Fideicomiso in Mexico: A Foreign Buyer Guide

If you are a non-Mexican buying a home in Tulum, Playa del Carmen, or anywhere along the Riviera Maya, you cannot hold the title in your own name. The Mexican Constitution (Article 27) prohibits direct foreign ownership of land within 50 kilometers of any coastline and 100 kilometers of any international border. This is called the zona restringida — the restricted zone. The entire state of Quintana Roo, including every coastal town from Cancun to Mahahual, falls inside it.

The fideicomiso (pronounced fee-day-co-MEE-so) is the legal workaround. It is a 50-year renewable bank trust that holds title on your behalf. You are the fideicomisario (beneficiary) with full use, sale, lease, mortgage, and inheritance rights. The bank is the fiduciario (trustee) and holds the deed in a fiduciary capacity. It is the standard tool — over 1.5 million foreign-owned Mexican properties are held this way.

What the fideicomiso actually gives you

The trust is not a lease and you are not renting from the bank. As beneficiary you control every economic right associated with the property:

• Use and occupy the property as if you held fee simple title.
• Sell at any time to any buyer (Mexican or foreign).
• Lease short-term or long-term and keep all rental income.
• Renovate, demolish, or rebuild within municipal zoning rules.
• Mortgage the property as collateral (though Mexican mortgage rates for foreigners are still 9-12 percent).
• Inherit: you name substitute beneficiaries in the trust deed who take over automatically on death, with no Mexican probate.

The bank's role is administrative. It cannot sell, lease, or modify the property without a written instruction from you. If the bank fails or merges (Scotiabank, Banorte, CIBanco, Monex, and Actinver are the major fiduciaries) your trust transfers to a successor bank — the trust is bankruptcy-remote.

How much it costs

There are two cost lines: a one-time setup at closing and an annual fee while the trust is active.

Item	Typical 2026 cost (USD)	Notes
Fideicomiso setup fee (one-time)	$2,000 - $3,000	Paid to the bank at closing
SRE permit (federal permission)	$1,200 - $1,700	Required for every new trust
Annual trust maintenance fee	$500 - $700	Charged by the bank every year
Trust deed registration	$300 - $500	Public registry filing

These are layered on top of standard closing costs (notary fees of 4-7 percent of the purchase price, acquisition tax around 2 percent of the assessed value, and registry fees). All-in closing costs for a foreigner usually land at 7-10 percent of the purchase price. See our guide to American buyers in Mexico for the full breakdown.

The 50-year term and renewal

The trust is granted for 50 years and is renewable for another 50 years before expiration. Renewal is automatic in practice — the bank files a simple request with the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) and the trust continues. The renewal fee is typically $1,000 - $1,500. There is no limit on the number of renewals; trusts established in the 1970s have already been renewed once.

If you sell before the 50-year mark, the new buyer (if foreign) opens their own new trust; the old trust is extinguished at closing. If the new buyer is Mexican, they take direct title and the trust dissolves.

Step-by-step: how a fideicomiso is created

1. Offer accepted, contract signed. Promissory contract (contrato de promesa) with 10 percent deposit. This is not yet the closing.
2. Notary chosen. The buyer typically picks the notario público. Mexican notaries are licensed lawyers with semi-judicial authority — they draft, validate, and register the deed.
3. Bank trustee selected. You pick from the licensed fiduciaries. The bank quotes setup and annual fees in writing.
4. SRE permit application. The notary or your lawyer files for federal permission. This takes 15-45 business days.
5. Title search and lien check. The notary pulls a certificado de libertad de gravámenes from the public registry to confirm clean title. Property tax (predial) must be current.
6. Closing (escrituración). All parties sign the trust deed in front of the notary. Funds wire from buyer's escrow or trust account to the seller. The notary collects acquisition tax and registry fees.
7. Registration. The notary files the deed at the Registro Público de la Propiedad. Title is now perfected in the bank's name as trustee, with you as beneficiary.

Total elapsed time from accepted offer to closing is typically 60-90 days for a fideicomiso transaction, versus 30-45 days for a Mexican buyer.

Fideicomiso vs. Mexican corporation

The other foreign-ownership structure is a Mexican corporation (S.A. de C.V. or S. de R.L. de C.V.) — a foreigner can own 100 percent of a Mexican corporation, and the corporation can hold land directly. This is useful only for commercial property or large-scale rental businesses because:

• Corporate ownership triggers Mexican corporate income tax (currently 30 percent) on rental income and capital gains.
• You must file monthly IVA (VAT) returns and annual corporate tax returns, even if dormant.
• Accounting costs run $200-400 USD per month minimum.
• If the property is used personally and you sell at a gain, the corporation cannot claim the residential capital gains exemption available to individual residents.

For a single-family home or vacation property the fideicomiso is almost always cheaper and simpler. The 30 percent corporate tax savings on personal-use property alone usually outweigh 50 years of $600 annual trust fees.

What the fideicomiso does not protect you from

The trust is a clean title-holding mechanism, but it does not insulate you from these risks (covered in detail in our guide on risks of buying Mexican real estate):

• Bad title before the trust. If the seller never had clean title (squatter conflict, ejido land conversion error, undisclosed lien) the trust just memorializes that bad title. Title insurance from Stewart Title or First American Title Mexico costs 0.5-0.7 percent of purchase price and is highly recommended for any purchase over $300,000 USD.
• Capital gains on resale. A non-resident seller faces 35 percent Impuesto Sobre la Renta (ISR) on the gain, or 25 percent of the gross sale price — whichever is lower. Mexican residents with primary-residence proof (utility bills, RFC, residency card) and a 3+ year holding period can claim a full exemption up to roughly 700,000 UDIs (about $250,000 USD). See retiring in Mexico for the residency pathway.
• Federal inheritance tax. Mexico has no inheritance tax at the federal level on the transfer itself, but the substitute beneficiary inherits at the original cost basis and pays normal capital gains tax on eventual resale. Some states impose a property transfer tax of 1.6-7 percent on inherited real estate.
• Currency risk. Trusts denominated in pesos lose dollar value if the peso devalues. Most foreign-buyer trusts are denominated in USD, but verify.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Choosing a notary recommended by the seller. The notary is supposed to be neutral, but you have the right to pick. Pick your own.
• Skipping title insurance on land deals. Building plots in Tulum and Bacalar especially have had ejido (communal land) conversion disputes. Insurance is cheap relative to the risk.
• Naming only one substitute beneficiary. Name at least two in succession (spouse, then children) to avoid intestate complications.
• Forgetting to pay the annual fee. The bank charges interest and can eventually move to dissolve the trust. Set up a peso account with autopay.
• Assuming the bank fee is negotiable. It is. Smaller banks (Actinver, Multiva) often beat Scotiabank and Banorte by 15-20 percent on annual fees. Get three quotes.

When you do not need a fideicomiso

Two cases:

1. The property is outside the restricted zone. Mérida (Yucatán), San Miguel de Allende (Guanajuato), Guadalajara, and most of inland Mexico are outside the 50 km coastal / 100 km border zone. A foreigner can take direct title (escritura) at a Mexican notary just like a Mexican citizen.
2. You hold dual citizenship and want to use your Mexican passport. Mexican citizens hold restricted-zone property directly, no trust needed.

Last updated 2026-05-12. Consult a Mexican notary public (notario público) before transacting — this guide is not legal advice.