On December 11st, 2019, the Provisional Measure No. 910/2019 (“MP 910”) came into force promoting changes in the Law No. 11,952, of June 25th, 2009, Law No. 8,666, of June 21st, 1993 and Law No. 6,015, of December 31st, 1973, which among other changes, simplified the rectification process of georreferenced rural properties.

MP 910 included paragraph 17 in the article 213 of the Law of Public Registries, which states that the consent of bordering rural landowners shall not be required in the rectification of georeferenced real estate area, indicating the coordinates of the property limits.

Such waiver is subject to a specific statement to the Real Estate Registry Office, informing that the property’s limits and confrontations were respected.

On February 3rd, 2020, the Provision No. 88 issued on December 10th, 2019, by the National Council of Justice, came into force. Such regulation provides for the policy, procedures and controls to be adopted by Public Notaries and Registry Officers aiming to prevent money laundering crimes, set forth by the Law No. 9,613, of March 3rd, 1998, and the financing of terrorism, provided in the Law No. 13,260, of March 16th, 2016.

According to the Provision No. 88, Public Notaries and Registry Officers must communicate any operations that, due to their objective and subjective elements, may be considered suspicious of money laundering or terrorism financing to the Financial Intelligence Unit, through the Financial Activities Control System.

On December 27th, 2019, the Law No. 13,970 (“Law 13,970”) came into force, which amended provisions provided for in Law No. 10,931, of August 2nd, 2004 (“Law 10,931”), and in Law No. 12,024, of August 27th, 2009, related to the special taxation regime (“RET”) of real estate development.

In the amendments contemplated by the Law 13,970, the inclusion of the article 11-A to Law 10,931 stands out, which, among other matters, regulates the taxation of the segregate estate (patrimônio de afetação) for real estate developments.

According to the new rules, real estate developers that opted for RET, provided by Law 10,931, will be able to benefit from the special taxation on received revenues from the sale of all real estate units of the development (segregate estate), regardless of the date of its commercialization. For construction contracts, RET benefits will be applied until the full amount of the respective contract is received.

The Third Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice (“STJ”), on November 5th, 2019, issued a decision in the Special Appeal No. 1,803,278/PR, regarding the effects of the inertia of the lessor in applying the rent adjustment in the last 5 years of the lease agreement term. The discussion took place in a lawsuit filed by a lessee of a commercial lease agreement, in order to avoid any declaration of debt against the lessor.

STJ ruled that the inertia of the lessor cannot be interpreted as a lack of interest in requiring the adjustment of the rent throughout the entire lease agreement period. Thus, the STJ decided that the lessor is allowed to request the rent adjustment, only after notifying the lessee, in cases where the lessor did not apply the automatic adjustment, and that the lessor is not allowed to collect debts prior to said notification.

According to the STJ, this decision intended to observe the principle of good faith, since preventing the lessor from adjusting the rent initially agreed may cause a manifest unbalance in the contractual relationship.