Attachment and auction for property tax debt

It is the enforcement procedure by which the Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales, CRIM, collects the real property tax when it is not paid: attachment of the property, annotation at the Property Registry, notice, announcement, public auction, delivery of the surplus and, as the owner’s last exit, the right of redemption. The Municipal Code governs it in Articles 7.076 to 7.081 and 7.086.

The procedure falls on the non-exempt real property of a delinquent taxpayer. The right of redemption in Article 7.086 belongs to whoever was the owner on the date of the sale, their heirs or assigns, and any person who on that date had a right or interest in the property, or their heirs or assigns. The same article expressly foresees a mortgage creditor or a tenant or lessee redeeming, with rules of their own for each case.

• That CRIM prepare an attachment certification with the delinquent taxpayer’s name if known, the cadastre number, the amount of taxes, penalties and costs, the description of the property, and that the attachment is valid in its favour, and present it at the Property Registry (Article 7.076).Verified against the official source
• That the auction announcement be published once in a printed or digital newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico and edicts be posted to the same effect (Article 7.077).Verified against the official source
• That the announcement clearly determine the time, place and conditions in which the auction is to be held (Article 7.078).Verified against the official source
• That a bidder include a cash deposit of ten (10) per cent of the bid, and pay the rest within the ten (10) days following the sale or forfeit that deposit (Article 7.078).Verified against the official source
• If the person notified of the attachment was not the owner on the date of notification, giving written notice of that fact to CRIM within the following ten (10) days, under a two hundred (200) dollar fine (Article 7.077).Verified against the official source
• To redeem, paying within thirty (30) days of the issue of the certificate of purchase the full purchase value, plus the buyer’s improvements and expenses, the accrued costs and the taxes due, plus twenty per cent (20%) of all of it (Article 7.086).Verified against the official source
• Handing over possession of the property before CRIM makes any payment of the surplus to the taxpayer (Article 7.080).Verified against the official source

• The attachment certification, which the Registrar must record and return to CRIM within ten (10) days and for which no fee is charged (Article 7.076).
• The copy of the notification and the copy of the published announcement, which CRIM keeps and which constitute prima facie evidence of the auction’s due announcement (Article 7.077).
• The certificate of purchase, whose issue opens the thirty-day redemption term and on the back of which the receipt for the redemption money is executed before a notary (Article 7.086).
• CRIM’s certificate for the Property Registry recording the redemption, where the property had been adjudicated to CRIM (Article 7.086).

1. 1

   Step 1: The Registry annotation is itself the notice

   It is the most surprising point, so it goes first. Article 7.076 says that immediately after the terms granted by Article 7.059 for payment expire, where the property to be attached is real property, CRIM shall prepare an attachment certification describing it and have it presented for recording at the Property Registry. And it closes: the attachment certification, once presented at the Registry, shall be sufficient to notify the taxpayer and start the enforcement procedure. No letter needs to reach you for the clock to start.

2. 2

   Step 2: What that certification must say

   Article 7.076 spells it out: the delinquent taxpayer’s name, if known; the cadastre number CRIM assigned to the attached property for tax purposes; the amount of taxes, penalties and costs owed; the description of the attached property; and that the attachment is valid in CRIM’s favour. The Property Registrar has the duty to record it immediately and return it to CRIM within ten days with a note that it was duly recorded, and shall charge no fee for that service. The annotation is not subject to the lapse terms of Act 210-2015.

3. 3

   Step 3: If you are notified and no longer own it: ten days and two hundred dollars

   Article 7.077 sets a duty that is easy to overlook. If the person notified of the attachment, for appearing as the property’s owner in CRIM’s records, was not the owner on the date of notification, they have the duty to give written notice of that fact to CRIM or its representative within the ten days following the date they received that notification. If they do not, a two-hundred-dollar fine shall be imposed on them.

