in the same auction notice (edicto).
If you don't pay on the spot, the balance is due within the third business day. There is no extension to get a mortgage approved.
The most expensive and most repeated mistake: believing the deposit to bid is 30%. That figure comes from old manuals. Today an ordinary bidder deposits 50% of the base price (art. 159). The 30% in article 162 is the part of the deposit you lose if you win and don't pay.
Eight stages, from the moment the court orders the auction until the registered property (finca) is recorded in the buyer's name. Each step shows the article of the Civil Procedure Code that supports it.
Within a debt collection proceeding, the court issues a ruling (resolución) ordering the property to be put up for auction. That ruling identifies the property, sets the base price (the starting price) and schedules, all at once, the date and time of the first, second and third auctions.
It is more accurate to say that the court orders the auction than that “the bank publishes it.” The procedural requirement is the same whether the creditor is a state bank, a finance company, a cooperative or a private individual.
The three dates are scheduled from the very beginning. That is why a single notice usually announces all three auctions with their three different base prices.
The auction is announced through a notice (edicto) published twice, on consecutive days, in the Boletín Judicial. It is not three publications, and the number does not change because the creditor is a bank.
Since the Judiciary (Poder Judicial) took over publishing the Boletín, publications are free and the Boletín comes out every business day.
Watch out: there is a different notice—the one in article 157.4—that is published only once and is used to notify a third party who could not be located. Don't confuse it with the two publications of the auction notice.
Besides publishing, the court must notify the debtor of the proceeding and, when the documents show encumbrances or annotations, the third-party acquirers, creditors and holders of earlier annotations, so they can assert their rights within five days.
Publishing in the Boletín does not replace those individual notifications. The case file (expediente) must contain proof that they were served.
The auction can only be held once five business days have passed, counted from the day after the first publication, and all interested parties have also been notified.
These are business days, not calendar days. And if publication and notification happened on different dates, in practice the later one governs.
Counting the days from the notice is not enough. A late notification can push back the date on which the auction can legally be held.
The auction is held at the court that ordered it, on the date and at the time stated in the notice. To take part, each bidder must have deposited 50% of the base price in one of the forms the law allows.
Bids below the base price are not accepted. The best bid wins, and the auction record (acta) identifies the winning bidder, who must designate a way to receive notifications.
Every bid is binding. The law recognizes no general right to withdraw the best bid, and no “cooling-off period.”
If the first auction has no bidders, it is declared failed (fracasado) and the second one is held, no sooner than five days later, with the base price reduced by 25%: it becomes 75% of the original base price.
If the second one also fails, the third is held at least five days later and starts at 25% of the original base price. A special rule applies here: the bidder must deposit the full amount of their bid, not 50%.
In the third auction the law does not take another 25 points off the 75%: it jumps straight to 25% of the original base price.
You can pay the full price at the auction itself. If you don't, you must deposit the balance within the third day—business days, not weeks.
If you don't complete the price, the auction is declared void (insubsistente): 30% of your deposit goes to the enforcing creditors as fixed compensation and the rest is applied to the preferred claim. In addition, in the new auction the deposit to take part becomes the full base price.
Winning first and looking for the loan afterward is the most common way to lose money at an auction. The court is not required to wait for a mortgage to be approved.
Once the price is paid, the court checks that everything was done according to the law and issues the approval ruling. That ruling orders the corresponding cancellations in the registry, authorizes the notarization (protocolización) and orders the property to be handed over.
Then a notary public notarizes the court documents and files them with the National Registry (Registro Nacional) to register the property in your name. Winning the bidding, by itself, does not make you the registered owner.
The handover order is not a commercial guarantee of an empty house with the keys. If there are occupants who do not leave voluntarily, additional court action may be required.
Imagine a house whose base price, as set by the court, is the one shown below. Change the amount and instantly see how much you need for each of the three auctions.
A trick to tell which auction it is: compare the announced base price with the original one. If it equals 75%, it is the second; if it equals 25%, it is the third. But use it only as a cross-check: the authoritative source is the case file and the court ruling, because there may have been suspensions, annulments or rescheduling.
The short answer: at the court that ordered the auction, on the exact day and at the exact time stated in the notice.
The date and time are in the notice and in the ruling that ordered the auction. Since all three auctions are scheduled from the start, a single notice will show you the three dates with their three base prices.
Arrive early: the auction starts at the scheduled time and your deposit must already be in place.
At the court handling the case file. The notice identifies the court and the full case number; that is the reference to use when confirming any logistical detail.
Confirm with the court office the format and requirements of the auction: the Judiciary updated its manual of auction procedures in July 2026.
Call or check the case file to confirm there is no suspension, rescheduling or newly filed payment arrangement. It is not a legal obligation on your part, but it does save you pointless trips and checks.
Valid ID; the receipt or instrument for your deposit; a way to receive notifications; proof of authority to represent the company (personería) if you bid on behalf of one; and a copy of the notice with the case number.
A payment arrangement does not cancel the auction by itself. An email from the bank saying “we are reviewing your proposal,” a verbal negotiation or a newly signed private agreement do not amount to a suspension. The auction is suspended when the creditor—or all the enforcing creditors who have appeared in the case—requests it, or when someone deposits enough to cover everything claimed, court costs included art. 158. Until the court ruling is on record, assume the auction is still on.
The law lists the accepted forms. Not every banking instrument will do.
Allowed by law, although for safety and logistics it is best to arrange it with the court beforehand.
Payable to the court. Confirm with the court the account and the exact way to make it.
From a Costa Rican bank. The certification is what makes it acceptable.
It must be one the Judiciary has enabled for that deposit, not just any transfer you make on your own.
The law specifically says certified check. An ordinary check is not the same.
A transfer made on your own initiative is not automatically the “authorized technological mechanism” the law refers to.
When tens or hundreds of millions are at stake, ask the court in writing how the instrument must be issued and to whom it should be payable. A formal error can leave you out of the auction.
It depends on what for. The law does not require a lawyer for you to raise your hand and bid, but there are moments when trying to save on one usually ends up costing much more.
About the case file: it is not true that anyone can see the entire contents of any case file. The Judiciary protects sensitive data and restricted-access information. The fact that the case file is electronic does not make it unrestricted public information.
That is why, for an outside buyer's due diligence, having a lawyer review it is the safest route.
Article 159 is blunt: whoever buys at an auction does so at their own risk regarding the situation, condition and factual circumstances of the property, whether or not they appear in the case file. There is no seller to show you the house, no warranties and no negotiating repairs.
Correct registration number, registered owner, mortgages, mortgage bonds (cédulas hipotecarias), annotations, attachments (embargos), lawsuits, usufructs, easements and restrictions.
Which encumbrance is being enforced and at what rank; which earlier encumbrances are canceled and which you might have to accept.
That the cadastral survey plan (plano catastrado) matches the property: area, location and any discrepancy between the registry records and reality.
Exact property number, the ownership share (derecho) being auctioned, base price, currency, the three dates, any encumbrances it expressly says remain, and the case number.
Whether the first or second auction really failed; whether there were suspensions, bidders, errors or rescheduling.
That the case file shows the notices sent to the debtor and to the third parties who had to receive them, with their dates.
Pending annulments, objections, suspension requests, payment arrangements or challenges.
Buildings, deterioration, actual access, visible boundaries and risks on the land. Go to the site.
Who lives there: owner, relatives, tenants, caretakers or squatters, and on what legal basis.
Outstanding taxes and fees, land use and relevant municipal procedures.
Regular and special fees, bylaws, litigation and the condition of the unit.
Water, electricity, access easements and applicable permits.
Never buy thinking “it's a judicial auction, so everything comes out clean.”
When the enforced encumbrance is first-rank, or in insolvency proceedings (concurso), the auction is ordered free of encumbrances. But when a lower-rank encumbrance is being enforced, an earlier claim that is not yet due, or that is subject to a condition, may end up being borne by the buyer. Always compare the registry certificate, the ruling that orders the auction, the text of the notice and—after the auction—the approval ruling.
