November, 2026 · Written By Jana Mihalikova, Founder and Managing Director, Heron Real Estate
Buying property in Cancún, Playa del Carmen or Tulum is safe when every document is verified before any money moves. Most of the risk sits in one place: pre-construction projects sold before their permits are complete.
The state of Quintana Roo has flagged more than 120 developments for selling homes and lots without the required licenses, most of them in Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cancún. The College of Valuers of Quintana Roo estimates that at least 10% of transactions in the state involve property marketed without a subdivision license. That risky share follows a pattern you can learn to recognize. This guide covers that pattern, the documents to ask for, how to vet a developer, and two cases from my own practice.
How do I avoid developer and pre-construction scams?
The highest-risk purchase here is an early pre-sale at a price that looks too good to be true. The developer opens a waiting list, sells under pressure in a style close to timeshare selling, and offers no real chance for due diligence. Licenses are either not disclosed or described as “under way.”
A license under way is a promise from a party that does not control the outcome. Permits are issued by state and municipal authorities, and a project can be blocked, closed or ordered to stop long after buyers have paid deposits.
The three signals that should end the conversation:
- Pressure. A deadline, a “last unit at this price,” or a request to wire a deposit before you have seen the documents.
- Licenses pending. Any version of “the permits are being processed.”
- No verifiable track record. No delivered projects under the developer’s name that you can visit.
What the law says, and what changed
Selling homes or lots without permits was already against state law. What changed in 2025 and 2026 is enforcement.
The legal basis is Articles 80 and 81 of Quintana Roo’s Ley de Asentamientos Humanos, Ordenamiento Territorial y Desarrollo Urbano. When the state’s urban development agency, SEDETUS, flags a project, it most often cites these articles: the property was advertised or sold without the state Constancia de Congruencia Urbanística or the required municipal licenses.
In May 2025 the state Congress unanimously reformed that law. State and municipal authorities must now publish the list of developments that hold their environmental and urban permits. SEDETUS also states that selling property without permits is a criminal offense. By November 2025 it had filed two criminal complaints against developers and was preparing seven more.
By August 2026, the agency’s public registry listed 123 developments marketed without the required permits. The highest concentrations were in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, followed by Cancún.
What documents should I ask for before signing?
Ask for every document below before you pay a deposit, and have an independent lawyer verify each one with the issuing authority. A copy in a sales folder proves nothing until it has been checked at the source.
| Document | Issued by | What it confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Construction license (licencia de construcción) | Municipality | The project may be built as designed |
| Land-use license (uso de suelo) | Municipality | The land may be used for this type of development |
| Environmental impact authorization (MIA) | SEMARNAT or the state environmental authority, depending on the project | The environmental impact was assessed and approved |
| Constancia de Congruencia Urbanística Estatal | SEDETUS | The project complies with the state urban development program |
| Title deed and certificado de libertad de gravamen | Registro Público de la Propiedad | The developer owns the land, free of liens |
| Contract registered with PROFECO | PROFECO, the federal consumer protection agency | The sale contract meets the federal standard for developments |
For a completed building or a resale, add the approved condominium regime (régimen de propiedad en condominio). It is issued only after construction is finished, so it will not exist during a pre-sale.
The lawyer should do the full due diligence: confirm each document, check that the company signing the contract is the one that holds the permits, and review the contract terms.
How do I check a developer’s track record?
Permits tell you a project is allowed. The developer’s record tells you whether it will be delivered. I review that record in three layers.
- Delivered projects. I look at what the developer has completed in the Riviera Maya, elsewhere in Mexico and in the US. A serious developer is open about what has been delivered and what is still under construction.
- Delivery against promise. For each project, I compare the promised delivery date with the real one, note how long any delay lasted, and check the quality of the construction.
- The broker network. I confirm the developer’s recent record with brokers who have sold their projects and followed buyers through to delivery.
A solid developer has delivered buildings where people live today, buyers who hold their deeds, and no unresolved construction problems in past projects. On the new project, all licenses are in place, the contract is clear and balanced, and the guarantees are written into it.
