Leases: the 30-year cap, why leases over 3 years must be registered, and the renewal-clause reality

Two Civil and Commercial Code sections carry all the weight. Section 538: a lease of immovable property needs written evidence signed by the party to be bound, and a lease over three years (or for the life of the lessor or lessee) must be made in writing and registered with the land official — otherwise it is enforceable for only three years, however long the paper says. Section 540: immovable property cannot be leased for more than thirty years; a longer term is cut down to thirty. Renewal is allowed, but for no more than thirty years from the date of renewal. Registration happens at the Land Office and is endorsed on the title deed; the fee is 1 percent of the total rent for the whole term, plus stamp duty under the Revenue Code.

The folklore fix: the '30+30+30' structure sold to foreigners as a de facto 90-year title is not what the law gives. A renewal clause is only a contractual promise by the current owner — it is not a registered property right, does not bind heirs or buyers automatically, and cannot be registered in advance. What does survive a sale is the current registered term: under section 569 a registered lease is not extinguished by transfer of ownership, and the buyer steps into the lessor's rights and duties. Subletting or assigning needs the landlord's consent unless the contract allows it (s. 544), and a tenant holding over without objection becomes an indefinite-term tenant (s. 570).