General information from official sources and the Bolivian press as of 21 October 2026, not legal advice. The Civil Code is told here in plain words, not interpreted: have a lawyer or a notary check the contract and the property’s Folio Real at Derechos Reales before you sign or pay.
Finding a flat: WhatsApp, zones and listings
Renting often starts on WhatsApp: the listing gives a zone, and the exact address arrives as a location pin when you ask (pasar la ubicación). In Santa Cruz people place a flat by the anillos, the ring roads, and according to El Deber, rentals concentrate in Equipetrol and the Zona Norte.
“Bs 2.800” means 2,800 bolivianos: the point marks thousands. Expensas, the building’s shared costs, are not the servicios (electricity, water, internet), usually paid by the tenant on top: “luz y agua aparte”. Check whether the flat is amoblado, and whether you deal with the dueño directo or an inmobiliaria, an agency, which may add a commission. Chapter 1, free without an account, reads a listing line by line.
What you pay to move in
To move in you usually pay the garantía, the deposit, plus the first month in advance. According to the Cámara Inmobiliaria de Santa Cruz, quoted by El Deber in 2022, the garantía is usually one month and can reach three. Santa Cruz listings in October 2026 mostly read “1 mes adelantado, 1 mes de garantía, 1 mes de comisión”: an agency commonly charges a month’s rent, and 2 to 4% of the sum on an anticrético. So plan on about two rents up front with the owner directly, about three through an agency, and check before you sign.
Expensas vary by building and listing: often included in Santa Cruz, often a separate line in La Paz, so ask. Get a comprobante, a receipt, for every payment, the deposit too; the bank chapter on paying rent and services practises the transfer.
Sources: El Deber, 2022, InfoCasas, Santa Cruz, InfoCasas, La Paz
The lease: what the Civil Code says
Under the Civil Code, a lease, an alquiler, gives the temporary use of a property for a rent (article 685). In practice it is a private contract, often with a reconocimiento de firmas: the signatures are recognised before a notary. That step gives the contract a date that counts against third parties (1301); with it, a buyer of the property must respect the lease (711), and for a home a change of owner does not end it (714). Registration at Derechos Reales is required only beyond three years or for rent paid over a year ahead (1540).
The landlord keeps the home fit to live in; the tenant does small upkeep and reports needed repairs (690, 694). Subletting and alterations need the landlord’s agreement (719, 706). Without a handover record, the tenant is presumed to have received the home in good condition (705): make a signed inventory with photos at the handover and attach it to the contract. Promises made at the visit go in writing too: chapter 6 practises exactly that.
Sources: Código Civil (Lexivox), El Deber, 2022
Anticrético: a lump sum instead of rent
The anticrético, very well known in La Paz and Cochabamba, replaces rent with a large sum, often in dollars, that you get back at the end. The Civil Code calls it anticresis: the occupant lends a sum and uses the property instead of receiving interest (1429). It needs a public deed and binds third parties only once registered at Derechos Reales (1430, 1538, 1540). It lasts five years at most, and the occupant keeps the home until repaid (1435). Unless agreed otherwise, the occupant pays the property’s taxes and annual charges (1434): put it in the contract.
Registration takes the public deed, both parties’ ID, the RC-IVA Form 610 and about three working days, yet some listings openly offer an anticrético “no registrable”. A mortgage registered earlier ranks first (1393), so check for a gravamen. Article 716 says a home cannot be let and given in anticresis at the same time, and listings still offer a “mixto”, part sum, part rent: ask a lawyer before you sign one. The La Paz and Cochabamba versions of chapter 6 practise the questions.
Sources: Derechos Reales, registration, Código Civil (Lexivox), InfoCasas listings
Dollars and the exchange rate
Since 29 June 2026 the boliviano floats: the first floating rate was Bs 9.73 per dollar, after years at Bs 6.96, and the rate is set daily. Anticréticos are often quoted in dollars ($us), and some listings convert at their own rate (“T/C 7”). Under the Civil Code (articles 404 to 407), a debt is paid in bolivianos at the rate of the payment day, unless the contract requires a specific currency.
In May 2026, according to the press, the Supreme Court held (Auto Supremo 0584/2026) that an anticrético agreed in dollars, to be returned in dollars, must be returned in dollars: the shortage did not allow repaying it in bolivianos at 6.96. A lawyer interviewed by Red Uno advises agreeing the currency and the rate in writing. Ask which currency governs each figure: a chapter practises it.
Sources: Los Tiempos, Código Civil (Lexivox), Oxígeno, Red Uno, 2025, InfoCasas listings
Scams, and the checks that protect you
In October 2025, at least 15 people in Santa Cruz said they had lost 10,000 to 20,000 dollars each in anticréticos, although their papers were notarised and filed; in November 2025, more than 20 victims in La Paz reported that the same flat had been promised to several people.
At Derechos Reales, an “información rápida” and a certificado de gravámenes are requested with the property’s Folio Real number, the matrícula, and your ID, and issued on the spot. They show who holds the property and what is registered against it: check that the holder is the person you deal with, and have a lawyer read them with the contract. Fraud is reported to the FELCC, the police’s crime unit, or to the Ministerio Público.
Sources: Derechos Reales, información rápida, Derechos Reales, gravámenes, Red Uno, Santa Cruz, Red Uno, La Paz
After you move in: address, bank, payments
A foreigner reports a change of address to Migración within 48 hours (DS 4574). Some offices and banks ask for a croquis, a hand-drawn map to your door, and a chapter of the residency file practises talking about your domicilio. To pay rent by transfer you need a Bolivian account, which banks generally open with the foreigner’s cédula: chapter 1 of the bank situation starts there.
Sources: DS 4574 (Lexivox)
