Not automatically. Anyone can copy photos, quote a fair price and sound friendly on WhatsApp. Before you pay, check three things: who owns the apartment, whether the person talking to you has the owner’s authority, and a payment route that ends in the owner’s or the agency’s own account.
Our guide to rental scam patterns covers listings and payment red flags. This one tests the person, not the ad.
Who Might Actually Be Offering You the Place
Five kinds of people show up behind a Medellín listing, and only the first three can legitimately rent it to you.
- The owner (propietario), who appears on the property record.
- A person acting for the owner (apoderado or mandatario), such as a relative or a lawyer, holding written authority.
- A real estate company (inmobiliaria) that manages the unit under an administration or mandate contract.
- A tenant sub-letting (subarriendo). Article 17 of Ley 820 says a tenant may not assign the lease or sublet unless the landlord expressly authorizes it, so ask to see that authorization.
- An impostor using a real apartment’s photos and address.
Sort the person in front of you into one of those boxes with paper, not a feeling.
Step 1: Read the Property Record
Every property in Colombia has a registration number, the matrícula inmobiliaria. The document that shows the current legal owner is the certificado de tradición y libertad, issued through the property registry offices of the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro (SNR). You only need the matrícula number from the person offering the unit.
The SNR sells the certificate at its own online portal in three steps: look it up, pay, download. As of October 2026 the portal asks for the matrícula number and an email address, accepts PSE, the Bancolombia button or a credit card, and emails the PDF. Its page description lists COP 21,900 per certificate, but the amount at checkout is the one that counts. Bogotá’s city government adds that the certificate can also be requested in person at a registry office and is no longer requested through private operators, so use the SNR’s official portal only.
What to look for on it:
- The owner’s name and ID number. If there are several owners, note all of them.
- The matrícula number and address, matched to the unit you are viewing, not just the building.
- Entries about mortgages, embargoes or other limits. These do not automatically stop a lease, but they are a reason to slow down and ask a Colombian lawyer.
The record proves who owns the unit, not who holds the keys or who is talking to you.
Step 2: Match the Person to the Paper
Ask for the ID of whoever will sign and compare it to the record. Article 3 of Ley 820 requires every residential lease to identify the parties and the property.
| Who signs | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| The owner | ID that matches the record. For a co-owned unit, ask whether the other owners agree. |
| Relative or representative | A written power of attorney (poder) naming this unit and covering leasing, authenticated before a notary. If it was signed abroad, ask a lawyer how it must be legalized: Colombia’s foreign ministry says documents issued in a Hague Apostille Convention country must be presented apostilled by the issuing country. |
| Inmobiliaria | Legal name, tax ID (NIT) and a copy of its mandate for this unit. |
| Current tenant | The original lease plus the owner’s express written authorization to sublet (Ley 820, art. 17). Better still, a call with the owner. |
A real owner or agent is rarely offended by these requests. If the answer is “the owner lives abroad, just trust me,” you are being asked to carry the risk the paper is meant to remove.
Step 3: Ask the Building
Most Medellín apartments sit in buildings run as propiedad horizontal, with an administrator (administrador) and a front desk (portería) that know the owners and residents better than any listing does. Ask in person or on a video call from the lobby:
- Is this unit really in the building, and is it being offered for rent?
- Do they know the person who contacted you? A polite refusal to share personal data is possible, but “we have never heard of that person” is still an answer.
- Is the owner up to date on administración fees? Ask about a paz y salvo, a statement that nothing is owed.
For the rest of the building visit, use our in-person viewing test list, and see what to ask about the portería and security.
Step 4: Check Agencies Like a Business
If an agency is involved, treat it as a company you are about to pay:
- Look it up in RUES (Registro Único Empresarial y Social), the unified business registry that brings together the chambers of commerce’s registries. Confirm the legal name, tax ID and active status.
- Ask for its landlord registration. Article 28 of Ley 820 says anyone whose main activities include renting urban housing, their own or other people’s, or brokering between landlords and tenants, must register (matrícula de arrendadores) with the competent local authority in municipalities of more than 15,000 inhabitants. Medellín’s city website lists the procedure under the Secretaría de Seguridad y Convivencia and says there is no cost to apply. It describes no public lookup for tenants, so ask the agency to show its registration and treat a refusal as information.
- Check for a physical office and search the company name with the word estafa (scam).
- For furnished stays under a month, tourism-lodging rules may apply instead of a lease; we could not verify the registration rules for those operators, so ask what registration the operator holds. Our guide to hospedaje versus a real lease explains why the contract type matters.
Step 5: Make the Money Follow the Paper
The order matters more than the amounts:
- See the unit in person, or on a live video call that shows the street, the lobby and the apartment door.
- Verify the owner or agent using the steps above.
- Read and sign the written contract. Ley 820 requires the landlord to give you a copy with original signatures within 10 days of signing a written lease. Our lease checklist covers the clauses.
- Pay only to an account in the name written on the contract. Ask for a bank certificate showing the account holder, and keep every receipt.
Do not pay a “reservation fee” to a personal account because someone else is supposedly interested. Article 16 of Ley 820 also bars requiring cash deposits or other real collateral to secure a residential lease; see what a landlord can legally require before paying anything labelled a deposit. Overseas? The remote viewing checklist and paying rent from abroad keep that sequence intact.
Warning Signs Worth Walking Away From
| You hear or see | What it can mean |
|---|---|
| “Pay first, then we send keys by courier.” | The person may have no access to the unit. |
| Owner is always abroad and cannot be called. | No authority you can verify. |
| Lease names a company that you cannot find in RUES. | Possibly a fake agency. |
| Pushes you to decide today or refuses a live video from inside. | Pressure shortens your checking time; photos may be borrowed. |
The Bottom Line
Ask for the matrícula number, pull a fresh certificado yourself from the SNR portal, match the signer’s ID to it or to a notarized authority, confirm with the building, and pay only into an account that carries the same name as the contract. If you want a second pair of eyes on a candidate, send us your rental brief, and use the form below.
- SNR certificate portal: certificados.supernotariado.gov.co/certificado
- Bogotá city government, certificate guide: bogota.gov.co
- Ley 820 de 2003 (Secretaría del Senado), arts. 3, 8, 16, 17, 28 and 30: secretariasenado.gov.co
- Alcaldía de Medellín, “Matrícula de arrendadores”: medellin.gov.co
- Cancillería de Colombia, apostille notice for foreign documents: cancilleria.gov.co
- Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, “Registro Único Empresarial y Social (RUES)”: ccb.org.co
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Frequently Asked Questions
It is the registry document that shows a property's legal history: the registration number, the current owner and any recorded mortgages or embargoes. It is issued through the property registry offices of the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro, which sells it online with the matrícula inmobiliaria number. The portal says a certificate it generates is valid for use for 30 calendar days.
Yes, if the owner has given them authority. That means a notarized power of attorney, an agency mandate or administration contract, or the owner's express authorization to sublet, which Ley 820 de 2003 requires from a tenant who wants to sublet. Without one of those, do not pay or sign.
The administration keeps records of owners and residents and can usually confirm whether the unit is real and whether a person is known to them. It may decline to share personal data, so treat its answer as a check, not as proof of title.
Look up its legal name and tax ID in RUES, the national business registry. Ask to see its matrícula de arrendadores, the registration Ley 820 de 2003 requires from people whose main activity is renting or brokering urban housing. Confirm it has a physical office and ask for its mandate for your specific unit. The name on your contract and bank account should match the company.
It is the riskiest moment in the process. See the unit in person or on a live video call, verify the owner or agent and sign a contract first. Then pay only into an account in the name on that contract.
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