Buying property using cash is a challenge in the Brazilian real estate market. In general, construction companies, developers, real estate and auction houses refuse transactions with banknotes and coins. The justification is security, say the companies.
The form of payment is not illegal, but rare, due to the bureaucracy required to remedy the suspicion of a market vulnerable to money laundering.
In this sense, the history of the Bolsonaro family is at odds with the practices of the branch. According to UOL, almost half of the property in real estate owned by the president and reelection candidate, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and his closest family members has been purchased totally or partially with cash since 1990.
THE Sheet consulted 20 companies in the real estate sector, including construction companies, developers, real estate and auction houses, and did not find anyone who would accept payment in cash.
Lopes claims to have compliance not to close a deal in this way due to the difficulty in tracking the origin of the money.
Loft claims that it refuses this form of payment when selling properties in its own portfolio. As for third-party properties offered on its marketplace by anyone, “it does not have the power to veto the transaction”.
“However, we inform Coaf [órgão de inteligência financeira] in case there is payment in cash adjusted in the contract with a value greater than R$ 100 thousand, respecting the terms of the legislation in force”, says Loft.
Plano&Plano also does not accept payment in cash. With a customer profile that chooses to finance the property with Caixa, even with a down payment of less than R$500, payments are made by bank transaction (Pix, DOC, TED or bank slip).
Zukerman Auctions does not accept cash or commission payments. “The payment for the property, in the case of extrajudicial auctions, is made directly to the company or banking institution through TED or bank slip”, says the auction house.
“In judicial auctions, the payment of the property is made through the Judicial Guide”, he says.
The company also states that in the auction process, analyzes are carried out to prevent money laundering, filling in the Coaf form and declaration of origin of funds.
The Superbid Exchange claims to assess how risky it is to engage in a cash transaction. “It does not meet compliance standards because it is not possible to trace the origin of the money, in addition to other issues related to security”, says the director of Real Estate Andreia Tavares.
The other companies, which preferred not to have their names mentioned, also say they do not accept cash.
According to the Central Bank, a R$100 note weighs 0.25 grams. Therefore, R$ 1 million in R$ 100 bills weighs 2.5 kg. The weight increases with lower denomination bills because of the greater number of bills.
Rules against money laundering
Since 2017, regulatory bodies have required property sellers and buyers, whether individuals or legal entities, to fill in documents with information on the origin of funds to prevent money laundering.
Property registry offices are also subject to penalties if they fail to notify the financial unit of the use of cash in the transaction.
“There is, strictly speaking, the obligation for notaries to inform Coaf whenever there is reference, in the deeds, to payment in cash in an amount greater than R$ 30 thousand”, says lawyer Pedro Serpa, from S2GDC Advogados.
“This type of transaction is not common, because there is no practical reason to make the payment in cash”, says the specialist in real estate law.
According to Mattos Filho, among the sector’s obligations to prevent money laundering is to more rigorously evaluate proposals that raise suspicion, such as cash payments, offers above market value, impossibility of identifying the final beneficiary, resistance to the provision of information or provision of false or difficult-to-verify information.
The Brazilian Real Estate Registry platform, which gathers information and official data from the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro since 2012, says it does not have access to the total number of properties bought or sold with cash in the country.
To obtain information on the payment method, each property registration must be accessed through the website https://www.registrodeimoveis.org.br/portal-estatistico-registral.
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