How can one acquire a good-standing certificate from the Urban and Domiciliary Cleaning Authority?

• Published date: 20 September 2023
• Author: Raúl Borrell Azcárraga
• Law Firm: Blogs Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee

How can one acquire a

good-standing certicate

from the Urban and

Domiciliary Cleaning

Authority?

As of June 30, 2022, the Public Registry of

Panama, and in those geographic areas where

the waste collection service is established, will

not register any real estate-related deed until

it has been verif‌ied that the interested party

is in good standing with the payment of the

Integrated Waste Management Fee for the

waste collection service before the Urban and

Domiciliary Cleaning Authority or before the

competent entity that levies such fees, this

document is commonly known as the “Waste

Collection Good Standing Certif‌icate”.

Therefore, to register any real estate-related

procedure with the Public Registry of Panama,

one must ensure payment of waste collection

and obtain a good-standing certif‌ication for

the Integrated Waste Management Fee. Said

certif‌ication must be attached to the public

deed submitted for registration.

If an individual is in arrears with the payment of

the Integrated Waste Management Fee for waste

collection services, that individual may enter

into a payment arrangement by complying with

the requirements established for such purposes

by our legal system.

In areas where no collection service company

is operating, the certif‌icates of good standing

for the Integrated Waste Management Fee can

be obtained from the municipal authorities

of the area where the interested party resides. If

no collector agent is available in that district, the

relevant municipality will provide a certif‌icate to that

eect, which can be submitted to the Public Registry

of Panama for the registration of the corresponding

real estate matter.

It is important to note that the Urban and Domiciliary

Cleaning Authority has implemented a moratorium

in the District of Panama. This policy cancels 50%

of the Integrated Waste Management Fee owed

by residential users and 30% owed by commercial

establishments. This policy is currently in eect.

The information we have provided is of a general

nature and should not be used as a substitute for

obtaining comprehensive advice on the subject

matter of this article, which can be provided by

Alemán, Cordero, Galindo & Lee (Alcogal).

Author: Raúl Borrell Azcárraga partner in Alcogal