Costa Rica

Caribbean Marina Planned in Costa Rica



large luxury development is in the works for Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. The project, called IslaMoín, will be located just north of the port city of Limón and include a 380-slip marina, condominiums, villas, private lots, and a hotel and restaurants.

Pending approval for permits and concessions, the development will be the first of its kind for the country's Caribbean coast, and the only for the time being: Out of 15 marina projects seeking permits from the Inter-Institutional Commission on Marinas and Tourist Docks (CIMAT) and the three under construction at the moment, IslaMoín is the only one on the country's east coast.

The developer, José Soler, said the Caribbean is the natural choice for building a marina.

"If you look at it, 84% of the boats are in the Atlantic," he said.

More than just a place to store a boat, Isla- Moín is envisioned as a lifestyle destination for Caribbean boaters who want easy access to their boats in a hurricane-free zone, Soler said.

Boat in the Backyard

The development is slated to take place on a sliver of land with 2.7 kilometers of Caribbean beach on its eastern edge and the Moín River at its back. In addition to the regular ocean marina sketched out in the preliminary plans, some residents would have slips off the river, in their backyards.

"It's about 35 meters, your backyard, so you'll be able to have a 100-foot boat in your backyard," said Soler, a Costa Rican who has a similar arrangement at his Florida home with his own 41-foot Hatteras yacht.

He said housing options at the site will include condos for between $230,000 and $1.3 million; 3-bedroom beach villas starting at $750,000; and waterfront houses starting at $1.6 million. Boat slips will sell for $150,000 to $1.2 million, depending on the size of the slip.

The later phases of the project will include a luxury hotel and a variety of restaurants.

In all, Soler said the project will cost about $500 million.

The advantages of developing a marina in the Caribbean, Soler said, are multiple. Low Caribbean tides make the house/boat slip combination possible, as opposed to the 12-foot tides on the Pacific side of the country that would flood a house, Soler said.

Also, a large portion of the recreational boaters in the world are located in the Caribbean, where, during hurricane season, insurance costs go through the roof and the storms close down boating for months.

" Florida alone is the state with the most boats in the world. Florida gets hit by hurricanes... All the boats could come down to Costa Rica," Soler said. "People have to pay a fortune for the insurance, and they could just head their boats down to Costa Rica."

Soler said IslaMoín is below the 10 degrees North latitude (roughly at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua boarder) above which boat insurance is very costly during hurricane season.

Although hurricanes regularly skirt Costa Rica and cause heavy rains and flooding throughout the country, none have ever touched land here, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Building Schedule

The timeframe for beginning this kind of project depends partly on the various permits and concessions the developers must line up. The marina approval itself has three stages – the preliminary inquiry, the detailed project plan, and the construction plan – of which IslaMoín has passed through only the first.

Judging from the three marinas that have passed through the entire process and are currently in the construction stage, the whole process typically takes three years, said Oscar Villalobos, the technical secretary of CIMAT.

"Most of the time is taken by the developer doing studies and gathering financing for the project," he said, noting that Isla- Moín submitted its preliminary inquiry about six months ago.

Soler, however, is optimistic, noting that the project is preparing to submit the detailed project plan and has already done its environmental-impact study and submitted it to the Nation Technical Secretariat of the Environment Ministry (SETENA), a step that is also necessary to obtain the building permits and concessions from the Limón Municipality.

Pending the result of that review and the granting of concessions and permits, the timetable for IslaMoín has earthmoving for the project starting before the end of this year and the marina construction starting at the beginning of 2008. Much of the project would then be completed within two years, Soler said.

Marina proposals for the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica have recently met stiff resistance from environmental groups, who claim such projects – if excessively large or improperly planned – can have lasting negative effects on the environment.

On the Osa Peninsula last month, proposals for a 257-slip marina in Puerto Jiménez, and another 600-slip marina farther south sparked criticism from community leaders and environmentalists, who said the environmental cost isn't worth the potential economic benefits.

But CIMAT's Villalobos assured that any approved marina would strike the delicate balance between "the natural world and the need for employment in isolated regions" (TT, May 4).

Tourism Potential

The construction of a luxury marina and resort on the Caribbean coast fits with efforts authorities have been making to develop tourism in the area. In January, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and the Atlantic Port Authority (JAPDEVA) pledged $5.7 million to spruce up Limón and make it friendlier for tourism (TT, Jan. 26).

Last year, both Sansa and Nature Air began making regular flights to Limón (TT, June 23, July 7, 2006) and more than a hundred cruise ships stop on the Caribbean side of the country every year.

Soler said his project, fully developed, would bring about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs to the region.

