Foreign Buyers Allege Contract Breaches at Quintana Roo Developments

Tulum, Quintana Roo — The state’s Sustainable Urban Development Secretariat (SEDETUS) is investigating three complaints from foreign citizens who claim real estate developers in Quintana Roo failed to deliver properties as agreed.

According to SEDETUS Director José Alberto Alonso Ovando, two of the cases are in Tulum and one is in Playa del Carmen. He said the complaints cannot yet be classified as fraud while investigations remain open, and that the issues so far appear to be contract breaches rather than criminal conduct.

“We have two cases in Tulum and one in Playa del Carmen,” Ovando said. “Many times they are not frauds, they are really breaches of contract. When a development fails to complete delivery, the matter is usually handled through commercial litigation. I can’t say whether it’s fraud because that requires a judicial investigation.”

The affected buyers lodged complaints at SEDETUS’s customer service center, where officials review the legal and administrative status of the projects and the involvement of the real estate agents in question. Ovando said the names of the developments cannot be released while the cases are under investigation, out of respect for due process.

SEDETUS also has more than 135 developments flagged and shut down because they are being marketed without permits and do not guarantee basic services, according to Ovando. He urged domestic and foreign buyers to consult the official registries of authorized developments and certified real estate advisors before investing in Quintana Roo.