It’s obvious that most people who buy property in Costa Rica have not lived there very long or not at all and don’t know much about the laws and many other things. I have been living here for around 12 years only because of the climate and the fresh fruits and veggies. I had thought of buying property when I first came here, but when I began to find out about some of the laws, the corruption, and many other details that all these real estate dealers never tell you about, I began to have second thoughts. I rent a cheap apartment and sleep in peace. Let’s get to specifics. For starters go to
www.amcostarica and read the archives and the letters people write and also others. I know of no one who has lived here who has never been robbed at least once. I’ve had one of my friends murdered in his own home by his gardener. I’ve had a friend from the US come to visit me and got robbed 10 minutes after leaving the airport to come to my apartment. There is a law here that protects squatters, which a real estate person will never tell you about. An American and a local squatter settled on the Americans property, got into a dispute a few years ago and they shot each other during the dispute and both died. It happened around Cartago I believe. If you get into any legal litigations, don’t expect to win in court. Plus it could last for 10 to 20 years and the lawyers will drain all your money. The law only serves the ones who are in power and no one else. The employees of the Public Register, where all land deeds, etc are kept, has often been involved in forging land deeds of dead people and selling the dead persons property to a friend. When the heirs try to claim the property, they’re told that their dead father sold the property before he passed away. If you visit any of these 3rd world countries, from Mexico on down to Argentina, pay attention to all the iron bars in the windows, and all the pad locks on the doors and all the guards in the banks with shotguns.. You don’t have to talk to anyone to know in what kind of society you’re in. Just look around you. If you can’t figure it out, then you deserved to be taken to the cleaners. This is all just for starters. I could write a book on the things that go on here. If you have any questions, just post them and I’ll try to answer the best I can. I’m new and not to sure on how to use this forum. Last time clicked a millon buttons on trying to post something and still I’m not sure.
