Costa Rica Expertise: July 2006

Monday, July 24, 2006

Hidden 'owners' wait to trap unwary buyers

By: Garland M. Baker B.
Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

As property values increase, more and more people fall victim to El Ley de Informaciones Posesorias No. 139 of June 14, 1941.   

The principal behind the law is Roman, the acquisition of ownership by possession.  Problems arise when foreigners who have bought a property find, others claiming the same land.

Some foreigners caught up in legal battles over these types of disputes have just picked up and left the country exhausted, walking away from substantial investments.

El Ley de Informaciones Posesorias translates into English as the “Law of Possession of Information.”  It means acquiring untitled and unregistered land through proof of occupancy over the years. 

Monday, July 3, 2006

Big changes taking place in maritime rules


By: Garland M. Baker B.
Exclusive to A.M. Costa Rica

Editor's Note: While this article was accurate at the time of publication, some information may now be outdated. We are currently preparing a comprehensive update. Sign up for our Alerts to be notified as soon as the revised content is live!

There are some surprises in motion in the maritime zone.  Few people are aware of them today.  Foreign ownership restrictions are being challenged.  And the environmental ministry appears to be preventing development because it rules that some land is too steep.

So, an investment into planning parcels for concession may be money wasted.  

Called in Spanish the zona maritima terrestre in Costa Rica, the area contains two parts.  The first 50 meters inland measured from high tide is public land.  Except for some exclusions, where the land is titled or part of a special government program like the Papagayo Project in Guanacaste, all Costa Ricans own the public land.  

Behind the 50 meters is 150 more meters also considered public. But it is land that can be controlled by private parties via a concession.  Municipalities and the Instituto Costarricnese de Turismo, or Costa Rica’s tourism board, manage the grant, theoretically for of the public.