Jun 9, 2026Brazil

Brazil Real Estate Scams: What Foreign Buyers Need to Know

Brazil's property registration system offers strong legal protection to buyers who use it correctly. The problem is that scammers specifically exploit the steps where buyers, particularly foreigners, deviate from proper procedure, whether by paying deposits before verifying title, accepting private contracts as proof of ownership, or trusting verbal assurances over registry documents. Understanding the specific fraud patterns documented in Brazil is more useful than general caution.

Why Foreign Buyers Are Disproportionately Targeted

The profile of the foreign buyer who gets defrauded in Brazil is consistent: someone who does not speak Portuguese, is relying on a single agent or intermediary as their primary information source, is under time pressure (visiting for a limited period), and has not independently verified documents at the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis. Language dependency and time pressure are the two conditions that fraudsters deliberately cultivate.

The property types most frequently targeted are off-plan purchases, rural or semi-rural land, and coastal properties, where documentation is more complex and timelines are longer. Straightforward urban apartment purchases in major cities, from established developers with proper registration, are lower-risk, though not fraud-proof.

Scam 1: Fake Seller Identity at the Cartório

This is the most direct form of title fraud. A person presents themselves as the registered property owner, using forged identity documents (typically a falsified RG, Brazil's national identity card, or a CPF), and attempts to execute an escritura pública (public deed) at a notary office. Cartório staff verify documents visually, and Brazil does not have a universal real-time identity verification system connected to notary workflows, which means skilled forgeries can, in some cases, pass inspection.

The consequence for a buyer who completes this transaction is severe: the escritura is voidable, the real owner retains legal title, and the buyer has paid a fraudster with little legal recourse.

How to protect against it: Always request a fresh, updated matrícula (the property's unique registration certificate) directly from the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis covering the property, not from the seller or agent. The matrícula shows the current registered owner by name and CPF. The name on the matrícula must exactly match the identity of the person signing the deed. If there is any discrepancy, stop.

For additional verification, Brazil's National Council of Justice operates the SREI (Sistema de Registro Eletrônico de Imóveis) portal, which allows electronic access to registry records in participating states.

Scam 2: The Private Contract Trap (Contrato de Gaveta)

A buyer pays a deposit, or the full purchase price, under a contrato particular de compra e venda (private purchase contract) or a contrato de gaveta (literally, a "drawer contract," meaning an informal agreement kept out of official channels). The seller assures the buyer that the formal escritura and registry registration will follow later. It does not.

Under Brazilian law, specifically Law 6,015/1973 (the Public Records Law), property ownership only becomes enforceable against third parties upon registration at the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis. A private contract, no matter how detailed and signed, does not transfer legal ownership. If the seller subsequently incurs debts, faces a legal judgment, or dies, the property remains in the seller's name and is subject to those claims. A subsequent buyer who properly registers a transfer could legally take priority over your unregistered contract.

This pattern is especially common in informal land transactions outside major cities, in subdivision developments where the subdivision itself has not been formally registered under Lei 6.766/1979 (the Urban Land Subdivision Law), and in situations where the seller wants to avoid or delay ITBI payment.

How to protect against it: Do not treat any transaction as complete until the updated matrícula shows your name as registered owner. Never hand over the full purchase price against a private contract alone. Use the standard promessa de compra e venda for the deposit phase, then proceed to escritura and registration before final payment.

Scam 3: Double-Selling of Off-Plan Units

Off-plan property fraud in Brazil typically involves a developer or developer-adjacent actor selling the same unit to more than one buyer, or selling units in a project that has never been properly incorporated under Lei 4.591/1964 (the Condominium Law). In 2023 and 2024, the case of Construtora Atlântica in São Paulo drew public attention after allegations emerged that the company had sold the same units to multiple buyers and failed to deliver projects, resulting in a scandal involving hundreds of purchasers and values estimated in the billions of reais.

A properly registered development under Law 4,591/1964 requires the developer to file a registro de incorporação at the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis before marketing any units. This filing includes the building plans, the list of units, the developer's financial disclosures, and, if the patrimônio de afetação regime is adopted, a ring-fencing of the project's assets. A development without a registered incorporação should not be sold, and any payment made before this registration is high-risk.

The patrimônio de afetação structure, introduced by Law 10,931/2004 and used voluntarily by developers, segregates each project's assets from the developer's other liabilities. If the developer faces insolvency, a project under patrimônio de afetação continues under a commission of buyers and can be completed or wound down independently. Buyers should actively ask whether a project has adopted this structure.

How to protect against it: Before any payment on an off-plan purchase, verify the registro de incorporação at the local Cartório de Registro de Imóveis. Confirm whether the project has adopted patrimônio de afetação. For larger B3-listed developers, review their CVM (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários) filings to verify project launch disclosures.

Scam 4: Terrenos de Marinha Confusion

Coastal property transactions are a frequent source of either deliberate fraud or costly misunderstanding. The terrenos de marinha regime (federal land within 33 metres of the average high-tide line, governed by Decree-Law 9,760/1946) means that many coastal properties involve not freehold ownership of the land, but occupation rights (aforamento or ocupação) held under licence from the federal government through the Secretaria do Patrimônio da União (SPU).

