How do you know that some of these properties have ever been in Alberto's name? It is common practice to leave things in a predecessor's name and then have a private notorized agreement drawn up between you saying the property now belongs to you. This is why it is so important that you see the actual physical document of the title rather than a copy to ensure that the property still belongs to the person you are told it belongs to... I'm not sure Alberto is any more guilty of this than a number of other property owners I have come across. The whole business is a minefield and you just need to have your wits about you.It has to be the vendor's responsibility to clean up the title before he parts with it. Check, check and check again.