Occupants: the court's handover order is not a promise of an empty house on the same day you pay. If there are people who do not leave voluntarily, additional court action may be required. And with a tenant, don't assume that “every lease disappears with the auction”: you need to review the lease, its date, the registry status and the applicable law. That risk must fit within the maximum price you are willing to pay.
Two terms that are easy to mix up and mean very different things for your wallet.
Nobody submitted an admissible bid. There was no winner.
There was a winner, but they did not complete the price within the deadline.
Much of what you read online about auctions in Costa Rica comes from manuals written before the reform of the Civil Procedure Code. These are the most common mistakes.
You must deposit 30% of the base price to bid.
Under the current CPC, an ordinary bidder deposits 50% of the base price (art. 159). The 30% that appears in art. 162 is the part of the deposit that is lost as compensation if the winner does not pay.
If the creditor is a bank, the notice is published three times.
It is two publications on consecutive days, whether the creditor is a bank, a cooperative or a private individual.
The first publication must be made thirty days in advance.
Under the general rules, it is five business days from the day after the first publication, plus notification of all interested parties.
Bidders are required to review the case file the day before.
There is no such legal burden. The “day before” review is an internal check by the court. For a buyer, the prudent approach is to review it weeks in advance and confirm again close to the date.
Since it's a judicial auction, the property comes free of everything.
It depends on the rank of the encumbrance being enforced. When a lower-rank encumbrance is enforced, certain earlier encumbrances may survive. You need to compare the registry certificate, the auction ruling, the notice and the approval ruling.
Banks finance judicial auctions up to 100%.
Those programs are for properties the bank has already been awarded and resells on its own terms. They do not turn a third party's auction into a financed purchase, nor do they extend the three-day court deadline.
If the debtor negotiates with the bank, the auction is called off.
Negotiating is not suspending. The auction is only suspended at the creditor's request (or that of all the enforcing creditors who have appeared in the case) or by a deposit covering everything claimed, court costs included (art. 158). Until the court ruling is on record, consider the auction still on.
If I win and change my mind, I only lose the earnest money.
There is no “cooling-off period.” The auction is declared void under art. 162, the deposit is lost and a new auction is held in which the required deposit is the full base price.
A new notice is published for the second and third auctions.
As a general rule, no, when all three dates were already validly announced in the original notice. There may be new public notice if there was a rescheduling, an annulment or an entirely new auction.
The judge guarantees that the house is empty and in good condition.
Quite the opposite: art. 159 places on the buyer the risk of the situation, condition and factual circumstances of the property, whether or not they appear in the case file.
This is where most people get hurt, because the bank's calendar and the court's calendar don't line up.
There is no legal right to finance the balance. The court does not have to wait for a bank to approve a loan: the balance is due within the third day.
There is also a structural difficulty. When the balance is due, the property is not yet registered in your name—court approval and notarization come later—which makes it hard to place a mortgage on that same property at that point.
The realistic options are: having the cash available, a line of credit already approved, financing secured by other assets, or a structure the bank has set up before the bidding.
Don't confuse two different things: the programs where a bank offers up to 100% financing are for properties the bank has already been awarded and resells on its own terms. That is not a judicial auction and does not extend the three-day deadline in article 159.
Check off each item as you complete it. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can come back later and pick up where you left off.
This page describes the general civil rules. Not everything called an “auction” (remate) is governed by them.
Insolvency, agrarian, labor, administrative-litigation and family proceedings, as well as enforcement governed by special legislation, may have their own particularities.
Older case files may also contain actions taken under the former Judicial Collection Law (Ley de Cobro Judicial). That is why you should check the start date of the case file and its transitional rules before mechanically applying a new rule to an old action.
And one circumstance can radically change the outcome: enforcement of a lower-rank encumbrance, insolvency proceedings, an earlier claim not yet due, a notification declared null, a last-minute suspension or criminal proceedings for forgery of the underlying document.
This page explains the general rules. For your specific situation, consult a lawyer directly.
Every notice from the Boletín Judicial, with its location on the map, base price and the three dates of each auction.