Walk away from:
- An unclear corporate or ownership structure
- Licenses described as pending
- A new developer with no delivered projects, offering a price that looks too good to be true
- Stalled sales on a project funded by buyers’ payments, since construction slows when sales do
- Pressure of any kind
- The developer is not the owner of the land (the land is under a promissory contract to be purchased from the actual owner for (possibly for the income of the sales)
The guarantees a pre-sale contract should include
Escrow accounts are not used with developers here. Protection in a pre-sale comes from the structure of the project and the terms of the contract.
- A project fideicomiso. A trust that holds the land and the buyers’ payments for the development. It is separate from the bank trust a foreign buyer uses to own property in the restricted zone near the coast.
- A construction timeline. Delivery dates written into the contract, stage by stage.
- Late-delivery penalties. Compensation owed to the buyer if delivery runs past the agreed date.
- Refund terms. What the buyer recovers, and when, if the project does not go ahead.
- Bank financing, when available. A bank that lends on a project has done its own review of the land and permits. Construction also keeps its pace when sales slow, because it does not depend on buyers’ payments.
Two cases from my practice
The deal priced 35% below market. A client found a pre-sale condo online, priced roughly 35% under comparable units, and sent it to me. We reviewed the documents with a lawyer. The land the project stood on had no deed. The developer was selling units in a building on property it could not prove it owned. My client did not buy.
The resale with a deed and a demolition order. Another client sent me a finished property for sale. It had a deed, and on paper the purchase looked straightforward. Our review found that the developer had built the project without a MIA, and a court had ordered the development demolished. The seller’s representative did not know. I advised my client against it, and they did not buy.
The second case is the one buyers should remember. A deed proves who owns the property. It does not prove the building was legally built, and a missing permit can follow a property through every resale.
Two checks you can run yourself today
- Search the SEDETUS registry of irregular developments. The State Registry of Irregular Real Estate Developments is searchable by project name and shows why each project was flagged. Search it right before any payment, since projects are added and removed as inspections progress. A project that does not appear has not been cleared. It may never have been inspected.
- Confirm your advisor is registered. Quintana Roo requires real estate advisors to hold a state registration. SEDETUS keeps a page for verifying accredited advisors.
If you cannot find a project or are unsure about its documents, SEDETUS offers free guidance at [email protected].
What if I already paid a deposit?
Ask the developer, in writing, to return it, and ask how many days the refund will take. A reservation deposit should come back without further charges.
If the refund is delayed, tell the developer you will take the case to PROFECO, the federal consumer protection agency, and file the complaint if the delay continues. In my experience, developers do not rely on reservation deposits and return them. Because every project goes through these checks before a client commits, none of the buyers I have advised has bought into a development later flagged by the authorities, while other buyers in the same market have.
If you have paid a down payment or installments, have a lawyer review your specific contract. Each case is different, and the most effective measures depend on its terms.
So, is it safe?
Yes, when the verification happens before you commit. In both cases above, the problem was invisible from the listing. In the second, even the seller’s own representative missed it. What protected those buyers was a review done on their behalf.
That is the role of buyer-side representation. A buyer’s advisor brings market knowledge and legal process from the first conversation, filters out projects that fail the checks, and connects you with independent lawyers and notaries who review the property in full.
The value of an advisor shows most in the purchases that do not happen. I have told clients several times not to buy: because of a developer’s reputation, because of what due diligence found, or because a property bought for rental income would compete in a market already full of similar units. One client walked away from a pre-sale entirely. Another chose a different property. A third bought one unit instead of the two they had planned.
At Heron Real Estate, the developer or seller pays our commission. We disclose which properties are our own listings and show other options next to them, so the recommendation follows the client’s goals.
Sources
- Riviera Maya News: SEDETUS blacklists 123 irregular developments (Aug 2026)
- Riviera Maya News: Criminal complaints filed against irregular developments (Nov 2025)
- Ruptura360: Congreso aprueba reformas para frenar el fraude inmobiliario (May 2025)
- AgendaQR: Sedetus detecta desarrollos irregulares, artículos 80 y 81
- Riviera Maya News: 10% of transactions marketed without a subdivision license
About the author
Jana Mihalikova is the Founder and Managing Director of Heron Real Estate, a buyer-side advisory in Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum. She is a licensed real estate advisor, federal license D-0032314623, and SEDETUS Quintana Roo license 139101HE0DAAFS012002676. She advises international buyers in English, Spanish, Slovak and Czech. Read Jana’s profile.