The infrastructure on the Caribbean side is another reason he chose it for development over another part of the country. The Limón Airport is only 15 minutes from his property and is technically international, while the highway that leads to San José is also close by. Regional resources played a role as well.

"The advantage that we have is that in Limón, there's water," he said. "In the Central Pacific, they're trucking in water."

In recent years, so much water has not always been a good thing for Limón province. Jorge Rovira, Costa Rican Red Cross chief of operations, said his group does an average of about one evacuation a year in the region south of the city of Limón, which includes Puerto Viejo, Talamanca and Sixaola.

Rarely, however, are there any flood-related emergencies north of the city, he said.

"We haven't had any intervention there other than very superficial ones," he said, noting that the Moín River (also known as the Tortuguero Canal ) has never presented many problems.

Soler said that's because the canal is right near the ocean, so any potential flood waters from heavy rains drain into the Caribbean instead of pooling in lowlands, which is what happens so often in the area south of the port city.

Soler and his father spent 16 years in Costa Rica during the 70s and 80s developing public works projects, including aqueducts, a section of the Inter-American Highway, housing developments and a water main in Limón.

More recently, Soler has been behind the construction of a variety of subdivisions in Florida. This will be his first luxury development in Costa Rica.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 10:30 AM    

Moana Lodge in Malpais



Zebra hides, cow tails, masks and other relics from Africa adorn Moana Lodge in Malpaís, on the southern tip of northwestern Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula. It's a quirky choice of decor, but somehow it works in this internationally flavored beach community, where Argentine, Israeli and Swedish business owners fall right in with Ticos, and it's not unusual to be stopped by a fellow beachgoer asking for a spot of sunscreen or a sip from your water bottle.

Irishman Aidan Prior joined the eclectic Malpaís mix when he bought Moana Lodge from its previous owner, a Belgian-Congolese, in December 2005. It had been around for five years as a hostel by the same name. Prior and his Costa Rican fiancé Vicky Rovira promptly set out to transform it into a high-end option for visitors to this stretch of the peninsula.

They decided to keep the African theme while fixing what Prior called "millions of problems" and overlooked details, such as horrendous lighting, awkwardly placed bathroom mirrors and concrete walkways that became slip-and-slides in the rainy season.

Pool area surrounded by greenery.

Photo courtesy of Aidan Prior

Prior pointed out the numerous improvements they've made during a recent tour of the property. Comfy queens have replaced bunk beds. Concrete has been ripped up and tasteful rock laid in its place, and the lighting now accents the grounds at night, a necessary switch from overpowering floodlights.

Another addition is Missy the cat, who reigns over the grounds, napping among plants and quick to rub against the legs of animal lovers.

Some things didn't need much tweaking, Prior explained. The garden areas have been left to flourish, and, next door, families of howler monkeys still swing from the trees.

The lodge offers a choice of three standard rooms and four deluxe rooms, which are a bit larger and have a small sitting area with a couple of chairs and a table. All rooms have air conditioning, a welcome luxury in Malpaís' potentially sweltering temperatures, a four-poster, queen-size bed, well-equipped bathrooms and porches. Six of the seven rooms have an additional single bed, creating space for three.

A stone-colored bowl makes a unique bathroom sink.
Amanda Roberson | Tico Times

So far, most guests have been couples, which is natural given the romantic ambience. Kids over 6 are welcome, however.

In all the rooms, whitewashed walls, high ceilings and tile floors create a cool and uncluttered feel. The decor of the deluxe rooms centers around zebra print, which jumps out at you as soon as you open the door. A zebra skin (actually a cowhide stenciled with zebra stripes) hangs over the bed, and a zebra-print blanket and throw pillows spice up the white bedspread and mosquito netting (not functional or necessary, since the rooms are sealed off to bugs).

African masks, shields and spears dot the lodge sparely enough to be interesting as opposed to tacky. Some of the rooms have a brown-and-white color scheme instead of black and white, with leopard spots replacing zebra stripes.

Details you'd expect from a higher-end hotel have been covered. A wardrobe creates plenty of space for unpacking, a hairdryer's there if you want it and a lockbox keeps valuables safe.

Rates, Info, Getting There

Moana Lodge room rates, including tax and breakfast, are $90-120 for a standard room and $100-150 for a deluxe room, depending on the season. For information, visit www.moanalodge.com or call 640-0230.

To reach Malpaís from the Central Valley, first go to the Pacific port of Puntarenas. Buses leave several times a day from the San José station at Calle 16, between Avenidas 10 and 12 (222-0064). Drivers should take the General Cañas Highway west.

