Sedetus pinned two Tulum developments to a map and told buyers to walk away

Quintana Roo's urban development agency and Tulum's city government told the public to stay away from two Tulum developments without permits, Yaax Taanil Kaah and Zonot Kaahah, both currently advertised on Facebook.

In a joint communiqué, the Secretaría de Desarrollo Territorial Urbano Sustentable, known as Sedetus, asked residents and investors not to buy, sell or rent in either project, not to sign a promise of sale, and not to enter any other transaction tied to them. Anyone who does, the agency warned, would be contributing to crimes against urban development and putting their own assets at risk.

The notice pairs each project with the Facebook post that promotes it. For anyone weighing an offer from one of those posts, the state's position is now on the record before any money moves.

Parcel 516 in Jacinto Pat, and a site in Dzonot Kaah

The communiqué places Yaax Taanil Kaah on parcel 516 Z6 P1 of the Jacinto Pat ejido, at 20°16'55.53" north and 87°29'18.10" west. Zonot Kaahah sits at 20°17'16.9" north and 87°29'27.4" west, in Dzonot Kaah. Both lie within the municipality of Tulum.

Plotted by The Tulum Times, the two sets of coordinates fall about 700 meters apart, inland and roughly 8 to 9 kilometers north-northwest of downtown Tulum.

Three state laws and court cases the notice never names

According to Sedetus, neither project holds the dictámenes, certificates, permits and authorizations required by the state's Law of Human Settlements, Territorial Planning and Urban Development, its Law of Urban Actions and its Law of Condominium Property. The agency also cites the Quintana Roo State Urban Development Program and the applicable municipal programs and regulations.

The communiqué adds that both developments are subject to judicial and administrative proceedings. It does not identify the courts, the case numbers, who brought the actions or what they seek.

Those are two separate problems for a buyer. Missing paperwork can be filed later, and Sedetus has lifted warnings before once developers proved compliance. An open court case is a different exposure, and the notice provides no details about it.

Coordinates and two links, but no developer

The notice identifies both projects as a surveyor would, with coordinates, a parcel number, and a locality. It names no developer or legal entity, and it gives no figure for how many lots or buyers are involved.

That gap has surfaced before. In September 2025, Tulum's director of urban development said, according to Riviera Maya News, that developers often promote projects on social media under a name other than the official one, which confuses buyers.

Tulum developments without permits have drawn warnings since 2025

The Tulum Times has followed the state's warning list since September 2025, when Sedetus and the city released a list of 26 Tulum developments lacking permits. Days later, an updated bulletin removed 14 of them after their developers showed compliance.

Statewide, the Quintana Roo government reported that Sedetus flagged 116 irregular developments during 2025, in municipalities including Tulum, Isla Mujeres and Benito Juárez.

Warnings are only part of the agency's toolkit. In February, Sedetus head José Alberto Alonso Ovando said, as reported by Por Esto, that about 12 developments had been shut down in Tulum so far that year and 18 over the previous six months. He said closures come only after notifications and deadlines, a process that can take months.

The language of the new notice closely follows a Sedetus warning from late July about Mayab Tulum, a project on Calle 12 Sur promoted by LOAM Desarrollos, which the agency said was still being offered despite judicial and administrative proceedings.

Critics have argued that lists alone do little. Antonella Vázquez Cavedón, founder of the environmental group DMAS, said in September 2025, in comments reported by Novedades Quintana Roo, that the agency needed to follow its warnings with closures, pointing to a listed project whose construction had continued.

The registry Sedetus tells buyers to check first

Sedetus directs the public to its online registry at desarrollo.sedetus.gob.mx/consultaDesarrollos, which lists developments the state says lack the required permits, and invites anyone with doubts to contact the agency for guidance before investing.

The communiqué does not say whether Sedetus has asked for the two Facebook posts to be taken down, or what becomes of anyone who has already signed with either project. For them, the only instruction on paper is the invitation to contact the agency, while the proceedings the state cites move through courts it has not named.

Would you check a state registry before answering a property ad on Facebook? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.