In short
Conventional redemption takes place when the seller reserves the right to recover the thing sold, with the duty to comply with Article 1051 and whatever else was agreed. The period is short: absent express agreement, four years from the contract date; where stipulated, it may not exceed ten. If the seller does not comply with Article 1051, the buyer irrevocably acquires ownership. To recover the thing the seller must reimburse the buyer the price of the sale, the contract expenses and any other legitimate payment for the sale, and the necessary and useful expenses made on the thing; and for a retracto claim to proceed the price must be deposited if known, or security given to deposit it once it is. The seller may act against every possessor deriving their right from the buyer, even if the second contract never mentioned the retracto, save what registry legislation provides as to third parties. On recovering, they receive the thing free of every charge or mortgage imposed by the buyer, but must abide by the leases the buyer made in good faith. And Article 1054 closes with an important protection: every sale of immovable property with a pacto de retroventa is presumed to constitute a loan contract for the amount of the price, secured by a mortgage on the plot sold, where the buyer does not take material possession, where the seller pays them interest on the price even if called rent, or where an entirely inadequate amount is stated as the transfer price.
What is it?
It is Chapter V of Title VIII of Book Three of the Civil Code of 2020, Articles 1040 to 1054. It is the sale in which the seller keeps the key back: they may recover what was sold if they pay what the law requires, within the period.
Who can do it?
It belongs to the seller who reserved the right in the contract. Their creditors may only use it after excussion of the seller’s assets. And the buyer substitutes the seller in all their rights and actions.
Requirements
- Reimbursing the buyer the price of the sale.Verified against the official source
- Reimbursing the contract expenses and any other legitimate payment for the sale.Verified against the official source
- Reimbursing the necessary and useful expenses made on the thing sold.Verified against the official source
- For a retracto claim to proceed, depositing the price if known or giving security to deposit it once it is.Verified against the official source
- Exercising it within the period: four years from the contract date absent agreement, and never more than ten if stipulated.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: What it is
Article 1040 defines it: conventional redemption takes place when the seller reserves the right to recover the thing sold, with the duty to comply with what Article 1051 of this Code states, and whatever else was agreed. The reservation must be in the contract; it is not presumed.
Step 2: The clock: four years, or ten at most
Article 1041 fixes it: the right lasts, absent express agreement, four years from the contract date; where stipulated, the period may not exceed ten years. And Article 1042 says what happens if it is missed: if the seller does not comply with Article 1051, the buyer irrevocably acquires ownership of the thing sold.
Step 3: What must be paid to recover it
Article 1051 admits no discounts: the seller may not use the retracto right without reimbursing the buyer the price of the sale and, in addition, the contract expenses and any other legitimate payment for the sale, and the necessary and useful expenses made on the thing sold. And it adds a procedural requirement: for retracto claims to proceed, the price must be deposited if known, or if it is not, security must be given to deposit it once it is.
Step 4: It follows the thing, even through new hands
Article 1043 allows it: the seller may act against every possessor deriving their right from the buyer, even if the second contract never mentioned the conventional retracto, save what the real-property registry legislation provides as to third parties. That saving clause decides many cases, and this guide does not summarize it because we did not read that legislation.
Step 5: When there are several sellers or several heirs
Articles 1046 to 1050 do the arithmetic. If several persons jointly and in one contract sell an undivided plot with pacto de retro, none may exercise the right for more than their own share, and the same where a sole seller left several heirs. The buyer may require all sellers or co-heirs to agree on redeeming the whole, and failing that cannot be forced into a partial retracto. By contrast, each co-owner who sold their share separately may exercise the retracto for their portion, and the buyer cannot make them redeem the whole plot. And if the buyer leaves several heirs, the action lies against each only for their share, unless the thing was awarded to one, in which case it lies against them for the whole.
Step 6: Fruits and charges on recovery
Article 1052 shares out the fruits: where at the sale there are manifest or born fruits on the plot, no credit or proration is made for those existing at the retracto; if there were none at the sale and there are at the retracto, they are prorated between retrayente and buyer, giving the buyer the part corresponding to the time they possessed the plot in the last year, counting from the sale. And Article 1053 clears the title: the seller who recovers the thing receives it free of every charge or mortgage imposed by the buyer, but must abide by the leases the buyer made in good faith, according to the custom of the place where it is located.