The fraud pattern here takes two forms. In the first, a seller presents the transaction as full freehold ownership without disclosing the SPU relationship, the annual foro (ground rent), or the laudêmio (a 5% transfer fee payable to the SPU before any transfer). The buyer completes the escritura without obtaining the Certidão de Autorização de Transferência (CAT) from the SPU, which means the transfer is not legally valid from the SPU's perspective, even if it is registered at the local cartório.

In the second form, a property on terrenos de marinha land has unpaid foros or taxa de ocupação going back years. These arrears do not necessarily appear on the property's matrícula at the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis because the SPU maintains a separate registry (the RIP, Registro Imobiliário Patrimonial). A buyer who does not check the SPU records inherits the arrears.

Florianópolis, where approximately 40% of the island sits on terrenos de marinha, and Rio de Janeiro's beach zones are particularly affected. Any property within visible range of the coast warrants a specific terrenos de marinha check.

How to protect against it: For any coastal property, request the RIP number from the seller and verify the SPU record directly. Confirm the status of foro payments and obtain the SPU's clearance for transfer (CAT) before executing the escritura. Factor the laudêmio cost (5% of the property value) into your transaction budget.

Scam 5: Fake Escrituras and Unregistered Notaries

A less common but documented pattern involves the production of forged escritura copies, or the use of unofficial document signings that mimic the notarial process without being executed at a licensed tabelionato de notas. Buyers are shown what appears to be an executed deed, without understanding that the document is not registered, or in some cases, not genuine.

Brazil's tabelionatos are licensed by the state judiciary and operate under the oversight of the Conselho Nacional de Justiça (CNJ). A legitimate notary must be identifiable in the CNJ's public registry of notarial offices.

How to protect against it: Always insist that the escritura be executed at a tabelionato de notas whose licence number you can verify against the CNJ registry. Never sign documents at a private office, hotel, or informal location. After signing, take the original escritura immediately to the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis yourself rather than delegating this step to the seller or their agent.

Scam 6: Currency and Overseas Payment Manipulation

Foreign buyers are sometimes approached with arrangements involving payment from outside Brazil, payment in foreign currency, or payment to offshore accounts. These proposals typically come with a justification framing them as tax efficient, simpler, or standard practice for foreign buyers.

In practice, these arrangements create several risks. Payment to an overseas account means you have no Brazilian legal record of the transaction and no clear way to demonstrate the funds went toward a specific property. If the deal collapses or proves fraudulent, recovering funds from an offshore account is far harder than pursuing a claim within Brazil's legal system. Additionally, investment visa pathways (RN 36/2018) require evidence that funds entered Brazil through legitimate financial channels, and undocumented overseas transfers do not qualify.

Separately, cash payments made to reduce the declared ITBI base (the so-called pagamento por fora, or "off the books" portion) expose buyers to tax evasion risk and make it harder to demonstrate the full value paid when calculating capital gains on a future sale.

How to protect against it: All payments should be made in Brazilian reais, through a Brazilian bank account, with clear documentation linking each transfer to the specific property transaction. The ITBI should be calculated on the real transaction value, not a reduced declared price.

Scam 7: The Unlicensed Agent

Real estate brokers in Brazil are a regulated profession under Lei 6.530/1978 and must be registered with the regional CRECI (Conselho Regional de Corretores de Imóveis) for their state, such as CRECI-SP for São Paulo or CRECI-RJ for Rio de Janeiro. An agent without a CRECI registration is operating outside the law and outside the professional liability and disciplinary framework.

Unlicensed intermediaries are disproportionately present in tourist-heavy markets catering to foreign buyers, where they present themselves as bilingual specialists. The absence of a CRECI number is a clear warning sign.

How to protect against it: Ask for the agent's CRECI number and verify it on the relevant state CRECI website. The databases are public and searchable. Agents without a valid registration should not be used.

The Single Most Effective Protection

Across all the fraud patterns documented above, one step appears repeatedly as the intervention that would have prevented the harm: independently pulling the matrícula from the Cartório de Registro de Imóveis before paying anything. Not accepting a copy provided by the seller. Not relying on an agent's description. Going directly to the registry, either in person or through a lawyer, and obtaining the current, updated registration record for the specific property.

Hiring an independent Brazilian lawyer, one not referred by the selling agent, to review the matrícula, collect certidões negativas, and confirm the seller's standing is the most cost-effective risk mitigation available to any foreign buyer. Legal fees of 1% to 2% of the purchase price for this service are proportionate relative to the loss exposure.

Bektu's verification layer adds independently checked developer and project data before the due diligence phase begins, so buyers arrive at the transaction with a verified baseline on the entity they are buying from, not just the property itself.

Sources

- Buying Property in Brazil: Risks, Scams and Pitfalls (2026) | TheLatinvestor

- How to Avoid Scams in Brazil | Oliveira Lawyers

- Off-Plan Properties in Brazil: Guide for Foreign Buyers | Oliveira Lawyers

- Real Estate Law: Navy Land | Lawyer in Brazil

- Lei 6.015/1973 (Public Records Law) | Planalto

- Lei 4.591/1964 (Condominium and Incorporation Law) | Planalto

- How to Verify Property Titles and Avoid Scams in Brazil | Green-Acres

- National Council of Justice SREI Portal | CNJ

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