In order to increase collection, the Federal Government decided to sell the 17% ownership it holds in emphyteutic real estate property. With this measure, individuals, who hold 83% of these properties (useful domain), will become their full owners.

Currently, the owners of these properties must pay the Federal Government an annual fee, called emphyteutic rent, corresponding to 0.6% of the market value of the land, excluding improvements. In addition, in the event of sale of the real estate property, a fee corresponding to 5% of the market value of the land is due, excluding improvements (laudemium). With the acquisition of the Federal Government’s portion (remission), the owners will have full ownership of the real property and will no longer be required to pay the annual emphyteutic rent and laudemium to the Federal Government.

The remission of the emphyteutic rent will be done for an amount corresponding to 17% of the market value of the land, excluding improvements. Those who opt for prompt payment will be granted a 25% discount. The legislation provides for the alternative of payment in installments, which may vary from case to case.

The remission process will begin with the publication of a decree authorizing the remission of the emphyteusis regime in regions where there is no longer any reason to apply it (lack of public interest). The remission can also occur at the request of the interested party who is duly registered and not in debt, a situation in which the analysis of the Federal Government Assets Secretariat (Secretaria de Patrimônio da União – SPU) is necessary.

The real estate properties under occupation regime may also be acquired by their occupants, who will no longer pay the Federal Government an annual occupancy fee of 2% of the market value of the property (excluding improvements), and laudemium, in the event of sale. Occupants who are regularly enrolled and not in debt may exercise their preemptive rights upon receipt of notice from the SPU regarding the sale or anticipate and offer a proposal to purchase the occupied real estate property.

The initiative is the result of federal legislation (Law 13,240/2015), which authorized the beginning of the process of selling Federal Government real estate properties. Since then, numerous properties have already been sold. Continuing with this initiative, in the first week of May, the SPU in São Paulo began the process of remission of emphyteutic real estate properties located in the Municipalities of Santana do Parnaíba and Barueri. The work will begin with a pilot project and should cover about 4,000 properties in the industrial area of ​​Alphaville. SPU technical staff will evaluate these areas to determine the market value of the real estate properties.

The expectation is that other SPU regional offices will begin similar processes soon. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, there are various real estate properties subject to the emphyteutic or occupation regime that could benefit from this initiative. Until a specific ordinance is not published listing which properties the SPU believes may be subject to remission, there is nothing that prevent owners of real estate properties subject to the emphyteutic or occupancy regime from initiating administrative procedures on their own to propose to the SPU the remission of the emphyteutic or occupation regime of their properties. In addition to the pecuniary advantages of not paying the annual emphyteutic rent, occupancy fee, and laudemium, the owners of real estate properties subject to the occupation regime will no longer have restrictions on the registration of real estate development and the granting of real estate guarantees, which can be a concrete benefit in certain cases.