4. 4

   Step 4: The announcement is published just once

   Article 7.077 says the auction announcement shall be published once in a printed or digital newspaper of general circulation in Puerto Rico and edicts shall be posted to the same effect. The cost of those announcements and edicts, together with the fees set by Article 7.073 for serving notice on the taxpayer or their representative, shall be collected as part of the costs of the sale and paid to CRIM. A copy of the notification and a copy of the published announcement are kept by CRIM, and those documents shall constitute prima facie evidence of the auction’s due announcement.

5. 5

   Step 5: The minimum bid is confidential

   Article 7.079 sets the floor and then hides it. Attached real property shall be sold at public auction at a minimum bid that in no case shall be less than the principal of the property tax debt, or the market-value appraisal; the tax debt includes surcharges, interest and costs. The minimum award bid is fixed by an appraisal CRIM carries out before publishing the auction. And it adds: the minimum bid shall be confidential between CRIM and the taxpayer; nevertheless CRIM may announce it at the auction after receiving the best offer, only where that offer does not exceed the minimum. The number of auctions per sale and the minimum for each is determined by CRIM by regulation.

6. 6

   Step 6: Bidding costs ten per cent up front

   Article 7.078 says that at the expiry of the publication period, or as soon as possible after, the property shall be sold by CRIM at public auction to the highest bidder. No bid below the amount fixed for the auction shall be accepted, and none shall be accepted without a cash deposit of ten per cent of the bid, a deposit that shall be forfeited if the buyer fails to pay the rest of the sum within the ten days following the date of the sale.

7. 7

   Step 7: If nobody bids, or the bid falls short

   Article 7.079 covers both. If there is no award to a private person in any of those auctions, CRIM may adjudicate the attached real property to itself for the corresponding minimum award bid. And if the property is awarded to a third party but the amount obtained is insufficient to cover the total owed in taxes, interest and surcharges, CRIM may collect the shortfall from the delinquent taxpayer as soon as it learns that taxpayer possesses and owns attachable movable or immovable property, following the same enforcement procedure against them. The auction does not necessarily close the debt.

8. 8

   Step 8: Whoever buys at auction buys as is

   It is a short line in Article 7.079 worth reading before bidding: the person to whom the property is awarded at public auction acquires it as it stands and shall have no right of warranty action against CRIM.

9. 9

   Step 9: The surplus, and why taking it kills redemption

   Article 7.080 chains the two together. Within thirty days of the auction, CRIM, after applying the corresponding amount to the debt, shall notify the taxpayer of the result, the surplus if the award price exceeded the debt, and whether the winner was a third party or CRIM itself. At any time within those thirty days CRIM must, at the taxpayer’s request, hand over that surplus if the winner was a third party and certifies that the taxpayer gave up possession, or that such transfer was agreed to both parties’ satisfaction. And then: in that case the right of redemption shall be understood extinguished as soon as the amount is handed over. Where the winner was CRIM, a request for the surplus shall be construed as an offer to waive the right of redemption.

10. 10

    Step 10: The municipality gets first refusal on the auctioned home

    Article 7.080, as amended by Act 167-2026, inserts a step before the money. Before making payment of the surplus to the taxpayer, CRIM must, in order of precedence, first notify the municipality where the auctioned property sits whether it wants that property as useful, necessary and convenient for municipal purposes. The municipality shall have thirty days from the notice to state its interest, and if it does CRIM shall transfer the property to it. If the municipality declines or does not answer within that term, CRIM may allow any instrumentality or agency of the Government of Puerto Rico to acquire it if the nature of its business is compatible. In every case the municipality, agency or instrumentality shall pay the taxpayer the surplus through CRIM, and an agency or instrumentality shall also pay CRIM the amount of the debt. CRIM’s certificate that those payments were made shall constitute sufficient title, recordable at the Property Registry.

11. 11

    Step 11: No surplus without handing over the house

    Article 7.080 says it at the end without qualification: CRIM shall make no payment of the surplus to the taxpayer before the taxpayer has handed over possession of the property. The same article adds that the notices applicable to it shall be made by certified mail with return receipt. And where the thirty days have passed without redemption being exercised, or where it has been extinguished, CRIM is obliged to notify the taxpayer or their estate that the surplus is available for delivery, after proof of the right of whoever requests it.

