A Chilean property earns its keep when it is let, and goes wrong fastest when the owner is abroad: a lease nobody can enforce, a tenant who stops paying, or someone who moves in without any lease at all. Chilean law now gives owners quick tools for all three — if the paperwork was done right.
Almost every problem an overseas landlord has in Chile traces back to how the lease was signed. Chilean law gives a landlord fast remedies, but it gives them to the landlord who did the paperwork properly.
The single most important detail: under article 20 of the Urban Leases Law (Law 18.101), a written lease whose signatures were authorised before a notary is, by itself, sufficient grounds for the fast-track rent claim. A lease signed informally, or a handshake arrangement made by a relative on your behalf, leaves you arguing about what the rent even was.
Drafted in Spanish, explained to you in English, signed before a Chilean notary under your power of attorney. Rent in UF or pesos, guarantee, common expenses and utilities clearly allocated.
A power of attorney that lets us sign, renew and terminate leases and appear in court for you, so nothing waits for a flight or a courier.
The fast-track claim created by Law 21.461, with the tenant required to pay within ten calendar days and eviction ordered if they do not.
Criminal complaint and the special eviction order with police assistance introduced by Law 21.633. Speed matters here more than anywhere else.
Notice periods, non-renewal and the return of the property, so a tenant who overstays becomes a court matter rather than a negotiation.
We review what a local manager is signing in your name and step in when a dispute leaves their remit.
Law 21.461 of 2022 — known in Chile as "Devuélveme mi casa" — added a fast-track procedure to the Urban Leases Law (articles 18-A to 18-K of Law 18.101).
We file a claim setting out the unpaid rent, common expenses and utilities, with the lease and the supporting documents.
If the court admits it, the tenant is required to pay within ten calendar days. Paying everything ends the case; paying part lets it continue for the balance.
If the tenant does not pay, does not appear or does not file a grounded objection, the order has the force of a final judgment.
Eviction of the tenant and any other occupants is ordered within no more than ten days after that order becomes enforceable.
A tenant who files a grounded objection moves the case to an ordinary lease proceeding, limited to what the objection raised. Even then the fast track has done its job: the dispute is defined from the start. The same regime applies, where relevant, to people occupying a property by mere tolerance (comodato precario, article 18-K).
Occupying someone else's property is a crime in Chile (articles 457 to 458 bis of the Criminal Code). Law 21.633 of 2023 gave owners two tools that matter most when they are abroad.
Under article 134 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police may arrest occupiers in flagrante for as long as they remain in the property. Anyone may make that arrest within twelve hours of the occupation starting.
Under article 157 ter, the owner as victim can ask the court, at any stage and even before formal charges, to order eviction with police assistance — proving the registered title and the occupation.
What slows these cases down from abroad is proof: a current registry certificate, someone who can show the property was occupied and when, and a lawyer already empowered to act. We set that up before you need it.
This page is general information about Chilean law, not legal advice, and it does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Figures in UF vary daily. Every matter turns on its own documents.
An address, a copy of the lease if there is one, and what is happening is enough. We reply within one Chilean business day with the route, what it costs and how long it takes.
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