From Puntarenas, take a ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to Paquera. Naviera Tambor (661-2084) makes the trip at 5 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and returns to Puntarenas from Paquera at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Cars can be driven aboard, but make sure to arrive early to reserve your spot. The schedule has been known to change (as evidenced by widely varying reports of departure times from locals) so it's a good idea to call in advance to confirm times.

Once you're in Paquera, travel to the town of Cóbano, and from there head on to Malpaís. If you're traveling by bus, you may be able to catch one directly from Paquera to Malpaís; if not, take a bus to Cóbano and then another bus or a taxi to Malpaís. Moana Lodge is two kilometers from the intersection at Frank's Place; you'll see signs for it once you arrive in the center of Malpaís. The whole journey takes approximately six hours.

In the bathroom, a stone-colored bowl atop the counter creates an unusual sink and a shower with ample room delivers instantly hot water. The toilet sits privately behind a slatted wood door.

In addition to offering more posh lodging than the slew of hostels and cabinas in Malpaís and neighboring Santa Teresa, Moana Lodge is out to offer more personalized service.

"We had to find a niche because we're not on the beach and we don't have a restaurant," Prior said. "So that's our niche – a nice, upscale environment and personalized advice, making sure people are happy, spending a lot of time talking to guests."

This comes naturally to Prior, a globetrotting photographer who also bartended for years in Dublin pubs. He puts his chattiness to good use by offering recommendations and helping arrange activities such as horseback riding, fishing and quad bike rentals. Each room also has an information book describing restaurants, how to get to nearby beaches and other essentials.

As the owner points out, Moana Lodge is not on the beach, which could deter those whose idea of a beach vacation is waking up to the sand beneath their feet. But the fabulous shoreline of Santa Teresa is a short drive away, as is Playa Carmen. Playa Malpaís is across the street from Moana Lodge, but a big stretch of it is rocky and not swimmer-friendly. Basically, unless you want to count on pricey taxis, a vehicle is a must during a stay here.

Though not on the beach, the ocean is omnipresent on Moana's grounds, from the lull of waves to glimpses of the ocean-meets-sky horizon from the Jacuzzi and pool area. A short hike to the top of the property rewards one with spectacular sea views all the way north to Nosara. Building a few luxury bungalows and a bar on this lookout point are among the owners' dreams for the future.

Breakfast is included in the room rates and is served up in the outdoor communal kitchen area (a leftover from the hostel days) between 8 and 9:30 a.m. – a bit late for this visitor's taste. Fellow java junkies should be aware that no cups were being served until 8, either.

Kitchen staffer Sonia Valverde has a reputation around town for cooking up delectable empanadas de plátano maduro con queso blanco. This ripe-plantain-and-cheese treat from her native Nicaragua even led one former guest to show up with his own plantains, requesting that Valverde whip him up a couple.

She shapes the plantains into half-moon empanadas, sandwiches soft white cheese between them and fries them lightly. With gallo pinto and a generous bowl of fresh fruit, they make for a well-rounded and filling breakfast. The coffee, when it was served, was strong, rich and satisfying.

All in all, travelers looking for comfortable lodging who appreciate personalized service and don't mind not being right on the beach will find Moana Lodge a solid choice.
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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 10:29 AM    

New task force against crime



 The police agencies have made an  agreement that appears to put Fuerza Pública officers under the direction of the Judicial Investigating Organization.

The arrangement has been going on since May but it was outlined Thursday by top law enforcement officials.

The new setup is called the Fuerzas de Trabajo Conjuntas contra la Delinquencia Común y el Crime Organizado. The words seem to mean a multi-agency task force.

Officials said that the priority would be crimes against property, but they include home invasions, robberies of pedestrians as well as car thefts, burglaries and similar crimes.

In a report, the task force said it had made 341 captures during May and the first half of June. It said it had checked out 12,540 persons.

In San José the task force will work with the Policía Municipal. In addition, efforts are planned for the Caribbean and the central Pacific.

The task force is the government's response to a spike in crimes. Agents and police officers have been sweeping the streets of San José for weeks, and this is the formalization of their efforts.

Involved in the session Thursday were Fernando Berrocal, the minister of Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, and Francisco Dall'Anesse, the nation's chief prosecutor.

Also being involved in the effort are the Policía de Migración, the Policía de Tránsito and the Policía Fiscal or tax police. They will be assisted by employees of the Ministerio de Salud and the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, the child welfare agency.

Law enforcement is handicapped by turf wars among the agencies. The Fuerza Pública is supposed to be a preventative force, and the Judicial Investigation Organization is supposed to do what its name implies. When  elements of the Fuerza Pública begin making investigations, the Judicial Investigation Organization frequently scream foul and tries to reclaim its turf. That happened a year ago when a special unit of the Fuerza Pública began making arrests of individuals who had been at large for a long time despite warrants for their arrest.

