In September 2025, the Quintana Roo state government did something rare — it publicly named 26 real estate developments in Tulum that were actively selling properties to buyers without the legal permits, certifications, or urban development authorizations required under Mexican law.
The announcement was made by SEDETUS, the Secretariat of Sustainable Urban Territorial Development, in coordination with the Tulum City Council. The list included developments named to attract international buyers — names like Luna Sanctuary, Maia Holistic Community, Bosque Tulum, and Nova Tulum. Behind the branding, according to government officials, there was no legal ground to stand on.
The government warned the public not to engage in any real estate transaction with these developments — no purchases, no rentals, no promises to buy. The reason: because these projects were operating without permits, there was no guarantee that a buyer would ever receive a legal property title.
This was not a case of minor paperwork delays. These were developments that actively marketed and collected money from buyers — many of them international — without having completed the most basic legal requirements.
Within days, 14 of the 26 developments were cleared after producing their documentation. But the remaining 12 stayed on the warning list. And the larger question remained: how many buyers had already signed contracts and transferred funds before the government issued its warning?
YCP Perspective
This is the Mexican real estate market operating exactly as designed. There is no MLS. There is no public permit registry that a foreign buyer can search from their laptop in Dallas or Toronto. There is no licensing requirement for the people selling these properties. The burden of verification falls entirely on the buyer — and most buyers do not know that until it is too late.
A professional due diligence review before signing a contract would have identified the permit status of any of these 26 developments. It would have flagged the missing authorizations, confirmed whether the project had legal standing, and given the buyer the information needed to make an informed decision — or walk away.
That is what YCP does. Not after the problem. Before it.
Source: SEDETUS Official Communication, Government of Quintana Roo, September 2025. Reporting by The Cancun Sun and Tulum Times.