How to verify a real estate agent license in Quintana Roo and Yucatán

You are about to send a deposit, and the person asking for it introduced themselves as your real estate agent.

This guide shows how to verify a real estate agent license in Quintana Roo and Yucatán, what the state record proves, and what to do when the name is missing.

Before You Begin

Both states require agents to hold a state credential and publish who holds one. The registries are free and in Spanish only, so buyers used to U.S. licensing rarely open them. Our comparison of American and Mexican real estate practice explains why nobody runs this check for you.

• Quintana Roo — The Ley de Prestación de Servicios Inmobiliarios, the state law on real estate services, requires a state registration number, the matrícula, from anyone who promotes, brokers, manages or advises on property in the state. The current law took effect in September 2024 and was last amended in December 2025; SEDETUS, the state urban development ministry, applies it.
• Yucatán — A 2024 amendment to the law that created INSEJUPY, the state institute that runs the public property registry, made a state license mandatory for anyone who brokers property in Yucatán. There are three: type A for individual agents, type B for agencies and type C for trainees working under an agency.
• What you need in hand — The agent's full legal name, the agency's name, the number printed on the agent's card or ads, and the municipality where the agent works. Nicknames and brand names return nothing.

The Process

Step 1: Ask for the number in writing

Quintana Roo requires agents to show their matrícula to clients, and the official credential must carry a QR code linking to the state record. Yucatán requires the license number, the issuing authority and the validity dates on every ad, website and service contract. An agent who cannot email the number within a day has answered your question.

Step 2: Search the Quintana Roo padrón

Open the SEDETUS padrón, the state list of accredited agents and agencies, and type a surname or company name into the Buscar box above the table.

Filters above the table narrow by person type, municipality, Sancionado (sanctioned) and Ostentado sin Matrícula, which marks people caught presenting themselves as agents without a registration. For a common name, pick the municipality first.

Step 3: Open the record and read three lines

Click the name to open the page titled Validación de Asesor Inmobiliario. Three lines matter: the category, which for a licensed individual reads Profesional Inmobiliario Acreditado en Quintana Roo; the matrícula, which must match the credential you were shown; and the validity line, which should read Vigente.

A record can also say the opposite. As of 9 November 2026 the padrón held 2,385 entries, and 171 of them carry the status Ostentado sin Matrícula: people and companies the state found advertising without a registration. Seventy-four are in Playa del Carmen, 41 in Cancún and 22 in Tulum.

Step 4: Check the agency and the person separately

In Quintana Roo an agency needs its own matrícula, and every person selling for it needs an individual one. Yucatán lets a type B agency work only through type A or type C agents. A registered brand with an unregistered salesperson is a common gap, so search both names.

Step 5: Search the Yucatán registry

Open the INSEJUPY state registry of real estate advisors. Start typing the agent's name in the Asesores field, pick the match from the drop-down list, and click the magnifying-glass button.

The result shows the license number, in the format REAI-INSEJUPY-A-00000, its start and end dates, and the agent's registered contact details. As of 9 November 2026 the registry lists 364 licenses, 363 of them type A and one type B, the first issued on 26 May 2026.

Step 6: Match the record to your paperwork

The name on the record should match your brokerage agreement and every receipt. Quintana Roo requires agents to document any advance payment or deposit with an invoice or receipt, and Yucatán requires a written fee agreement and a CFDI, the digital tax invoice, for every service.

Save a dated screenshot of the record. Registries change, and the version that matters later is the one from the day you paid.

What a license does not make your agent

A state credential proves training and paperwork. It says nothing about the property or whose interests the agent represents.

• Your lawyer. The license covers brokerage, not legal review, and Yucatán's law treats lawyers who give legal advice as a separate job, exempt from licensing.
• On your side by default. In most resales and presales the commission comes from the seller or the developer. Ask in writing who pays the agent, and how much.
• The showroom salesperson. Yucatán exempts developer employees who sell only their employer's projects. The person in the sales office may be lawfully unlicensed, and works for the developer.
• An escrow. Money sent to an agent's account is protected by nothing but the agent's honesty. Ask where the deposit will sit and under which written conditions it comes back.
• A title check. It says nothing about who owns the property or what is recorded against it.
• A permit check. Yucatán fines agents who broker unauthorized developments, but a fine after the sale does not fix your file. In Quintana Roo, the project itself is checked in the separate SEDETUS irregular developments registry.

If the agent is not registered, or kept your deposit

The licensing laws are administrative. They let the state fine, suspend or strike off the agent, and they do not by themselves cancel your contract or refund your deposit.

In Quintana Roo, any client can file a complaint with SEDETUS. Holding out as an agent without a license carries a fine of 500 to 1,000 UMA, the unit Mexican law uses to set fines, and an agent who wrongly keeps a client's money or diverts a deposit faces permanent cancellation of the matrícula.

In Yucatán, INSEJUPY takes complaints from anyone, and brokering without a license carries a fine of 100 to 2,000 UMA, or 1% to 5% of the deal value capped at twice the fee. Agents are also liable for damage caused by fraud or negligence, and notaries must report an unlicensed intermediary to INSEJUPY within 15 business days of the deed.

Put the facts to the agent in writing first: what you paid, when, and the date by which you expect it back. That letter becomes the first exhibit in a state complaint, a PROFECO filing or a civil claim.

Common Failure Points

• Trusting a badge. Trade-association logos are private memberships. Only the state record counts.
• Assuming a license travels. Yucatán requires agents licensed in other states, Quintana Roo included, to obtain its own license first.
• Checking once. Quintana Roo registrations last two or four years, and a Yucatán trainee license one. Search again before you sign and before you close.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. My agent says the license is in process. Can they still work?

Not lawfully. Both laws require a credential already issued, and in Yucatán 1,272 people had registered on the state platform by July 2026 while only 130 held a license. Until there is a number to search, keep your money away from that agent.

2. The agent is not on the list, but the property looks fine. Should I walk away?

Not necessarily. A missing license does not make the title defective. It does mean you should pay nothing through that agent and have the property checked before you sign.

3. Does a licensed agent have to tell me about problems with the property?

In Quintana Roo, agents must disclose any defect or special condition they know of. Yucatán requires agents to confirm, before advertising, that the owner and the property can legally be sold, with the owner's written authorization. Neither duty replaces your own title and permit review.

The Path Forward

Check the agent before the first payment. The search takes five minutes, and a missing name says a great deal about how the rest of the file was handled.

A clean record answers one question out of many. Independent legal representation covers the rest: title, permits, the contract and where your money sits. Our guide on how to choose a Riviera Maya real estate lawyer sets out what to ask.

PeninsuLawyers represents foreign buyers exclusively. We have no affiliation with developers or brokers. Start with the free Quick Check at peninsulawyers.com/quick-check to find out what your agent, your property and your contract still need checked before any money moves.