When purchasing
costa rica property law in Costa Rica, proper registration of the property, and not the deed itself, is of the utmost importance. Simply because an individual may have a seemingly "legal" title to a
property in his/her name, does not necessarily mean that he/she is the legal
owner. Like anywhere else in the world, there are scam artists who attempt (sometimes successfully) to sell the same property numerous times. It is therefore necessary to conduct a thorough investigation of a prospective piece of property as outlined below.
Costa Rica has a Civil
Law system rather than a Common
Law system. The practical differentiation between the two systems is that Civil
Law is much more rigid than Common
Law, making the procedure frequently more important than the substance. Such a distinction is of utmost concem when purchasing property, for the letter of the law must be followed precisely when registering property in order to obtain the full legal title. All property is registered at a central depository called the Registro Puiblico, and it is there that one should begin the title search for a parcel of land. The title must be checked for any liens or encumbrances, of which there are often scores.
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posted by costa rica property : 7:31 AM