The effort was successful with many arrests, so the Judicial Investigating Organization prevailed on the chief prosecutor to disband the unit. The way the system is set up now, law enforcement does not have feedback from officers on patrol about possible crimes.

The new structure seeks to do something about that flaw.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 11:18 AM    

Cocos Island - Isla del Coco



Cocos Island (Spanish: Isla del Coco) is an island located off the shore of Costa Rica. It is part of Puntarenas Province. It should not be confused with the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica. Tourists are allowed ashore only with permission of island rangers, and are not permitted to camp or sleep on the island. It is located in the Pacific Ocean, 550 km (330 mi.) from the Pacific shore of Costa Rica. Cocos Island is located at 05°31′08″N, 087°04′18″W. Its area is about 23 km² (15 mi²), about 8x3 km (5x1.8 mi), more or less in a rectangular shape. Cerro Iglesias, the summit, is 671 m high and rises in the southwestern part of the island. Its perimeter is about 21 km (12½ mi). Cocos Island and its surrounding rocks are the only emergent islands of the Cocos Plate, one of the minor tectonic plates. Surrounded by deep waters with counter-currents, it is admired by scuba divers for its populations of Hammerhead sharks, rays and dolphins. Cocos Island is located on almost the exact opposite side of the globe as the Cocos (Keeling) Islands south of Sumatra.
Discovery of the island and early cartography
J. Lines (Diario de Costa Rica, May 12, 1940) cites Fernández de Oviedo who claims that the first discoverer of the island was Johan Cabeças. Other sources claim that Joan Cabezas de Grado was not a Portuguese sailor but an Asturian. D. Lievre, Una isla desierta en el Pacífico; la isla del Coco in Los viajes de Cockburn y Lievre por Costa Rica (1962: 134) tells that the first document with the name "Isle de Coques" is a map painted on pergamen, called that of Enrique II that appeared in 1542 during the reign of Francisco I. The planisphere of Nicolás Desliens (1556, Dieppe) places this Ysle de Coques about one and half degrees north of the Equator. (See also Mario A. Boza and Rolando Mendoza, Los parques nacionales de Costa Rica, Madrid, 1981.) Blaeu's Grand Atlas, originally published in 1662, has a colour world map on the back of its front cover which shows I. de Cocos right on the Equator. Frederik De Witt's Atlas, 1680 shows it similarly. The Hondius Broadside map of 1590 shows I. de Cocos at the latitude of 2 degrees and 30 minutes northern latitude, while in 1596 Theodore de Bry shows the Galapagos Islands near six degrees north of the Equator. E. Bowen, A Complete system of Geography, Volume II (London, 1747: 586) tells that the Galapagos stretch 5 degrees north of the Equator. Robinson Crusoe is not more inaccurate than most of these sources.
Robinson's neighbouring Terra Firma is shown on the colour map of Joannes Janson (Amsterdam) depicting the northeastern corner of South America, entitled Terra Firma et Novum Regnum Granatense et Popayan. It belongs to the early group of plates printed by William Blaeu from 1630 onwards. The properly called Terra Firma was the Isthmus of Darien (Bowen, 1747: 593, and Charles Theodore Middleton, A new and Complete System of Geography, Volume II (London, printed for J. Cooke, 1777-1778, page 448). Crusoe's two references to Mexico are against a South American island as well.
The Michael Crichton novel Jurassic Park centers on the fictitious Isla Nublar that is off of the west coast of Costa Rica. Isla del Cocos may be the inspiration for this island. Supporting this argument is the Dreamworks Interactive game "Jurassic Park: Trespasser" (1998) which used Cocos Island's topography as a substitute for the fictional island on which it takes place.
World Heritage Site
"Cocos Island National Park" was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in 1997
2006 Electoral Process
On February 5, 2006, during the electoral process of Costa Rica, for the first time ever 33 persons living there were allowed to vote. However, the only persons allowed to live on the island are Costa Rican Park Rangers who have established two encampments, including at English Bay.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 8:54 AM    

Construction Approval Now Easier In Costa Rica



 The Ministerio de Salud acted Tuesday to simplify the approval process for new, single-family homes.

From now on, home builders will not need a separate OK from the health ministry. Instead, a sworn statement from the architect or engineer responsible for the work will be sufficient.

The ministry made the announcement the same day that a decree streamlining the official process found its way into the La Gaceta official newspaper. In the past, plans had to be presented to the health ministry, which could take up to 10 days to review them.

Plans still will have to go to the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica. The submission can be in hard copies or via the Internet, said officials. Once approved there, the plans go to the municipality where the actual construction permit is issued.

