Stewart Title - I'm not saying that Stewart Title is not worth the money, but in my opinion they have only beeen year maybe 10 years and people have been titling land here since colonial times (basically 500 years). Did all of those people take a serious risk in buying their properties? I think that is basically where the so-called bias against them comes in. By offering their services they are saying that the lawyers are incompetent or crooked, so that might ruffle a few feathers. However, Stewart Title offers many services that people find valuable and if you are more comfortable buying property with a title guaranty then by all means go ahead.
First of all, thanks very much for your comments, this helps me feel a little more secure. Although the land has been sold without title guaranty for "500 years", I'd like to point out that there was never so much profit to be made, before, and there never was such a big market of foreignors before. And this sets the stage for fraud to occur, and I don't mean just by Ticos but by other gringos as well. Also, I don't think Stewart Title is insuring only against fraudulent or incompetent lawyers or notarios, but also against simple oversight. Doctors in the U.S. are not incompetent, yet there is room for human error, and thus medical malpraactice insurance. Also, Stewart Title offers their services all over the world including the U.S., not only in the 3rd world. I am not totally "sold" on Stewart Title yet, but I do think I will pay the $800 to insure my $50k land. For one thing, it's not all that much money; for another thing, IF I sell it some day, which I don't plan to do, but just in case I do, I think it will be a good selling point for other buyers like myself.
But I don't think you need Stewart Title and another attorney. The National Registry here is the clearing house. The way the system works, in theory, is that all documentation regarding a property must be entered into the registry. When a transfer of the title to the property is made, the buyer will know of any leins or additional owners or restrictions on the property from documentation in the registry. Any documentation that is presented to the registry at a later date is not valid.
Not sure if it is right or not, but I have heard otherwise. Also, what about Informacion Posesoria? In this case, I understand people can file for ownership after the sale has been made, for 3 years or something like that. I guess that is why Stewart Title does not insure IP land.
Thank you, I look forward to reading this asap.
Many properties are sold using the seller's attorney or an attorney recommended by the realtor as the attorney of record. It is very common that the realtor has a reliable attorney that does the work responsibly and in a timely fashion and does not get in the way of the deal. Also it is common that the buyer doesn't go along with it. There is no right or wrong here, but you should feel comfortable.
I always felt that if you have a very good and RECOMMENDED attorney, it should not matter if he is "the seller's attorney". However, the one way this might come into play in a negative way, is for example if there were some question about something that might go one way or the other. Well, if the attorney gets tens of thousands of dollars of business per year from the seller and he is only making $1200 from you, who do you think he will side with or lean towards? For this reason I do think there is a legitimate reason to get one's own attorney, as a buyer. Of course if the notario is completely honest and fair, then it would not be necessary, but .... money usually talks... and people listen.
In the end though, it's hard to say what you should do. If you are working with a realtor who you know is reputable, if you know the owner of the property and have verified that he is the owner in the registry, then there is probably no problem whatsoever with you doing the deal through them. On the other hand you are right to be careful. So maybe it would be worthwhile to get the insurance from Stewart, but I think also they don't offer it on possession land.
The land in question is 21 hectares of titled land and there is one 1-hectare adjacent piece that is informacion posesoria. However, that one small piece is a very important piece as it has the best home site and road access. There may be some road access aside from that piece, but if there is, it isn't very wide. However, there are letters from people saying they know the land does belong to the sellers, and there are taxes paid on it, and the 3 year period for objection is almost up (up in November).
I don't know if Stewart Title will title the larger titled finca since the purchase price is based on the whole finca including the IP land.
But it is because of this little IP piece that I have hired a 2nd attorney to look over the title and IP info, and why I am quite a bit more nervous about the deal than I otherwise would be.
However, the sellers are known to the realtors as being upstanding, having sold 2 other properties through them, and they are known to the realtor's wife's family. And there is some kind of law which makes adding less than 10% of an untitled property to a larger finca, easier somehow, though I am not clear on how this works or what it really means. If you do, maybe you could expand on this ; or maybe it is in the article you linked me to.
In any case, I appreciate all your feedback. Thank you.
