Surface Occupation Contracts in Mexico are used in the energy industry. Its purpose is that the owner or holder of the Property allows whoever wants to use it, in exchange for a single payment, the use, enjoyment and temporary use of the exterior and underground surface, as well as the existing constructions or those to be built on the surface and below the Property for surface occupation.
In our real estate area of Tracer Mexico we have seen different surface occupation schemes. Here we will briefly talk about the subject, mainly some comments related to agrarian land.
In this regard, Article 45 of the Agrarian Law indicates the possibility of contracting on common use lands and parceled lands, but not on human settlement lands; These specific cases must be analyzed in detail, since the National Agrarian Registry indicates, within the services it provides, the registry of the contracts that the ejido celebrates on lands of common use, and does not mention human settlement lands. Making superficial occupation contracts on human settlement lands could represent a problem to register.
Another important issue is related to the contract validation procedure referred to before the Agrarian Court, as referred to in Art. 105 of the Hydrocarbons Law, as well as the Agreement on Guidelines and Contract Models published on 06/02/2016 in the Official Gazette of the Federation.
The aforementioned article 105 establishes its application for Extraction and Exploration. Article 117 states that everything provided in the Chapter also applies to Transportation; here the problem lies in the fact that there are times when surface occupation contracts omit the term transportation, and indicate distribution but not as the main activity.
It is advisable to pay close attention to the text of surface occupation contracts to determine if the validation process before the aforementioned Agrarian Court should be carried out.
In the real estate area of Tracer Mexico we are experts on the subject and we are ready to help you.