Jorge Woodbridge, vice minister of Economía y Industria y Comercio, said that the reduction in the time of the approval process will save about 64,000 colons ($123) for a smaller home and about 190,000 colons ($365) for a larger structure. Among the reasons for the savings will be less time in the approval process, from 24 to 9 days, and because only one set of plans will have to be submitted instead of the previous three.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 11:14 AM    

$150 million for small firms to Latin America



 The head of the U.S. Treasury announced a new program to increase the number of loans available to small businesses in Latin America Tuesday.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said only one out of 10 small businesses in the region has access to bank loans and other financing, which makes it hard for them to expand, prosper and create jobs.

Paulson says this program will help banks develop the skills needed to properly assess whether or not small businesses will be able to repay loans.  It also offers to share some of the risks associated with loans to small businesses.

And it will make $150 million, or more, available to support such efforts across Latin America.

Banks are often more comfortable lending to larger companies that have collateral, formal financial statements and documentation, the Treasury Department noted.

The Inter-American Development Bank will work with selected interested and eligible banks to provide tailored
 
technical assistance to expand small business lending, said the department.

The Overseas Private Investment Corp., the U.S. government agency responsible for promoting social and economic development, will offer risk-sharing guarantees and loans to eligible banks to extend their financing activity for small and medium-sized businesses in the region, said the department.

The corporation will guarantee bond issues so financial institutions can raise funds for loans, and it will guarantee loan portfolios

The corporation said it expects that $150 million will be available for small-business loans through these vehicles.

The Treasury Department's Office of Technical Assistance will work with local officials to ensure that small business lending is not unnecessarily constrained by burdensome regulations or bureaucracy, said the department.

An estimated 80 percent of the volume of lending under this initiative will be composed of loans under $100,000, the department added.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 11:13 AM    

San Carlos highway will be built in Costa Rica



Despite the rupture in diplomatic relations between Costa Rican and Taiwan, work on the San Carlos highway continues.

A spokesman for RSEA Engineering Corp. which is doing the job pointed out to a reporter that the Taiwanese firm has a contract to do the job.

The cost of the job is $70 million. Of that $15 million was to be a donation from Taiwan and $35 million was to be a loan sponsored by the government of Taiwan. Some $20 million is coming from Costa Rica government funds.

The project calls for two new highway lanes from Sifón de San Ramón to La Abundancia de San Carlos, a 30-km. stretch, some 19 miles. The project requires 10 bridges constructed over as many rivers.
Construction began Oct. 24, 2005, and much of the dirt road bed has been graded, although Costa Rican officials are talking about some changes to avoid environmentally sensitive areas.

Costa Rican officials were insistent Monday that the job would be done, but they agree that other funds must be found. Rodrigo Arias Sánchez, the president's brother and minister of the Presidencia, will meet today on the topic.

A release from the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes said Monday that the country may seek money from the Central American Bank of Economic Integration, which already has pledged $170 million for general improvements.

Costa Rican officials hope that the money they lost when Taiwan was sent packing might be covered by the new diplomatic ally, Red China.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 11:04 AM    

Free trade opponents to carry case to Sala IV



Opponents of the free trade treaty with the United States say they will gather Thursday in front of the Sala IV constitutional court building at 10 a.m. and then carry their protest to the Asamblea Legislativa.

The sponsors say that the treaty not only contradicts certain articles in the Costa Rican constitution but also is contrary to the spirit and values of the nation.

The Sala IV has until mid-July to consider two claims that the treaty violates the Costa Rican Constitution. The demonstrators said they would accompany the magistrates in their protection of the constitution.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 11:04 AM    

