Federal Law authorizes deferred payment of application fees in real estate registration procedures

On November 28, Article 206-A of the Public Registry Law, included through Federal Law No. 14,382, of June 27, 2022, came into effect in Brazil.

Article 206-A now authorizes users to opt for deferred payment of application and registration fees and other costs due in registration or annotation procedures before the real estate registry office. Such payment must be carried out within five (5) days counted from the date of completion of the analysis by the registry officer acknowledging the deed suitable for registration.

The new rule determines that the application effects will be maintained throughout the complementary period of five (5) days for payment of costs and charges (registration fees) if the user opts for paying them after the analysis by the registry officer. Once payment is carried out, the registration or annotation will be finalized upon the conclusion of the required registrations and the respective certificate will be issued. If the deposit is not confirmed, the deed will be returned and its resubmission will require full payment of such deposit.

This measure was introduced by Federal Law No. 14,382, of June 27, 2022, commonly named the “Electronic Registration Law”, and aims to speed up registration procedures by fostering the real estate registry officer to carry out a single analysis and to detail any additional requests in order to facilitate compliance with any potential requirements.

Usually, real estate registries are somewhat slow to incorporate procedural rules. Consequently, the task of regulating the federal law or determining its compliance falls on state offices of Internal Affairs. As a result, the role of the user is significantly relevant within the context of implementation of the new rule, in order to demand that it is in fact enforced.

Finally, pursuant to articles 22 and 28 of Law No. 12,810, of May 15, 2013, the new Article 206-A provides that payment for deed registrations can be made, upon presentation of an invoice, by:

1. financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil; or
2. entities authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil or the Securities and Exchange Commission to carry out the activities of centralized deposit or registration of financial assets and securities.

The full text of Law No. 14,382 can be found in this link.

Demarest’s Real Estate team is monitoring new developments on the sector and is available to provide any further clarification that may be necessary.