Do I need a lawyer to buy property in the Dominican Republic?

A notary must authenticate the definitive sale contract, but the notary does not represent you. Most foreign buyers hire their own lawyer to check the title, the condominium documents and the tax position, and to handle the registration and the 3% transfer-tax filing.

How do I check that a Dominican lawyer is licensed?

Lawyers practise under Ley 3-19 of 2019, which makes the Colegio de Abogados de la República Dominicana (CARD) the body that enables and supervises practice. Ask the lawyer for their CARD registration and card before you sign an engagement letter.

What is the difference between a lawyer and a notary in the Dominican Republic?

A notary, governed by Ley 140-15, authenticates acts such as the definitive sale contract. A lawyer advises and represents a party. On a purchase, the developer has its own counsel; your lawyer is the one who reviews everything for you.

Can I buy property in the Dominican Republic without travelling?

Yes, through a power of attorney that expressly allows the purchase. Signed abroad, it needs an apostille, a translation into Spanish by a judicial interpreter and, for transfer documents, legalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Buying process

Real estate lawyer in the Dominican Republic: what yours should check when you buy at Itza

Published November 4, 2026 6 min read

Every Dominican property purchase passes through lawyers, but not every buyer has one working for them. The developer has counsel, the notary has a role of their own, and the buyer's attorney is the only person in the room whose job is the buyer's position. This guide explains who may practise law in the Dominican Republic, how a lawyer differs from a notary, what your lawyer should check and file, and how the work runs when you buy one of Itza's residences in Cap Cana from abroad.

Who may practise law in the Dominican Republic

The profession is organised by Ley 3-19, promulgated on 24 January 2019, which created the Colegio de Abogados de la República Dominicana, known as CARD. Among its functions the law lists enabling the practice of law in the country once a lawyer meets its requirements, and supervising and controlling that practice. Members carry a CARD identity card, which the law mentions among the documents the college issues and renews.

Two practical consequences follow. First, it is reasonable to ask a lawyer for their CARD registration before you sign an engagement letter. Second, there is a route if something goes wrong: complaints about a lawyer's conduct are heard by the CARD's disciplinary tribunal, referred to it by the national board, and its decisions can be taken to the Supreme Court of Justice within 30 days of notification.

Lawyer, notary and the developer's counsel

Three legal roles appear in an off-plan purchase, and they are not interchangeable. The developer's counsel drafts and defends the developer's contract. The notary, a profession governed by Ley 140-15 of 2015, which also created the Colegio Dominicano de Notarios, authenticates the act: in Dominican practice the definitive sale contract signed before a notary is the equivalent of the escritura pública used in Spain. Your own lawyer is the one who reads both on your behalf.

The distinction matters most at the start. Off-plan purchases usually begin with a promesa de venta, which governs the transaction until the price is paid and the definitive contract is signed, and which does not itself transfer ownership. Ownership comes only when the definitive contract is registered: Ley 108-05 makes the registry entry itself the act that brings the right into being (its Article 90), so an unregistered contract leaves the buyer short of title. A buyer whose only lawyer is the seller's has no one checking that path.

Bird's-eye rendering of Itza's four stepped towers, lap pool and lake in Cap Cana, a development of 52 residences.

What your lawyer should check before you sign

The core of the work is a set of checks the buyer cannot easily do from abroad:

The title, read today. A certificate of title is a snapshot from the day it was printed. The current read is the Certificación del Estado Jurídico del Inmueble, issued by the title registry for RD$1,000 per property, which shows the entries standing against it.
The condominium papers. For a new building, the declaración de condominio, the reglamento de condominio and the approved construction plans, which fix what you are actually buying.
The tax position. Whether incentives the project expects, such as CONFOTUR, have actually been granted, since that changes the transfer tax and annual property tax.
The parcel. Ask your lawyer to compare the plans with the registry's online parcel map, which shows approved, historical and annulled parcels.

Ask for the findings in writing, in a language you read, before any contract goes to signature.

Closing: the filing your lawyer handles

At the definitive stage the work becomes administrative, and it has deadlines. The general real-estate transfer tax is 3% of the property's value, paid by the buyer within six months of the transfer act; the registry files the transfer only with the tax receipt or an exemption certificate. Before that, the tax office, the DGII, asks that both buyer and seller be registered in its taxpayer register with an active number, and that the notarised transfer act record the verifiable means of payment.

The title registry then asks a foreign party for a passport plus a second official identity document from their own country, and identity copies of spouses where they appear. The Registro Inmobiliario's own directory lists an office in Punta Cana, on the Boulevard Turístico 1ro de Noviembre, and one in Higüey, though it does not say which office serves which parcel; your lawyer will know where the file goes.

Buying from abroad: powers of attorney and translations

Most Itza buyers will not be in the country for every signature, which is where a power of attorney comes in. Under the Civil Code, a mandate can be special, for one act, or general, and a general mandate covers acts of administration only; selling or buying needs express power. Your lawyer drafts the exact wording before you sign it at home.

The paperwork then has to travel. The Registro Inmobiliario's published notes say documents in a language other than Spanish must be translated by a judicial interpreter, that public documents from Apostille Convention states must carry the apostille, and that powers to sell and similar transfer documents from abroad must also be legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With Itza's delivery planned for Q4 2029, there is time to set this up properly: agree the scope of the power, the documents and the timetable with your lawyer at the start, not in the final month.

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer to buy property in the Dominican Republic?: A notary must authenticate the definitive sale contract, but the notary does not represent you. Most foreign buyers hire their own lawyer to check the title, the condominium documents and the tax position, and to handle the registration and the 3% transfer-tax filing.
How do I check that a Dominican lawyer is licensed?: Lawyers practise under Ley 3-19 of 2019, which makes the Colegio de Abogados de la República Dominicana (CARD) the body that enables and supervises practice. Ask the lawyer for their CARD registration and card before you sign an engagement letter.
What is the difference between a lawyer and a notary in the Dominican Republic?: A notary, governed by Ley 140-15, authenticates acts such as the definitive sale contract. A lawyer advises and represents a party. On a purchase, the developer has its own counsel; your lawyer is the one who reviews everything for you.
Can I buy property in the Dominican Republic without travelling?: Yes, through a power of attorney that expressly allows the purchase. Signed abroad, it needs an apostille, a translation into Spanish by a judicial interpreter and, for transfer documents, legalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.