Step 7: The rule that can turn the sale into a loan
Article 1054 is the chapter’s most important protection. Every sale of immovable property with a pacto de retroventa is presumed to constitute a loan contract for the amount of the price, secured by a mortgage on the plot sold, in any of these cases: where the buyer does not take material possession of the thing sold; where the seller pays the buyer interest on the sale price, even if called rent or given any other name; or where an entirely inadequate amount is stated in the contract as the transfer price. If your case fits any of these, what you signed may not be a sale.
Step 8: Two more rules worth knowing
Article 1044 says the buyer substitutes the seller in all their rights and actions. And Article 1045 limits creditors: the seller’s creditors may not use the conventional retracto their debtor holds against the buyer until after excussion of the seller’s assets.
Where to do it
The right is exercised against the buyer or against whoever derives their right from them, and the claim goes before the Court of First Instance, which will not let it proceed without the deposit or security of Article 1051.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your preference to buy comes from the law rather than an agreement, that is a legal retracto and it has its own guide. If the owner has not sold yet, the figure is tanteo. And if you sold with a pacto de retro but never handed the house over, or you pay the buyer something called rent that works like interest, read Article 1054: the law presumes that is a mortgage-secured loan and not a sale. This guide does not explain the real-property registry legislation, which Article 1043 makes decisive as to third parties, nor the excussion rules of Article 1045, nor the procedural deposit and security rules of Article 1051: we did not read them. The Code publishes no fee and no service term, so this guide gives none; the four and ten years are the statutory periods. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Letting the period lapse: the buyer irrevocably acquires ownership.
- Counting more than ten years where a period was stipulated, or more than four where nothing was agreed.
- Offering only the price: the contract expenses and the necessary and useful expenses made on the thing must also be reimbursed.
- Filing the claim without depositing the price or giving security to deposit it.
- Believing it is enough that the second contract does not mention the retracto: the action reaches every possessor deriving their right from the buyer.
- Assuming the thing comes back free of everything: the buyer’s mortgages and charges fall, but leases made in good faith are respected.
- Signing a sale with pacto de retro without handing over possession and believing it is a sale: Article 1054 presumes it a mortgage loan.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to recover what I sold?
Absent express agreement, four years from the contract date. If a period was stipulated, it may not exceed ten years. Once it passes without complying with Article 1051, the buyer irrevocably acquires ownership.
What exactly must I pay?
The price of the sale, the contract expenses and any other legitimate payment for the sale, and the necessary and useful expenses made on the thing sold. And for the claim to proceed, the price must be deposited if known, or security given to deposit it once it is.
The buyer mortgaged the house — do I get it back with the mortgage?
No. The seller who recovers the thing receives it free of every charge or mortgage imposed by the buyer. But they must abide by the leases the buyer made in good faith, according to local custom.
And what if this was really a loan?
Article 1054 presumes so in three cases: where the buyer does not take material possession of the thing sold; where the seller pays them interest on the price, even if called rent or any other name; or where an entirely inadequate amount is stated as the price. In those cases a loan contract for the amount of the price is presumed, secured by a mortgage on the plot sold.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 8, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
Was this guide helpful?
Did you find out-of-date information?
Having first claim to buy something: option, tanteo and retracto
They are real rights only if set in a public instrument and recorded. Without that they bind the parties but not third parties.
The right of tanteo: buying before an outsider does
With no agreed period it lapses thirty days after the notice. And if you were not notified, or the terms changed, it becomes a retracto.
Sold to an outsider: the co-owners’ and neighbours’ retracto
Thirty days from the recording or from learning of the sale. The co-owners’ retracto excludes the neighbours’.
What the Civil Code says about the mortgage
Without recording in the Registry it is not validly constituted, unless the law recognizes it as tacit. The rest is governed by registry law.
The option to purchase: how long it lasts and what it must say
As a real right it lasts five years on immovables and two on movables. Once recorded it is an encumbrance and binds later buyers.
Prescription: how long they can collect from you or sue you
Personal actions prescribe in 4 years and damages in 1 year from learning who caused them. Acknowledging the debt restarts the clock.