12. 12

    Step 12: The auction can be postponed up to sixty days

    Article 7.081 is short: CRIM or its representative may continue the sale from day to day if it judges a delay necessary, and for just cause may postpone it for a period not exceeding sixty days, of which due notice shall be given by announcement in the manner the Chapter determines.

13. 13

    Step 13: Redeeming: thirty days from the certificate of purchase

    Article 7.086 sets the term from a concrete point: whoever was the owner on the date of the sale, their heirs or assigns, or any person who on that date had a right or interest, may redeem within thirty days counted from the date the certificate of purchase was issued. Five things must be paid: the full purchase value, the improvements and expenses the buyer incurred, the accrued costs, the taxes due to the date of redemption, and twenty per cent of all of it as compensation to the buyer. On payment, the redeemer receives the certificate of purchase, on the back of which the receipt for the money paid is executed before a notary public; the notary’s fees are paid by the redeemer.

14. 14

    Step 14: Redeeming does not wipe the other charges

    Article 7.086 warns: the property so redeemed shall remain subject to all legal charges and claims against it, other than for taxes, to the same extent and in the same form as if the property had not been sold for the payment of taxes. The same article foresees two particular cases: where a mortgage creditor redeems, the money paid is added to their mortgage credit and may be recovered at the same interest rate that credit earns; and where the tenant or lessee redeems, they may deduct the redemption amount from the rent they pay.

15. 15

    Step 15: If CRIM took it, there is a second window

    Article 7.086 describes it with conditions. Where the property has been adjudicated to CRIM, CRIM may, at its discretion or after thirty days from the issue of the certificate of sale, agree to redemption by any person entitled to redeem within the thirty days, provided that when it is requested the property is not being used by the Government of Puerto Rico, has not been sold, transferred or leased by CRIM, and the auction surplus has not been handed over. Whoever requests it must first deposit with CRIM the amount of taxes collected at the auction, plus the improvements and expenses CRIM incurred, all accrued costs and the taxes that would have been imposed had the property remained in a taxpayer’s hands, with their surcharges and interest, plus twenty per cent of that as a penalty.

Before the Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales, CRIM, which prepares the attachment certification, gives notice, publishes the announcement, holds the auction, notifies the result, hands over the surplus and receives the redemption payment. The Property Registry records the attachment certification, charging no fees, and later the redemption or the buyer’s title. The municipality where the auctioned property sits intervenes with thirty days to say whether it wants to acquire it, before the surplus is paid. And the redemption receipt is executed before a notary public, on the back of the certificate of purchase.

• Waiting for a letter to consider yourself notified: the attachment certification presented at the Registry is already enough to notify and start enforcement.
• Receiving the notice as the former owner and not saying so: there are ten days to do it in writing, and not doing so costs two hundred dollars.
• Relying on seeing the announcement: it is published only once, in a printed or digital newspaper.
• Bidding without the deposit: no bid is accepted without ten per cent in cash, and it is forfeited if you do not pay the rest within ten days.
• Assuming you will know the minimum bid: it is confidential between CRIM and the taxpayer, and is announced only if the best offer does not exceed it.
• Believing the auction settles the debt: if what is obtained falls short, CRIM may keep collecting the shortfall against other assets.
• Buying at auction expecting warranties: it is acquired as it stands, with no warranty action against CRIM.
• Collecting the surplus and then wanting to redeem: collecting it extinguishes, or is construed as a waiver of, the right of redemption.
• Counting the thirty redemption days from the auction: they run from the issue of the certificate of purchase.
• Budgeting only the price to redeem: improvements, expenses, costs, taxes due and twenty per cent must be added.
• Believing redemption cleans the property: all charges and claims other than for taxes remain.
• Expecting the surplus without handing over the house: CRIM makes no payment before possession is delivered.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Municipios de Puerto Rico

  Municipios

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