Possession is More Important Than Ownership in Costa Rica



Owning property in Costa Rica is much more than just having a deed. Possession is nine-tenths of the law in this country.
Most people believe it is a simple procedure to buy a piece of land in Costa Rica. One just needs to have an attorney check to see if the catastro, or plat plan, exists in the Registro National, Costa Rica's national registry of properties, and check to see if the property is free and clear of liabilities and other encumbrances, then sign a legal sales document to transfer the property from the seller to the purchaser.
In reality, there is much more involved if you want to be sure your rights are protected.
First of all, catastros, plat plans, are sometimes wrong. They do not match the property being purchased. The reason being, most plats were made many years ago before instruments were readily available to surveyors so they could do a good job. Property boundary pins probably didn't exist in those times, and the measurements were just stepped off from one point to another without too much consideration as to the latitude and longitude.
On a small lot, this can be rectified without too much difficulty. But on a larger piece of land or farm someone else may have possession rights to a piece or to all of the land.
It is important to verify if the parcel has a fence. If there is no fence, the buyer needs to ask the seller why there isn't one. The buyer should walk off the entire property and do a personal survey of it. If the buyer is unable to do so, he or she needs to get someone honest
and responsible who can. All the neighbors and campesinos, the country folk, should be questioned to see if they know of someone else who has used the land or improved it in any way. They should also be asked if they know the owners and who they think they are. If the answers do not match the people selling the property, the buyer needs to dig deeper and find out why.
Property is divided into two elements in Costa Rica: ownership and possession. Land can have a registered owner in the national registry but have someone claiming rights to the same area because they have used the property for as little as 12 months.
If someone is on the property for more than a year, the owner can't kick them off even if they start a legal action against them. After 10 years of uninterrupted public and peaceful possession, the occupants can obtain legal title that supersedes any other.
There are still many unregistered properties in Costa Rica, but others that fell into this category have been registered through the Ley de Informaciones Posesorias or the Law of Posession. These properties have liens attached to them called plazos de convalidación or confirmation periods in English. These properties can be sold like any other but can also be disputed during the validation period.
No one should buy a property sight unseen. Just because someone can display a valid deed does not mean they have both of the requirements for true ownership, which are title and possession.
Through a process called usucapión (believe it or not the same word exists in English) someone else can actually have more rights than the deed holder. The history of usucapion is an important fact in the history of Roman jurisprudence, and Costa Rican laws are based on Roman law. Usucapion is the acquisition of ownership by possession.
Before someone buys property in Costa Rica, he or she must do their homework because neither the sales agents nor the attorney hired to protect the buyer will do it.
If you have already purchased property and someone comes to roost on it without your permission, you have only three months to file a process called an interdicto, or an injunction, to regain possession. After that, you only have nine more months to fight for your legal ownership before the law gives stronger rights to the new inhabitant.
Absentee owners need to have fences and people watching their land all the time. And something most of these absentee owners forget, they need to have a legal binding contract with the watchers because they, too, can acquire rights. The best contract is one that includes un acuerdo de mera tolerancia or a mere tolerance clause so the watchers don't replace the owner as the one in possession. If the watchers are using the land, then the owner needs a contract called an esquilmo, a land-use or harvest agreement in English.
Again, a buyer should do his or her homework because no one else will do it in Costa Rica.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:12 AM    

Checklist to stay out of real estate trouble in Costa Rica



Every day more and more foreigners are investing in all types of real estate in Costa Rica. All types are the caveat words. There are so many kinds of property in the country, investors need to be very careful when buying anything. There is titled and untitled land, beach, and concession property, forest reserve and protected land to name a few varieties.
To buy real estate here it is a good idea to have a checklist. Here is a simple one to use:
The first item on the list is to know if a property has a title, who owns the title and what type of property it is. The Registro Nacional keeps the records on titled property.
Real property has a finca number. Finca means farm in English but does not mean a country farm with chickens. The term means a section of real property. Even houses on lots in the city are parts of fincas. Finca numbers or farm numbers have two basic parts. The first digit defines the district in which the property is located. The last six digits is a unique identification number. For example a finca number (or lot number) in San José would look something like this: 1-000000. The one is for San José, and the zeros would be a real number identifying the property.
Farms can also be further broken down into undivided interests. In these cases, an additional three-digit number is added to indicate the number of owners.
There are four basic types of property listed at the national registry. The first is the traditional titled property. Condominium property is land divided from "fincas matriz" or mother properties into "fincas filial" or filials and concessions. Concession land is leased territory controlled by municipalities and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo.
Properties not listed at the national registery include untitled homesteaded land, beach land within the maritime zone, forest reserve, condominiums that do not qualify for true title and others.

Most Costa Rican land is titled, and it is the safest investment. However, other properties hold opportunities too. It is crucial to obtain expert advice when considering any of these properties, including condominiums that do not provide true title.
One example: Developers are selling forested land on maritime zones along the Pacific. However, getting permission from the Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía to cut down any trees on these properties is nearly impossible. So buyers either cannot build or must engage in illegal cutting of trees.
Second on the list, is a company to hold your investment. Own nothing in Costa Rica personally. It is just too dangerous. It is too easy to lose to professional crooks or have ownership strangled by a lengthy probate process.
The best company structures to use for holding property are sociedades anónimas known as S.A.'s or sociedades de responsabilidad limitada or limited liability corporations. Both offer the convenience that shareholders are responsible for the assets and not individuals. LLC's are the best for property because stock cannot be transferred by endorsing the certificate to someone else without a shareholders' meeting and minutes in the legal books.
Third on the list is to shop for fees. Transferring property can be very expensive. Attorneys can charge as much as 1.25 percent of the true market value of the sale. However, others will negotiate. Transfer taxes are .26 percent of the sale price.
Most sales in Costa Rica are not registered at the national registry at the true sales price, but lawyers charge their fees based on the full price. This is an amazing contradiction: some lawyers do not care about pulling a fast one on the government but do not want to lose one colon of their fees. Sale values sometimes are declared at a laughable several hundred thousand colons.
Here is the last item on this short list. Verify that any property purchased is ultimately registered. Lawyers play with the transfer taxes and sometimes just do not fulfill their obligation to their clients and never register the sale.
There are many other points to consider when buying property in Costa Rica. This list is to illustrate you should have a list. Many people do not and just show up at the property-closing table as trusting souls. Many later find surprises that turn a dream investment into a horror story.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:11 AM    

