Communal land (ejido): from a parcel to private property you can buy

Who helps

Your attorney or a title researcher checks every stage at the agrarian registry (RAN) and the public registry (RPPC). The notario confirms the title can be transferred.

The 8 stages, in order

1. Find out what kind of ejido land it is: an individual parcel, common-use land or an urban plot.
   • • Who helps: your attorney
     • Proof to ask for: the RAN record showing the land's type
2. Check that the ejido was surveyed and its parcels assigned (the PROCEDE, FANAR or RRAJA programs).
   • • Who helps: the ejido assembly and the RAN
     • Proof to ask for: the recorded assignment assembly (ADDAT) and the certificado parcelario
3. The ejido assembly approves full private ownership (dominio pleno).
   • • Who helps: the ejido assembly, the Procuraduría Agraria and a notario
     • Proof to ask for: notarized minutes, recorded at the RAN
4. The parcel leaves the agrarian registry and gets a property title.
   • • Who helps: the parcel holder and the RAN
     • Proof to ask for: the título de propiedad de origen parcelario
5. The title is recorded at the state public registry (RPPC). The land is now private.
   • • Who helps: the holder or a notario
     • Proof to ask for: the RPPC recording data (a new folio real)
6. The land is registered with Catastro, the property tax office.
   • • Who helps: the holder
     • Proof to ask for: the clave catastral and property tax (predial) receipts
7. The first-sale rules are met: the right of first refusal (art. 84), the minimum price (art. 86) and the government's preference (art. 89).
   • • Who helps: the seller, the ejido board (comisariado ejidal) and the notario
     • Proof to ask for: the board's certificate, an appraisal and the notices to the government
8. Only then: your trust or deed (Phase 2).
   • • Who helps: the notario and the trustee bank
     • Proof to ask for: your escritura

What ejido land is

• The ejido (núcleo de población ejidal) is a community that received land from the federal government under the agrarian reform. Its land is recorded at the federal Registro Agrario Nacional (RAN), not at the state public registry.
• Who's who:
  • Ejidatarios: members who hold ejido rights (art. 12). A certificado parcelario or a common-use certificate proves it (art. 16).
  • Avecindados: Mexican adults who have lived on ejido land for a year or more and are recognized by the assembly (art. 13).
  • Posesionarios: people the assembly recognizes as holding a parcel without being ejidatarios.
  • Governing bodies: the asamblea (all ejidatarios, the top authority), the comisariado ejidal (executive board) and the consejo de vigilancia (oversight board).
• Three kinds of ejido land (art. 44):
  • Parcelas (tierras parceladas): individual parcels. The ejidatario has the use rights; they can sell those rights only to other ejidatarios or avecindados (art. 80) until dominio pleno is adopted.
  • Tierras de uso común: common-use land. It is inalienable and can't be sold, except when contributed to a company under art. 75 (arts. 73–75). The assembly can change land from common use to parcels with the special formalities in E3.
  • Tierras para el asentamiento humano: the village area. The core is inalienable (art. 64), but individual solares urbanos (house plots in the urbanized zone) are full private property of their holders once titled by the RAN and recorded at the RPPC (arts. 68–69).

Why a foreigner can't buy ejido land directly

• Only a Mexican can become an ejidatario (art. 15) or an avecindado (art. 13), so a foreigner can't hold ejido rights.
• In the restricted zone, a foreigner can hold land only through a bank trust (step 2.2), and a trust can hold only private property. The land must leave the agrarian regime first (E3–E5).
• A "sale" of ejido rights to a foreigner (cesión de derechos) is not ownership and can be voided. See the red flags below.

Certification and the dominio pleno assembly

• Certification: an ejido's land is first measured and its parcels assigned at an Asamblea de Delimitación, Destino y Asignación de Tierras (ADDAT, art. 56). This was done nationally under PROCEDE (1993–2006). Its successors were FANAR (2007–2015) and RRAJA (from 2016) for ejidos not yet regularized. The RAN then issues each ejidatario a certificado parcelario. An assignment not challenged within 90 calendar days of the assembly becomes final (art. 61).
• The dominio pleno assembly (arts. 23 fr. IX, 24–28, 31, 81):
  • It can be held only once most of the ejido's parcels have been delimited and assigned (art. 81).
  • Notice: a written call posted in visible places in the ejido at least one month before the meeting (art. 25).
  • Quorum: on the first call, at least three quarters of ejidatarios present; on a second call, at least half plus one (art. 26).
  • Vote: two thirds of those present (art. 27).
  • Required attendance: a representative of the Procuraduría Agraria and a fedatario público (usually a notario). Without them the assembly is void (art. 28).
  • Minutes: notarized, signed by the Procuraduría Agraria representative, and recorded at the RAN (art. 31).
  • The same formalities apply to changing common-use land into parcels (art. 23 fr. X).
  • The law doesn't require a private agrarian attorney, but one is strongly advisable for both seller and buyer.

