Initially a "mother farm" known as a Finca, is purchased for development and subdivision. Once the infrastructure is completed and the agencies responsible for the approval of these improvements have signed off on the work, the municipality will then allow segregation of the individual lots.
The properties are then registered with the Costa Rican Land Registry. Each lot is recorded at that time directly to the name of the owner purchaser. Each lot has its own registry number. Ownership of each property is through registration to a corporation, which is registered in the Costa Rican Mercantile Registry. All titles of ownership to the land and registry information for the corporation are available from the appropriate registry office. Each development is held as a separate corporation that is debt free. As each parcel is sold off, it is literally purchased from that corporation.
Title insurance is available, as is gap insurance to cover the time the parcel is purchased until the segregation is complete and formal registration to the new owner is finished. Most owners do not bother with this insurance since the process is just a matter of waiting for completion, usually no more than a year or two. Many phases have already been signed off on and title is immediately available to the purchaser.