What are some of the things you need to know while searching for title in Puerto Rico?

1. Copies: Recorders at different PR registries do NOT keep actual copies of documents. ProTitleUSA is not able to pull a copy, as there are none available at the recorder's office. There is only recording information for each document entry, which gets abstracted onto our form in Spanish.

2. Who has copies of documents? In PR, only a notary-attorney (unique position for PR attorney) who originally recorded the document(s) will have the originals and can provide copies to interested parties at an additional fee. The attorney typically charges anywhere from $25.00 to $50.00. In ideal cases, a letter of appointment to show the interest in the property is needed to contact the attorney. The summary sheet that we deliver should have the attorney's name and phone number for contact. Note: If the attorney forgets to pick up the originals from the recorder, the original documents get destroyed within 90 days.

3. How to get copies? Most Attorney-Notaries speak English but not all. There is a government supported phone number that provides the updated information for any registered attorney in case they moved, etc. The phone number (subject to change) is 787-763-8816.

4. Who records documents in PR? Attorney-Notary is responsible for recording any document in PR. Recording companies should have a local attorney in each of the PR registries for recording purposes. The abstract form provided by ProTitleUSA and the new document should be sufficient to record a document. The attorney-notary document verification should be the step before recording the document.

5. Searching the registry: The title search in all registries in PR can only be conducted by legal description or recording information of the deed. You cannot search by name or address; therefore, when placing the order for a title search with ProTitleUSA in PR, be ready to provide a legal description for the property of interest.

6. ProTitleUSA has a list of local PR attorney-notaries to cover your needs in all of the registries of PR.

7. Translation Fees: ProTitleUSA charges for translation ($150.00), because we use PR based paralegals to translate the Title Search Abstract Form into English. Most abstracts cannot be translated word-for-word due to legal language used without English equivalent.

8. Document retrieval service (currently unavailable): This is a very difficult task because you would need to find and call each individual attorney to get each document affecting title which can take weeks. In the case of attorney's relocation, death, or being absent, the task becomes time consuming and burdensome. Stay tuned for updates on this service launch.

Please call us for corporate account information and special nationwide pricing at 1-888-878-8081 or e-mail us at info@protitleusa.com.