This set of four reviews provides a broad overview of the national and local legal framework related to land, housing, inheritance and marital property rights in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Nicaragua. This includes a description of relevant policies, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper or National Development Plan. The series examines tenure types and land management systems and analyses their accessibility to the (urban) poor, also from a gender perspective. It highlights innovative forms of tenure and alternative dispute settlement mechanisms and describes the important role of civil society organisations in law and policy formulation, advocacy and implementation . Relevant good practices are documented in each review, such as tenure regularisation, participatory decision-making, women hss rights to land and housing and innovative land management. The review concludes with a set of recommendations.