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Okay, I should have known! I live in Hone Creek (Caribe Sur)and bought a used car in April from a lady in San Ramon. We had the sales paper written up and signed in front of a Spanish speaking notary. There was an anotation on the title that she explained as being a simple matter of changing a name from her grandmother’s to hers and the paperwork allowed her 90 days to take care of this and then I would be able to title in my name. Well the 90 days are long gone and no one seems to be able to contact her by phone or email. Have even contacted her ex-husband and parents…everyone says they haven’t heard from her. Hired an abogado who made a few phone calls but thinks there is nothing else that can be done without finding her. I never recieved the original or any title just the paperwork from the notary saying I paid for the car and an old retive sheet saying the car had passed. I am desparate as the retive has now expired and I fear it is unregistered (un insured). Needless to say it is sitting in my driveway and I am walking to 45 minutes to the closest bus stop. Any ideas at all???
Your annual “marchamo” payment includes the mandatory public liability insurance and registration and it’s good for the calendar year, so the car is still legally registered to be driven on the public streets. Of course, since the annual inspection has expired a Transito cop might pull you over, discover that, and give you some trouble.
You might contact the attorney and see if you could have the car re-inspected even though you are not yet the registered owner. Some foreigners pay a Costa Rican to haul their car through the inspection process. If yes, you’d be all right at least ’til December when the marchamo is due. That would give you some time to try to find the seller. And you might also find that, if you pay the marchamo, you’d still be all right. Does the government really care who pays it? I dunno . . .
But as long as the car is inspected and the marchamo is paid, you’ll probably be well on your way to being all right. The remaining risk I see is that the original owner/seller would still be free to sell “your” car to someone else.
I have now looked up the “marchamo” record for the car placa and it appears to me that it was not paid for the current year. Guess that complicates it even more. Do you know if Costa Rica has anyway to declare a car as abandoned and then pay back fees and reregister?
Sell the car for what you have in it. Sell it to a drunk, who will wreck it. After the wreck, the police will be able to find her! (Just kidding)
I understand where the sentiment comes from! I had some luck finding a cell phone number for the lady I bought it from and just started calling and leaving messages a couple of times a day. She finally contacted me by email and said she will get me the title (marchamo has been paid). So things are looking up. I guess being a pest can pay off.
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