RAN cancellation and the título de propiedad

• After the assembly, each parcel holder decides individually when to take dominio pleno. They ask the RAN to cancel the parcel's agrarian registration (baja), and the RAN issues a título de propiedad (art. 82).
• From the moment the RAN cancels the entry, the land is no longer ejido land and is governed by ordinary civil law (art. 82), except for the first-sale rules in E7.
• Taking dominio pleno doesn't change the status of the rest of the ejido (art. 83).
• Procedure and fee: RAN procedure SEDATU-04-015, resolved in up to 60 business days; the federal fee for a property title of parcel origin is MXN 372.15 (LFD art. 187, B-III).

First recording at the RPPC, then Catastro

• The título de propiedad must be recorded at the RPPC where the land is (art. 82). That first recording opens the property's folio real and is the start of the private chain of title your title search will follow.
• The holder then registers the land with Catastro to get a clave catastral and start paying predial.
• Cost: state recording fees per the Ley de Derechos y Productos de BCS (step 2.18), and municipal cadastral fees; the exact fee for a first recording of an agrarian title: confirm locally.

First-sale rules: arts. 84, 86 and 89

These apply to the first sale after dominio pleno, to someone outside the ejido. Later sales follow ordinary rules, but your title search should prove the first one complied.

• **Art. 84 — right of first refusal (derecho del tanto):**
  • Who has it, in this order: the seller's family; people who worked the parcel for more than a year; ejidatarios; avecindados; and the ejido itself.
  • They have 30 calendar days from notice to match the offer.
  • Notice given to the comisariado ejidal with two witnesses or before a notario counts as notice to all of them, and the comisariado must post a list of what's being sold in visible places in the ejido.
  • If two people match the same offer, the comisariado holds a lottery before a notario (art. 85).
  • Without notice, the sale can be annulled (art. 84).
• Art. 86 — minimum price: the first sale must be at least at the reference price set by INDAABIN (the federal appraisal agency) or a bank appraisal. It's free of federal taxes and fees for the seller.
• Art. 89 — government preference right: if the land is in an area declared a reserve for urban growth in a municipal urban development plan, the state and municipal governments have a preference right when it's sold to outsiders, under the Ley General de Asentamientos Humanos. That law (art. 84) requires the owner, the notario or the authority to notify the state and municipality of the price, and gives them 30 calendar days to exercise the right.

How to verify compliance (documents to request)

Ask your attorney or title researcher to collect and review:

• From the RAN (procedure SEDATU-04-051; federal fee MXN 195.29 per constancia, LFD art. 187):
  • a constancia de inscripción for the parcel and the dominio pleno title;
  • the parcel's registry history (prior certificates, transfers and the baja);
  • certified copies of the ADDAT minutes and the dominio pleno assembly minutes, and of any assembly that changed common-use land into parcels;
  • the plan of the parcel (certified plan copies are charged per sheet).
  • The ejido's general history and plans can be looked up in the RAN's public PHINA system (phina.ran.gob.mx).
• From the seller or the first-sale deed: the comisariado's certificate that the derecho del tanto was notified and not exercised (art. 84); the appraisal (art. 86); and the notices to the state and municipality, or proof that none was required (art. 89).
• From the RPPC: the first recording of the título de propiedad and every later deed (step 1.6).
• Litigation check: ask your attorney to search for claims before the Tribunal Unitario Agrario with jurisdiction over the ejido (for example, challenges to the assembly or to the parcel's assignment).
• Survey: compare the RAN plan, the título de propiedad, the RPPC description and Catastro with a new survey (step 1.15).
• Five questions before you pay any deposit on ex-ejido land:
  1. Is there a título de propiedad recorded at the RPPC, and is the parcel shown as **dropped (baja) from the RAN**?
  2. Was the dominio pleno assembly held with the special quorum, a notario and a Procuraduría Agraria representative, and is it recorded at the RAN?
  3. For the first sale out of the ejido, is there the comisariado's certificate on the derecho del tanto (art. 84) and an appraisal (art. 86)?
  4. Was the land in a declared urban-growth reserve, and if so, were the state and municipality notified (art. 89)?
  5. Do the RAN plan, title, RPPC, Catastro and a new survey describe the same parcel, and is anyone in possession of it?
  • If any answer is "no" or "unknown," don't pay until your attorney resolves it, or pay only into escrow.

If a requirement wasn't met (risk and remedies)

This is general information. Ask a Mexican agrarian or real-estate attorney to assess your specific chain of title.

• Art. 84 not complied with: the law says the sale can be annulled. The people entitled to the right of first refusal would be the ones to sue. Ask your attorney about limitation periods, whether later good-faith buyers are protected, and whether a waiver or confirmation can be obtained from the comisariado.
• Art. 86 not complied with: a sale below the reference price is a defect in the first sale. Ask whether it affects your title today.
• Art. 89 not complied with: the Ley Agraria doesn't spell out the consequence. The risk depends on whether the land was actually in a declared urban-growth reserve at the time of the first sale. If no urban development plan existed then, there was arguably no reserve and no one to notify. Remedies to ask about:
  • a legal opinion on whether art. 89 applied at the date of the first sale;
  • a letter from the municipality or state confirming the land wasn't in a declared reserve at that time, or that it doesn't claim the preference right;
  • title insurance that covers the issue (many insurers won't);
  • price or contract terms that reflect the remaining risk.

