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I am wondering if there are any other folks out there going through what we are with our condo development in Coco.
First of all, I won’t even go into the water issues we are having. That will be costing each of us thousands of dollars. This was not disclosed to us at the time of purchase. Yes, Scott, I did buy your book, hired an attorney, did not give any money until I saw the property.
I have title, given the all is good to buy in 2007.
It appears now that the developer, Mapache, did not follow through and get the final permits for any of our buildings, pools, ranchos.
This only came to light after an attorney really started doing some digging and found this. Now we have issues with the municipal and the Mayor and there have been orders issued to demolish if we all do not come up with the money to pay for the proper permits, which is a substantial amount.
I will find a way to come up with the money to pay, it is far better than losing my condo. They see us as the criminals, when in fact, we are caught in the middle of all of this. I do not think we have anyone on our side because we are foreigners and who cares.
I have always paid my taxes, done what I needed to do to be legal and now this. I am so heartbroken and almost feel like a fool. I am sure the municipal is laughing at all of us…well, maybe not.
I think they may be willing to work with us, but getting 88 people to agree to pay the money will be tricky. If 20 decide not to, we could be in big trouble. Anyone have any words of wisdom?
We do have an attorney that has been working with our HOA and seems to know what is going on. I am still very, very nervous about the whole thing.
I am happy to say, that I know no-one in a similar predicament and cannot imagine what you are feeling, so can only wish you ‘good luck’.
[i]Mapache[/i] in Coco was ahead of [b]everyone [/b][i][/i]until the buyers deserted . Their other development between Bagaces and Liberia is also falling apart…Sorry to hear of your problems with Mapache…
With regards to Mapache – in 2007 on May 14th – I posted the following comments in [url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?messageid=B65AFB05-24E8-5ED2-F1FC13566C832DAF#B65AFB05-24E8-5ED2-F1FC13566C832DAF]this Discussion Forum[/url]: “I would be very careful buying here, there could be significant legal problems for this company and those complications could continue for many, many years.”
The very first comments about Mapache [url=https://www.welovecostarica.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?messageid=B651DAF6-24E8-5ED2-F1C976ED32E8DE98#B651DAF6-24E8-5ED2-F1C976ED32E8DE98]were posted here[/url] seven years ago …
Scott
Yes, I do remember all that with Mapache, a few years after we bought. I wished I would have seen your article before we bought…LOL It gets complicated and we actually did not buy from Mapache, but another company who bought from them, and continued to develop, is how it went. I did the research on the company we bought from and at the time, I only heard good things about them, including from the attorney who did a little research on them for me. Our attorney told us everything was good, no problems so we thought all was good. (the atny was not from the Coco area and had no ties to anything going on in Coco or the actual sale of our condo.) This other company had filed permits, so they said, but turns out no record of them. As it turns out, this other company ended up pulling out a few years later, and left. Then all heck broke loose. Yes, it is a bummer, but when you do what you are supposed to and things still bite you in the behind, that is the risk… sigh..
I would suggest that a good attorney could find common ground for a negotiation that would be beneficial for both sides.
Obviously, the annual tax income to the municipality over “x” years will far exceed the cost of the permits. Also, if the municipality chooses to demolish the residential units, then that is an immediate, out of pocket expense that the municipality would have to initially bear although they may place a levy or lien on the property that would have to be cleared (paid) before the property could be sold or transferred, or a new permit issued for new construction – perhaps years down the road!
I just have to believe that the municipality could be made to understand that they are much better off collecting all (or even some) of the past due permit fees in addition to enjoying the ongoing income stream from property taxes.
that is a horrible situation to be in. i can only imagine how you feel and the stress you must be under to resolve these issues and not lose your substantial investment. i’m just wondering why your lawyer didn’t see the red flag of the second company buying from the first company, etc. etc. — any time you are dealing with a third party and not the original party to the deal, i think there is a big margin for error. would you all have grounds for a lawsuit against these people who didn’t get the permits? of course, litigation in costa rica moves at a snail’s pace and probably would drag on for 10 years or more before anything was resolved, but surely there is some recourse for the property owners??? i hope so. that is just so awful, but alas, it seems like it happens quite a lot here no matter how much checking and rechecking you do. good luck. i hope you get some good news.
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