Title Insurance in Costa Rica Can Cause Misunderstandings



An Instituto Nacional de Seguros ruling Sept. 29 says that title insurance was not legal in this country but that now it is and has been since July of 1997. However, insurance officials say the legality could change in the future.
The decree from the legal department of the insurance monopoly explains title insurance is not insurance but a guarantee or a bond. This finding is a flip flop of the insurance monopoly's last ruling in 1976 that said title insurance is an insurance and that no company in Costa Rica can sell it except for the monopoly known as INS.
The national insurance company became a monopoly with law No. 12 of Oct. 30, 1924. Only INS can sell insurance.
INS further stated that title insurance is an Anglo-Saxon creation and is not necessary in Latin America or Costa Rica because Roman law governs Latin countries. According to INS, the Registro Nacional and licensed public notaries make property transactions safer than in the Anglo world like the United States.
In 1997, a representative of a Stewart Title Guarantee Co. asked INS for a new analysis because the company wanted to sell a product called "Guaranty of title for land located in the territory of the Republic of Costa Rica."
The legal department of INS ruled in a decree dated July 30, 1997, that a title guarantee is not regulated by the monopoly.
The legal opinion said Article One of the Law of Fidelity Insurance of 1931 precludes fidelity guarantees, also referred to as fidelity insurance, from the insurance monopoly.
In other words, warranties and guarantees of all types are insurance but excluded by definition from the domain of the national insurance monopoly.
The fine print goes on to explain that a title guarantee is really a bond of fulfillment and not an indemnification.
Most people in Costa Rica believe title insurance is an indemnification. This is incorrect because indemnifications cover unknown futures losses where title insurance is to cover something from the past.
The cornerstone of title insurance in the United States is the chain-of-title. Chain-of-title means the history of all of the documents that transfer title to a parcel of real property, starting with the earliest existing document and ending with the most recent.
Different variations of title insurance exist around the world. However, it is principally a product developed and sold in the United States. Title insurance protects an owner or a lender against a financial loss in real property due to title defects and other issues.
Title insurance gets a bad rap in the United States because creditors require it to protect lending interests and force borrowers to purchase it even if they do not want it. Many believe it is overpriced.
Legal regulators criticize the market because it is full of commission schemes and kickbacks. The industry mimics other business structures paying high commission to brokers and/or resellers. Affiliated business arrangements attempt to legitimize kickbacks or commissions to brokers, real estate agencies and attorneys.
Affiliated business arrangements exist in Costa Rica too, and that is why almost everyone is hit with the "buy title insurance" spiel when purchasing property here.
In Costa Rica, title insurance is not necessarily insurance over the title of a property but legal insurance to help pay the legal bills to protect the title of a property.
In theory, title insurance according to the INS ruling guarantees one's right under Article 1038 of the country's civil code. Many factors can limit a payoff. Knowing the "what is not covered" is more important than knowing "what is covered" with any policy.
Is it worth it? Title insurance is full of hype and it is not the same kind of policy as most North Americans purchase in the United States. Read the fine print and understand what the warranty truly guarantees in Costa Rica. Good homework and due diligence can save buyers the additional expense.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:10 AM    

