Escrituras! Escrituras! Wherefore art thou, Escrituras?

In June, Super Prez was called unexpectedly to the presidencia and informed that if we were interested in proceeding with escrituras (individual deeds) for the community, we could do so,  under certain conditions. Typically, escrituras are granted when at least 80% of the infrastructure for an area is complete, including sewer, water, electricity, and roads. If you’ve been following our story, you’ll know that we aren’t anywhere near 80%. However, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, we presented the opportunity to the colonos at the next junta.

The first question was how much it would cost. Because of our rural classification, most colonos were thinking about $5000 per lot. As that didn’t seem to be the amount that the presidencia was hinting at, we’d need to investigate further. 

Unbeknownst to us, the presidencia went ahead and called a meeting in the cabildo municipal via Facebook. I heard about it the day before and told Super Prez he should be in attendance. I couldn’t go because I had classes. He was busy with electricity estimates and said he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Another colono attended and sent him a message shortly after the meeting started, saying his presence was urgently needed. Super Prez wasn’t too far away, swooped in to an illegal parking spot in front of the presidencia, and party crashed what had become a Yacata bashing session. 

The colono who sent out the SOS said that upon Super Prez’s arrival, the tone of the meeting changed. No one DARED to badmouth La Yacata or the mesa directiva to Super Prez’s face. The meeting broke up shortly after that. Super Prez requested another meeting in the cabildo, with advance notice this time, so that we could get some details on the escrituracion process. 

La mesa directiva, including myself, and a handful of colonos were present at the second meeting. We had specific questions that I divided among the colonos, including who would be the notario that would be in charge of the process, how much would it cost, and were there other restrictions that we needed to be aware of. The notario would be from another city, the cost would be $24,000, and the conditions of the escrituras meant that we would remain a colonia and could not petition the municipio for any basic services (water, electricity, sewer) that normally would be provided as part of the predial (yearly taxes) collected each year. 

These conditions were not exactly favorable, but in our current condition, this would be the only opportunity we would have for escrituras until all the services were completed, which could take another 5 years. Feeling like we had received our answers that we could take back to the asamblea, Super Prez excused himself to attend to other matters. 

The second he left the room, the criticism of La Yacata started up again, and it was fierce. Certain colonos in the room started in how the mesa directiva was corrupt and untrustworthy, that there was no progress, that we were dipping into community funds for our own benefit. I saw RED. After all the time and effort we had devoted to making La Yacata a more dignified place to live? This was the thanks we got?

The presidencia representative said that based on the complaints, he could take over community direction for the “good of the community”. I was livid. I literally stood up at that point and directly refuted some of the blatant lies spoken by the agitators in attendance. Of course, my righteous indignation did not help the fluidity of my Spanish, so I stumbled a few times. I also had to leave because I had classes, and this meeting had already gone on for 3 hours. So, in parting, I addressed the remaining colonos and told them I was leaving the defense of our community and mesa directiva in their hands and marched out dramatically, although probably not elegantly as flustered as I was.

Later, a colona who remained at the meeting said the first thing the representative of the presidencia said when I left was that all members of the mesa directiva should be able to express themselves well in Spanish or be replaced, a direct jab at my second-language abilities. 

After that fiasco, we invited the enlace (representative) for the notario to the next community meeting so he could explain the process to the colonos. He sent a message right before the Sunday meeting saying that he would not be able to attend. We had the meeting anyway. 

On Tuesday, we took a group of colonos to the presidencia to meet with the powers that be to see why the enlace was “unable” to attend. We got the run around, nobody was able to meet with us, blah blah blah, until we made it clear that we would remain there, in the lobby, until we were attended to. Not 30 minutes later, we were ushered into the cabildo. The enlace was called in to explain himself. He gave the excuse that he was afraid to come to La Yacata, which puzzled us greatly until we pieced together that he thought we were “Las Yacatas”, another community in the next municipality, near where 6 men were executed the previous Friday, all known to the enlace. 

We confirmed the cost and that colonos would be able to pay for the escrituras in two installments, and the meeting ended.

Naturally, the colonos were flabbergasted at the cost, and it took some doing to explain that the escrituras were completely optional. Those who wanted to go through the process now could, and those who did not, were not obligated to do so. Either way, escrituras or not, all property owners would remain part of the colonia and have obligations towards community advancement and upkeep. 

A mad rush of those who had not paid any aportaciones indicated their interest in escrituracion. People with certificates issued by the previous encargado (person in charge) appeared out of nowhere. Some of the lots they had certificates for were owned by others, so it was quite a time making sense of the ownership trail. Others were certain they could get their escrituras from another notario for cheaper and, therefore, bypass the process completely.

Ownership needed to be proven by an official document. At the last minute, parents wanted to gift their lot to their children, and married colonos wanted to add their current significant other. The property certificate then had to be reissued since the escrituras and the certificate needed to match exactly. 

Then there was a subgroup of individuals who were no longer in possession of their property certificate for whatever reason. They believed that they could recover possession of said property via escrituras. Unfortunately for them, the original property certificate (not a copy) had to be turned over for the orden de escrituracion (deed order). Their applications for escrituras remained dead in the water at that point.

Then there were the names. Ma., Maria, M., Ma. de, and Jose, J., J. Gpe. Abbreviations or full names needed to match the INE (voter registration cards). Documents had to be reprinted and refiled. 

It was absolute chaos for a time.

Anyway, the first step was the application for the permiso de division (subdivision permit). It’s a technical form, and not just anyone would be able to fill it out. Super Prez offered his services as an engineer for a mere $200 compared to the going rate of $1800 or more. There were complaints about that.

The permit itself was $382. Originally, this was to be paid in the presidencia, but they didn’t want to bother with the individual payments and wanted a lump sum, so when we had a group ready, Super Prez took the cash himself, only to be told that the official number registration fee would also need to be paid at the same time. This meant calling everyone back to bring the cash for that transaction.

There was so much paperwork. So many messages to colonos asking for documents, or information, or payments. So much hassle. I was in charge of trying to keep the paperwork in order, while Super Prez was in charge of the more technical aspects and meetings with the enlace and presidencia. 

The first subdivision permits came back from the presidencia with errors and had to be resubmitted. The official numbers were issued using fractions of the colonia rather than the road and number. Fractions are not accepted by any agency (CFE, water, etc), so those were set aside to be given later, even though they needed to be paid for first, according to the presidencia. 

The fiscal year ends on December 15. Although the process of escrituracion can be done next year (or even the year after that), the price goes up every fiscal year. So we have been working overtime to try and get these packets of papers turned over to the enlace (representative) before the deadline for those who wish to get their escrituras right now. And this is a negative cost-benefit for the community. The 50 or so colonos, most of whom owe aportaciones (community fees), will have their escrituras, but we still won’t have enough money to pay the electricity contractor.

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Curious how it all started? La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico