Buying Property in Haiti

Purchasing a property in Haiti is a time consuming process and therefore a foreigner should opt for a deft notary and real estate agent to speed it up. Once a buyer selects a property, he/she must check when the last survey was done on the property. If it is over five years, then a new survey needs to be done again.

The Dean of the Civil Tribunal Commune where the property is located- gives authorization for the survey after a file containing documents of previous survey and sale of property is presented to him. This process can take up to 20 days.

When the survey is done, all those who share a border with a property are invited to witness the survey. The completion of survey can take between 10 and 90 days. In case anyone presents request for a “refre’” once a survey is initiated, the survey is suspended till the matter is resolved.

While this is done, the notary chosen by the buyer must prepare a Bill for Sale. The usual notary fees is 1% but Notary Association of Port-au-Prince charges 6% of the sale price which consists of 2% professional fees and 4% capital gain tax, transfer tax etc. which the notary pays to the concerned authorities. There is additional VAT that is paid by the seller but held by the notary public until he/she decides to transfer it to the Direction Generale des Impots.

The Bill of Sale agreement is then deposited by hand to be registered in the Direction Generale des Impots. This procedure requires a fee of 1% of the property sale price in accordance with the “loi du 28 septembre 1977 sur l’enregistrement et la conservation fonciere”. This is usually done by the notary who charges this amount initially. However, this process can take between 6 to 9 months and once completed is when the sales procedure is said to be finished.