Red flags for ejido-origin land

• Cesión de derechos (assignment of ejido rights) offered to a foreigner or a Mexican front person instead of a recorded private title.
• A parcel still in the RAN (no título de propiedad, no baja), or "dominio pleno in process".
• Common-use land being sold in lots.
• An assembly without a Procuraduría Agraria representative or notario, or minutes not recorded at the RAN.
• Surveys that don't match: the RAN plan, title, RPPC description, Catastro and the ground disagree on size or boundaries.
• Pending cases at the Tribunal Agrario, or neighbors and ejidatarios disputing the parcel.
• No proof of the derecho del tanto notice on the first sale.
• A seller who says ejido land "can be put in a trust" before it's titled.

Typical timelines and estimated costs

• Assembly notice (dominio pleno or change of land use) — Timeline: At least 1 month before the meeting; Cost: Assembly costs (notario, logistics): no published figure
• Challenge period after parcel assignment — Timeline: 90 calendar days; Cost: —
• RAN título de propiedad (SEDATU-04-015) — Timeline: Up to 60 business days; Cost: MXN 372.15 federal fee
• RAN constancias (SEDATU-04-051) — Timeline: Varies by office; Cost: MXN 195.29 each
• Derecho del tanto (art. 84) — Timeline: 30 calendar days after notice; Cost: Notario or witnesses: no published figure
• Government preference right (art. 89 / LGAHOTDU art. 84) — Timeline: 30 calendar days after notice; Cost: —
• Appraisal (art. 86) — Timeline: Days to weeks; Cost: Bank or INDAABIN fee: no published figure
• First RPPC recording, Catastro — Timeline: Weeks; Cost: State and municipal fees: confirm locally
• Whole conversion, for a parcel not yet converted — Timeline: Months to years; Cost: Attorney and notario fees: get written quotes

Fees from the Ley Federal de Derechos (Diputados text, last reform DOF 07-11-2025). Timelines from the Ley Agraria and the RAN procedure pages

Offices

• Registro Agrario Nacional (RAN): agrarian registry, constancias and títulos; BCS state office. gob.mx/ran; PHINA.
• Procuraduría Agraria: the federal agency that advises ejido members and must attend dominio pleno assemblies. gob.mx/procuraduria-agraria.
• Tribunales Agrarios (Tribunal Unitario Agrario): the courts for agrarian disputes. tribunalesagrarios.gob.mx.
• INDAABIN: federal appraisals (art. 86). gob.mx/indaabin.

Phrases

• "Is this parcel still registered at the RAN, or does it have a título de propiedad recorded at the RPPC?" → "¿La parcela sigue inscrita en el RAN o ya tiene título de propiedad inscrito en el RPPC?"
• "Could you request the RAN constancia and the parcel's registry history?" → "¿Podría solicitar la constancia del RAN y el historial registral de la parcela?"
• "Was the right of first refusal notified, and is there a certificate from the comisariado?" → "¿Se notificó el derecho del tanto y existe constancia del comisariado ejidal?"
• "Was article 89 complied with, and what is the risk if it wasn't?" → "¿Se cumplió el artículo 89 y qué riesgo existe si no se cumplió?"
• "Are there any cases at the Tribunal Agrario over this parcel?" → "¿Existe algún juicio ante el Tribunal Agrario sobre esta parcela?"

Terms

• ADDAT
• Avecindado
• Baja (del RAN)
• Catastro / clave catastral
• Certificado parcelario
• Cesión de derechos (ejidales)
• Comisariado ejidal / consejo de vigilancia
• Derecho del tanto

Sources

• Ley Agraria, last reform DOF 14-11-2025 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• Ley Agraria, last reform DOF 14-11-2025 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• Constitution, art. 27 (checked 2026-10)
• Ley Agraria, last reform DOF 14-11-2025 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• ASF audit report on PROCEDE/FANAR (checked 2026-10)
• Ley Agraria, last reform DOF 14-11-2025 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• RAN – SEDATU-04-015
• Ley Federal de Derechos, art. 187 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• Ley Agraria, last reform DOF 14-11-2025 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• LGAHOTDU (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• phina.ran.gob.mx (checked 2026-10)
• RAN – trámites y servicios (checked 2026-10)
• DOF – RAN simplification agreement (checked 2026-10)
• LFD art. 187 (Diputados) (checked 2026-10)
• gob.mx/ran (checked 2026-10)
• PHINA (checked 2026-10)
• gob.mx/procuraduria-agraria (checked 2026-10)
• tribunalesagrarios.gob.mx
• gob.mx/indaabin (checked 2026-10)

Confirm the details for your case with your notario or attorney.

Common questions

All questions

Related guides

• Ejido land in Baja California Sur: can a foreigner buy it?