The new legislation, in fulfillment of Guideline 297, recently passed
during the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), establishes
the buying and selling of houses and makes more flexible the transfer of
ownership (by swapping, donations, etc.) among Cuban naturals.

This way, more than three million house owners will be benefited from this
decree, published in an extraordinary issue of the Official Gazette on
November 2, which ratifies owners’ right to make use of their houses
without any interference from the Housing Office.

Most changes were implemented in Chapter 5, Law 65, which allows the
buying, and selling, swapping, and allocation of houses ––due to divorce,
death, or emigration of the owners–– among Cuban naturals living in the
island and foreigners with permanent
residence in Cuba.

In addition to soothing the housing problem, these new regulations make
easier procedures for the transfer of assets, which have bring about
illegal actions through years.

This law decree states that the transfer of ownership will be carried out
directly before a public notary without the interference of other
institutions and for the price freely agreed between the parts.

The president of the Housing National Institute, Oris Silvia Fernandez,
affirmed during a press conference that declaring the total price agreed,
in the case of the buying and selling of houses, represents a legal
guarantee for the parties involved.

Sellers must deposit the funds in bank accounts, stating they are free of
any liens while the buyers will receive a receipt, and money would be
returned in case transactions are annulled.

The no interference by any municipal Housing authorities eliminates red
tape and administrative corruption considerably, she said.

Swapping houses gave legal room for illegal under the table sales-purchase
agrements. The new law establishes that it is only allowed to own a house
as permanent resident and another one in rest or summer areas, in the
beach or the countryside.

For carrying out these kinds of legal procedures, houses must be
registered in the land register and its owners must have paid off the
house to the bank.

Fernandez mentioned that another advantage of this law lays, in the case
of swapping houses, in the elimination of the concept of disproportion
among houses, whether due to their difference in worth or description.

As to the owners that emigrate from Cuba, Law Decree 288 allows them to
transfer ownership before leaving the country.

It is worth noticing that these legislation changes protect children,
elderly people and pregnant women, and others that depend on the house owner.

Therefore, owners should not take actions that leave the rest of the
people living with him/her unprotected because such actions can be
annulled if the people affected introduce a legal complaint.