
The Legislative Assembly approved, with 59 votes, a five-year extension to the Special Law for the legalization of properties awarded, via court proceedings, to the Fondo Nacional de Vivienda Popular (FONAVIPO), following legal action taken against the Asociación Salvadoreña de Promoción, Capacitación y Desarrollo (PROCADES). This measure will allow families with pending procedures to move forward in obtaining their property titles.
The case dates to 1998, when PROCADES received government funds to develop a collective credit program for residential housing developments. The association subsequently defaulted on its payments, triggering a legal process that resulted in the seizure of properties held in its name and their eventual award to FONAVIPO.
However, prior to the completion of this process, PROCADES had sold the properties to 245 families across various parts of the country. Although the buyers paid for the land, either in full or in part, the association failed to deliver the property titles, leaving the legalization of the acquired properties pending.
To address this situation, in october 2021, the Legislative Assembly approved special legislation establishing a mechanism to transfer via donation, the lands judicially awarded to FONAVIPO to the individuals who had purchased them and made the corresponding payments to PROCADES.
The legislation also provides for the possibility of petitioning the relevant judge to lift the seizure on lands that were not awarded to FONAVIPO. In this way, legal mechanisms were established to enable families to advance the regularization of the properties they had acquired.
To date, 149 of the 245 beneficiary families have received their deeds, which have been duly registered with the Registro de la Propiedad, Raíz e Hipotecas del Centro Nacional de Registros (CNR). This means that 96 families still have pending procedures to finalize the legalization of their land.
The approved extension will allow these 96 families to continue their legalization processes over the next five years. The regulation, which was in effect until october 11, has been extended until October 12, 2031, to allow for the completion of the necessary procedures.
The properties in question are located in Ayutuxtepeque, Ciudad Delgado, Cuscatancingo, and Ilopango (San Salvador); San Pablo Tacachico and San Juan Opico (La Libertad); El Rosario and Cuyultitán (La Paz); Tecoluca (San Vicente); and Usulután and Puerto El Triunfo (Usulután).
You can also read:
