Abandoned homes and estorbos públicos in Puerto Rico

It is an abandoned building, or an abandoned, empty or overgrown lot, that can't be used or lived in because it is in ruins, unrepaired or a risk to health or safety. Scrap, debris and having no power or water also count.

A home its owner lives in as a main residence can't be declared an estorbo.

The town notifies the owner or whoever has an interest in the property. The owner can ask for a hearing before an examining officer. In Caguas, for example, the notice gives 30 days to ask for the hearing and 30 days to fix the problem.

After the declaration, the owner has 30 days to comply. If not, the town can do the work itself.

• Post signs on the property.
• Charge what it spends cleaning it through a lien on the property, which ranks right after any property tax owed.
• Fine the owner between $1,000 and $5,000 a quarter after a town cleanup.
• Expropriate it, or foreclose the lien and sell it at public auction.

The buyer deposits the appraisal plus 10%, and has one year to repair, rebuild or demolish. If not, the town can take the property back.

During the first year after the declaration, the fast expropriation can't be used to benefit third parties, investors included, except people with little access to the housing market. They get one year to raise the money, with up to six more months.

After that year, the town can sell to anyone, investors included. The requirements are set by the town's own ordinance.

Today towns sell in several ways, such as a direct sale to whoever made an offer, public auctions and land banks.

The town must keep an inventory of its estorbos, with their location, description and catastro number, although the law does not require it to publish it. Ask your town for its list and how it sells.

To find the owner of an abandoned house, follow the steps in the guide on finding who owns a property. If the owner died, the house belongs to the heirs.

If an inherited house is declared an estorbo and the heirs don't claim it within 3 years of the declaration, the town can keep it by court order. If nobody ever came forward, the period is one year.

Never go into or repair someone else's property without the owner's permission.

In Flipeo PR you see a property's owner on record and its recorded sales. On the Investor plan, Lead Lists shows inherited homes with who owns them now.