Court Auctions Are Slick Way to Buy Property in Costa Rica



There still are opportunities in real estate and real bargains for those people with patience and tenacity.
One possibility is the judicial auction.
The Boletín Judicial publishes information on properties going to auction in almost every edition. Buying real estate at auction is easy. One just needs to know the rules and have persistence. It is common to go to 10 or more auctions to find a deal.
Any creditor can exercise rights under the law and go to public auction when a borrower fails to pay.
A lawyer for the creditor files a collection lawsuit against a debtor in default. If the paperwork is prepared correctly, a date for a public auction is set. Collections are executive type cases and are expedited by the courts.
Anyone can bid at an auction. This includes foreigners as well as locals and companies. In many cases, few bidders participate in auctions because most people do not know where to find the details regarding them and that they have the right to bid.
Bidders must deposit 30 percent of the base in cash, cashier's or certified check to bid. In the case of an Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo, Banco Hipotecario de la Vivienda, or savings institution auction, 40 percent is required.
The base price of an auction is the amount due the creditor. Creditors can increase this amount to cover the legal costs and expenses of the collection. The winning bidder has three business days to deposit the balance of the winning bid. Losing bidders have their deposits returned on the spot.
Auctions can fail after the bidding. For example, a winning bidder may not show up to pay off the balance. If that happens, another auction is scheduled with the base reduced by 25 per cent. The base is successively reduced until there is a successful auction.
When a winning bidder decides not to follow through, the deposit that has been made is taken by the courts. Some 10 percent goes to the creditor as damages, and the remainder goes to decrease the amount owed. This means that a subsequent auction will take place at a lower price.
In any auction, a creditor always has the right to take the asset at auction in payment of the debt. Most credit institutions do not do this and count on the bidding process to get the most for the asset so they can get it off their books. Creditors that are banks or credit lending institutions are not in the business of speculating on assets, they are in the business of lending money.
There is another advantage to an auction. The winner at auction gets a property with a clean slate. All other liens and mortgages extinguished. Then the winner's ownership is made clear by a judicial decree that is filed in the Registro Nacional.
Court auctions happen every single business day in every part of Costa Rica. Public court auctions hold great buys on real estate for those with determination.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:09 AM    

Real Estate Checklist for AFTER the Purchase



Real estate buyers need a good checklist to stay out of trouble when buying property in Costa Rica. However, most people forget about what needs to happen afterwards. Here is a checklist for after the closing.
First, the property needs to be transferred at the Registro Nacional. This is the notary's job, but many do not rush to get it done. Many drag their feet for days, weeks and some even months. This is dangerous. An unscrupulous seller can sell a property to someone else, or even sell it repeatedly. Sure, that is illegal, but it happens, and the first buyer has hell to pay to get the property back. When property is purchased in Costa Rica, transferring it to the new owner immediately is a must.
The Registro has been a mess lately. Transferring property can take time. The most important step is to get the paperwork presented. In Costa Rica, the first in line is first in right. First in line, means, having the Registro stamp the paperwork with a date and a "tomo" and "asiento" number.
Yep, amazing but true, in a multiple property selling scam, the first to get the paperwork stamped at the National Registry is first in right. Go figure.
Second, when the property shows up transferred at the Registro and is in the name of the new owner, one needs to get four original certifications — five originals in case the property is part of a condominium — of a certificación literal and a catastro of the property and a personería of the owner, if the owner is a company. All property should be in the name of a company and not in the name of an individual. However, if the owner is an individual, a certified copy of the identification document used to purchase the property is required.
One copy of the documents goes to the electric company and another to the water company to change the names on the billing accounts. Many people never do this and find that one day they need to get the service changed or modified and they run into a brick wall because the institutions will not make changes to accounts not in the name of the correct owner.
The third copy goes to the municipality where the property is located to change the municipal account information. Municipalities collect property taxes and other fees on properties. At the municipality, it is necessary to fill out a form, too, updating the declared value of the property. Most people do not fill in the real value.
For a condominium, a copy needs to go to the condominium association so administrators can update their records.
Phone lines are a different story. Before Sept. 29, 1995, phone lines were an asset and owned. Now they are leased to users. It is difficult to get the phone company to change the name of an account. However, it can be done by filing a "gestoría de negocios" with the phone company.
If one buys a property with a phone line, he or she should get a special power of attorney from the previous owner of the line so changes can be made to the service.
Without a power of attorney, the phone company — in its wisdom — wants a new owner to turn in an existing line and be put on a waiting list — which can take years — to get a new line.
Most new property owners just keep the existing line under the name of the previous owner. It is a good idea to be put on the waiting list so when another line comes available, the new owner can get another line in the correct name.
The left over copy should be filed for future reference or for when one of the institutions calls and says they have lost their first set — which invariably happens. Its part of living in Costa Rica.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:04 AM    

New stamp set honors Cabecar and art professor



The postal service, Correos de Costa Rica S.A., has come out with a doubleheader set of commemorative stamps.

The stamps honor artist Francisco Amighetti, a well-known professor of art history in the Universidad de Costa Rica. He died in 1998.

At the same time by using some of Amighetti's sketches the postal service honors the language of the Cabécar, one of the Indian groups in the country. Amighetti provided the sketches for <Yo voy a decir,> a primer for teaching the Cabécar language in Costa Rica.

The stamps are 155 and 115 colons or about 30 U.S. cents and 22 cents. There are 85,000 of the stamps being issued including 1,000 as a first day cover.

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posted by Costa Rica real estate @ 9:01 AM