Faster Justice and Prevention, Key Points to Combat Property Dispossession in Mexico City

ByDarren García

This article by Darren García originally appeared in Contralínea, one of Mexico’s leading investigative journalism magazines.

This week, the Mexico City government, together with the city Attorney General’s Office and the local Judiciary, announced a series of measures to combat the crime of real-estate dispossession. Notable among them are the reduction of times in the administration of justice and prevention campaigns—in which the modus operandi of the groups carrying out dispossession will be exposed so that the public does not fall into traps or risks.

In order to combat real-estate dispossession comprehensively, the Mexico City government, the city Attorney General’s Office, notaries, and the local Judiciary presented a series of measures to speed up response times in the administration of justice; they also agreed to carry out the awareness campaigns needed to prevent the crime. This is because the problem could be affecting thousands of families living in the city.

The priority focus is on response times. In this regard, the authorities stated that, once each case is ruled to be dispossession, they will act to restore the property within a maximum of 15 days. Likewise, the city’s head of government, Clara Brugada Molina, promised that the prosecution of these crimes will be carried out within 30 days, thereby addressing one of the main demands of those affected in the city.

To achieve those timeframes, the Mexico City Superior Court of Justice announced the creation of a specialized dispossession unit, made up of 20 judges dedicated exclusively to hearing cases related to this crime. In addition, an institutional registry will be kept of all judicial proceedings involving properties in litigation; an area to receive eviction orders and requests for the use of public force; another to flag simulated proceedings using false documents; and one more to monitor the agreements signed before the Alternative Justice Center, explained presiding magistrate Rafael Guerra Álvarez.

“Working shoulder to shoulder will result in no impunity for whoever commits the crime of dispossession, and peace of mind for the assets of the victims and of the city’s residents,” the official stated at the head of government’s press conference on August 5. He also emphasized that the local Court will continue to collaborate with the city government without losing its autonomy.

Another institution that has addressed the issue as a priority in recent weeks is the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office. At a press conference on July 29, its head, Bertha Alcalde Luján, reported on 1,846 investigations opened—out of 1,966 complaints filed—for different forms of real-estate dispossession. The most recurrent cases were reported in the boroughs of Benito Juárez, Iztacalco, Gustavo A. Madero, and Iztapalapa.

This week, prosecutor Alcalde Luján recalled the penalties that exist in the city’s Criminal Code for those who commit this crime. Under Article 237, section I, it is punishable by six to 11 years in prison, and can reach up to 22 years when there are aggravating factors such as: the victim being a person in a vulnerable situation, the crime being committed against public property, the simulation of legal acts, or the aim being to profit from another’s property.

Preventing Tragedy Before It Happens

Along with speeding up the timeframes, Brugada Molina presented a Property Security Program designed, above all, for prevention. Its goal is to identify at-risk cases, provide direct assistance and legal advice, accompany those affected, and offer free notarial services, so that families can put their properties in order before a dispossession occurs.

In this regard, a large-scale program to regularize deeds and notarial records will be launched, aimed at families who do not have their papers in order, including entire housing complexes that have gone years without title deeds. Having a property with clear and up-to-date documents is the best defense against those who seek to appropriate a property through fraud or false documents, the city leader noted.

A Legal Defense Office for Property and Against Dispossession will also be created, made up of a team of lawyers who will provide service every day from the Legal Counsel’s Office and who, in addition, will go out once a week to the city’s Zócalo to give free advice to anyone. “We will have what people have always asked for: legal advice.”

The plan likewise includes a booklet with recommendations, as well as workshops, courses, and talks aimed at the public to “strengthen the capacities of older adults and other targeted groups to identify, prevent, and act in a timely manner in the face of situations of risk of dispossession of their homes.”

But the actions also touch the legislative sphere; thus, reforms to the Notary Law and the Registry Law were announced. The first seeks for notaries to take part “with free services in special regularization programs”; the second aims to ensure that notarial instruments from another state are only registered when there is confirmation from whoever issued them, in order to prevent forged documents.

The Legal Counsel and Legal Services officer, Eréndira Cruz Villegas Fuentes, explained that an Institutional Registry Alert is already operating, which will be activated when someone tries to carry out a suspicious procedure on a property, and announced the creation of a Registry Intelligence Unit to provide more complete tracking of the background of each property.

She added that, in coordination with the College of Notaries, nearly 100 lawyers will offer free advice each week in the Zócalo, with priority attention for older adults, Indigenous people, and women.

People sit on a wall covered with anti-gentrification graffiti in a Mexico City park
Photo: Mario Jasso / Cuartoscuro

Joint Security Actions

Using data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System, the city Attorney General’s Office asserted that the daily average of dispossession complaints has remained practically unchanged since 2019, with a range of between nine and 11 cases a day—refuting claims of an increase in the crime that are not supported by official figures.

The dispossession rate per 100,000 inhabitants is, on average, 21.4 across the city, although nine boroughs are above that average, according to SESNSP figures from January 1 to August 5, 2026. Cuauhtémoc tops the list with 37.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Benito Juárez with 30.6, Venustiano Carranza with 27, and Xochimilco with 26.5. At the other extreme, Magdalena Contreras, Cuajimalpa, and Iztapalapa have the lowest rates, with 12.9, 14.7, and 15.9, respectively.

According to the specialized dispossession cabinet, created in June 2025, from that month through July 2026 it has received 1,032 complaints, of which 644 were determined to be conflicts that are not dispossession and 388 were confirmed as such. Of the latter, 185 properties were restored, 84 were secured, and 48 other actions were taken in favor of the victims.

In fact, at the August 5 press conference, the circumstances in which there is no dispossession of a property were explained—for example: failure to pay rent, breach of a purchase agreement, conflicts among heirs and relatives, disputes between co-owners, controversies over the ownership of an asset, and occupation with valid authorization.

To better address the problem, Alcalde Luján announced the creation of a Criminal Analysis Unit within the Attorney General’s Office, to look for patterns and criminal networks instead of handling each file separately; a Rapid Prosecution Agency for cases with clear evidence from the outset; and a Strategic Investigation Agency focused on procedural fraud and the possible involvement of notaries or public servants.

In addition, regarding the criminal networks that carry out these crimes, the Secretary of Citizen Security, Pablo Vázquez Camacho, pointed to specific groups in Mexico City, such as Los Rodolfos, which operates in the south of the city and some of whose leaders have already been arrested, as well as other groups such as the Cártel de Tláhuac, La Unión Tepito, La Anti Unión, and Los 3AD. So far this year, he said, 46 people have been arrested for this crime.

Asked by the press about the possible involvement of public servants in these crimes, prosecutor Bertha Alcalde acknowledged that within the institution itself they are working to eliminate corruption, after some officials were flagged for their involvement in eviction cases.

Along the same lines, Brugada Molina was categorical:

“There will be no tolerance for any case of involvement by a public servant […] any case will have very serious consequences.”