Property Counsel & Transaction ManagementSamaná Peninsula · República Dominicana
We have been on every side of a Dominican property deal.
Developer, buyer, seller, landowner. We made the mistakes, paid for them and fixed them. Now our legal team does the same work for other people — so you don't repeat them.
Not a firm that read about Dominican property. Every case here was our own money, our own risk and our own deadline.
01
We bought land that had no title — and then titled it
Much of Samaná is held by possession rather than paper: farmed for generations, inherited informally, never registered. Foreign buyers are told to avoid it; most lawyers will not touch it. We bought parcels like that and took them through to a registered certificate of title — the foundation of a land bank now approaching four million square metres, assembled parcel by parcel.
saneamiento
deslinde
Tribunal de Tierras
registered certificate of title
02
We negotiated with the people living on the land — and made sure nobody new arrived
Occupants are not a footnote here; they are the deal. We negotiated with the families on our parcels, paid what was agreed and documented every settlement — then fenced, cleared and watched the land, because an empty parcel nobody is watching does not stay empty.
Occupant settlements and relocation
documented releases
fencing and possession control
03
We unlocked land a family had been arguing over for two generations
Heirs who had died, heirs who had emigrated, heirs who had not spoken in twenty years — and nothing sells until every one of them signs. We have traced missing heirs and collected signatures the family itself had failed to obtain for decades.
Succession and partition
heir tracing
powers of attorney
settlement between parties
04
We caught sellers hiding what was wrong with their land
The lien nobody mentioned. The boundary that did not match the survey. The case already in court. The occupant who would be "gone by closing". The seller with no right to sell. We found all of it on our own purchases, before the money moved — we know what a seller hides because we have been the buyer they tried to hide it from.
Pre-purchase verification
undisclosed liens and litigation
seller capacity checks
What we have done · Building & structure
And then we had to build on it
05
We got the permits, worked with the authorities, and built the roads
Building permits, environmental clearance, access and utilities — each one a schedule and a relationship with a specific office, not a form you post. Then roughly four kilometres of roads with drainage, water, electricity, lighting and fibre to every plot.
Building permits
municipal and environmental approvals
infrastructure delivery
06
We made a study pay for itself twice over
Our environmental pre-feasibility study found a wetland inside the project area that cannot carry construction. Most buyers discover that after paying full price. We used it in the negotiation over that land, and in the master plan — moving the commercial area onto higher ground the same study rated as preferred.
Environmental pre-feasibility
geology, hydrology and ecology zoning
master-plan redesign
07
We built paperwork that PwC, Allen & Overy Shearman and a Swiss exchange accepted
A CONFOTUR application run from empty folder to filing. A land trust whose parcels were valued by certified Dominican appraisers and whose bonds were admitted to the SIX Swiss Exchange, with the structure independently reviewed against OECD governance principles and international valuation standards.
Ley 158-01
fideicomiso structuring
certified appraisal (CODIA)
international audit and legal review
08
We signed a construction contract where the builder is paid on delivery
Fifty houses, delivered by a consortium that carries the cost until handover, with insurance behind it. That is a legal structure, not a favour — it exists because of how the contract, guarantees and milestones were written.
Construction contracting
payment-on-delivery terms
insurance-backed guarantees
What we do · 01
If you are buying
Foreign buyers and investors, from a single villa to a portfolio.
Before you pay anything
We check the title at the Registro de Títulos, whether the property is in court, whether there are liens or mortgages, whether the seller is who and what he says he is, and whether the property taxes were paid. We send a surveyor to confirm the land on the ground is the land on the title.
certificado de título
deslinde
RNC
IPI
What you are actually buying
Someone goes to the property and looks — for occupants, access and boundary problems. If you are buying off-plan, we read the condominium documents, the permits and the plans, and tell you whether the developer can deliver what the brochure shows.
Whose name it goes in
Your own name, a Dominican company or a trust. Each has different tax, inheritance and resale consequences. We explain them in plain terms and set up the banking trail before money moves, not after.
Contract and closing
A contract that protects your payments — especially off-plan, where you pay against construction that has not happened yet. Then the transfer tax, the filing, and the new title in your name. You are not finished until that title exists.
CONFOTUR — whether you actually get it
Many projects advertise the tax exemption. We check whether the approval really exists, when it was granted and how many of the fifteen years are left. Most buyers find out too late that it does not pass to them on a second-hand purchase.
Ley 158-01
Residency
From US$200,000 invested you can apply for residency as an investor. We prepare the file and tell you the real timeline — four to eight months — rather than the one you were promised.
After you own it
Property tax registration, rental and HOA setup, yearly filings. Done so that when you sell, the buyer's lawyer finds nothing to argue about.
If you already have a problem
Bought without a lawyer, or with the wrong one: a transfer never registered, land never deslindada, heirs who never signed, unpaid obligations. Most of it can be fixed — and 2026 is the cheapest year to fix it. See Three changes, one deadline.
What we do · 02
If you are building
Everything we had to work out on our own projects, done for yours.
Buying and cleaning up land
Untitled land taken through to a registered title, inheritance cases where the heirs never signed, deslinde, boundary and possession disputes, occupant settlements, assembly of multi-owner parcels. Our group started as a land-titling company — this is the oldest thing we know how to do.
Permits
Environmental, municipal, housing ministry, utilities and access — handled as a schedule with dates and a person responsible for each one, so you know what is actually blocking your start date.
CONFOTUR for your project
Preparing and filing the application, then keeping the approval in order — because the exemption is what your buyers are paying attention to, and it has to survive the first hundred sales.
Company and trust structure
How to hold the land, the construction and the rental business. We built this across three trusts for our own projects, with auditors and investors looking at it, so we know which parts cause problems later.
If you want outside money
Foreign investors and banks ask the same questions every time: clean chain of title, a valuation you can defend, governance an auditor will sign off on. Much cheaper on day one than rebuilt in year three — we have done both.
Your buyer paperwork
The whole set your sales team needs: purchase contract, payment schedule tied to construction milestones, condominium and HOA rules, rental management agreement, owner's handbook.
How we work
Four steps, on every matter
01
You send us what you have
A title, a contract, a project, or a problem. We answer the same business day and tell you what is missing. One week, fixed fee.
02
We quote a fixed price
In writing, per piece of work. You are not paying by the hour on a normal transaction, and you know the number before we start.
03
We do the work
One person is your contact. The attorneys sign the legal acts, the surveyors do the surveys, and you are told where things stand without asking.
04
You get the complete file
Every certificate, permit and registration in one place — so the next transaction starts from a clean folder.
Who does the work
Counsel & network
Leading the practice
Ronald Báez
Dominican attorney. Head of land acquisition, legal and permitting for the Samana Group companies — the person who took our own developments through title, trust registration and permitting. He leads Samana Legal with his team.
Aliat Abogados · Guzmán Ariza
Partner firms
Surveyors & certified appraisers
Deslinde, boundaries, CODIA valuation
Environmental & feasibility firms
Zoning, pre-feasibility and market studies
Samana Legal advises, coordinates and manages. Every act reserved to licensed Dominican attorneys is performed by licensed Dominican attorneys, and you are told at the outset which firm is signing what.
Send your case to Ronald Báez. We will tell you what is missing.
A title, a contract, a project you are considering, or a problem you already have. We answer the same business day.
