Reporting abandoned properties in Puerto Rico
Estorbos.com allows any Puerto Rico resident to document abandoned properties in their community. You can report deteriorated structures, vacant lots overgrown with weeds, lots used to dump junk or debris, buildings with unsanitary conditions, properties that pose a danger to the community, or properties that have already been declared a public nuisance by the municipality but do not appear in the official inventory. Your report is publicly recorded on Estorbos.com, linked to the corresponding municipality, so other residents can see it and the municipality can follow up on it.
The report form includes four steps: the location of the property with its address, municipality, and one piece of exact location data (the CRIM cadastral number or the GPS coordinates — at least one is required, because addresses in Puerto Rico do not always make it possible to find the property), the details of the property and its conditions, photographs of its current state along with a description, and your contact information, which is completely optional. You do not need to create an account or identify yourself to submit a report. Reports are automatically enriched with CRIM cadastral data when available.
What happens after you report a property?
Once submitted, your report goes through a verification process before being published in the Estorbos.com inventory. When it is published, it becomes visible on the page for the corresponding municipality, where other residents can view it, share it, and confirm the information. The municipality can consult it when conducting its inspections under Article 4.008 of the Puerto Rico Municipal Code.
It is important to understand that Estorbos.com has no authority to declare properties public nuisances. That power belongs exclusively to each municipality under Law 107-2020, as amended by Law 114-2024 and Law 97-2026. What Estorbos.com does is create a public record of properties that the community identifies as problematic, making it easier for municipalities to evaluate them and for citizens to follow the process.
What information is included in a report?
Every citizen report published on Estorbos.com includes the physical address of the property, the municipality where it is located, photographs of the current state of the structure or lot, a description of the conditions observed by the citizen who reported it, and the date the report was submitted. Every report also includes at least one piece of exact location data — the CRIM cadastral number or the GPS coordinates — so the property can be identified without ambiguity in official records. The contact information of the citizen who reports is optional and is never published.
The legal process for declaring a public nuisance
Law 107-2020, the Puerto Rico Municipal Code, as amended by Law 114-2024 and Law 97-2026, establishes the formal process by which a property can be declared a public nuisance. Not every abandoned property automatically qualifies. The municipality inspects and identifies the property and notifies the owner, possessor, or party with an interest (as recorded in the Property Registry or with CRIM), who has 30 days from the notification to object and request a hearing (Article 4.008). If a hearing is requested, an Examining Officer (a licensed engineer or attorney) presides over it and issues the corresponding order (Article 4.009). If the owner does not object within that period or does not comply with the orders resulting from the hearing, the municipality issues the formal public nuisance declaration (Article 4.010). Once it is declared, the owner has an additional 30 days to remedy the situation before the municipality can intervene directly in the property.
Why do citizen reports matter?
Article 4.011 of the Municipal Code requires every municipality to maintain a public inventory of properties declared public nuisances. In practice, most of the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico do not comply with this transparency obligation. Citizen reports serve several important functions: they help complete the information that municipalities do not publish, create social pressure for municipal governments to act on problem properties, document the real condition of communities for future investigations and accountability, and allow residents to participate actively in identifying properties that affect the quality of life in their neighborhoods.
Every citizen report published on Estorbos.com becomes a public document that anyone can consult. This includes other residents of the neighborhood, municipal officials, legislators, community organizations, journalists, and any citizen interested in the state of abandoned properties in Puerto Rico. Transparency is the first step toward municipal action.
After the report: the acquisition process
If a property you reported is eventually declared a public nuisance by the municipality, any citizen can apply to acquire it under Article 4.012 of the Municipal Code. During the first year after the declaration, the process is reserved for citizens with limited access to the traditional housing market. The interested party must submit a letter of intent to the municipality and deposit the appraised value of the property plus an additional 10% to cover the costs of the legal expropriation proceeding.