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My wife and I signed an “Option to Purchase” contract on September 28, 2006 and closing is scheduled for December 15 next.
We have been informed that there are legal issues involving the property in question.
The original attorneys failed to register the contract with the National Registry. Subsequently a lawsuit has been brought against the property by a third party.
If anyone can provide information regarding the character of any of the facilitators of our purchase I would like that information whether good or bad.
The persons in question are Harvey Haber a relocation consultant, NCC Abogados, Sebastian D. Vargas an attorney and Marcia Antezana Rimassa.
I will not chance that detrimental information might be furnished on this site.
You need to contact CR attorneys to protect your own rights and provide you with information on legal recourse in this particular case. On a personal level, I can tell you what we did in a similar situation. We put a downpayment on this house I loved in Santa Barbara de Heredia. When I went to show it to some friends about 3 weeks before closing on the property, the next door neighbor approached me and told me that the house was going to be under litigation soon. I asked her how she knew this and she told me that the whole area had belonged to her father and that he had divided the properties up for his children. The house I wanted to buy was her sister’s house that had been purchased in a foreclosure sale by the man that was now selling it to me. What the seller was trying to do is sell it to an innocent 3rd party (me) so, that he could get the money and we could get the litigation headaches. We knew this meant trouble and my friend’s uncle is an attorney that works for the OIJ (police in CR) so we arranged a meeting with seller, brought the uncle along, explained that we obviously did NOT want to be involved in purchasing a house that would be undergoing any litigation and that we needed our money back. He gave us the money and we purchased another house. I would try arranging a meeting with your attorney and the seller to try to get your money back because if you close on it (and pay the remaining monies due) you might never see that $ again. Interestingly enough, the bank giving us a small mortgage on this house did NOT show any lien on the house until after we had discovered the situation ourselves and managed to get our monies back. Best of luck….
I have received two very good replies regarding steps that should be taken in our case. The steps suggested had already been taken and it seeems we are on the right track to resolution of the issues involved in our purchase.
The request for input was posted, at a moment of insecurity, to see if anyone had heard anything negative regarding those persons involved in providing advice and/or legal help in our situation.
Nothing, good or bad, has been forthcoming regarding any of these persons which I take to be a good sign that I should continue to trust them.
The suit against the property is well within the balance owing on the escrow and the escrow company has been requested to withhold that amount pending outcome of the suit.
The financial lossed involved as a result of these issues are substantial but we do have legal recourse to cover those losses.
Our new attorney is proving to be pretty much an “attack dog” and results regarding several issues were seen within days. Although I am familiar with U.S. law regarding these issues my insecurity was driven by an lack of specific knowledge of Costa Rican law.
Thank you for your input. I will continue to watch and see if anything negative or positive is posted regarding those involved.
Why didn’t you hire a lawyer to check all this out BEFORE you gave them some money? I think that’s the advice most people get when purchasing property – do your homework first to avoid being ripped off later.
Hi Maravilla, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day–I couldn’t help but think of you and your flourless chocolate cake when I ate a yummy chocolate mousse cake yesterday. Hopefully one day I will get to taste yours which I’m sure it’s much healthier too.
You offer very sound advice. Unfortunately, some things aren’t as easy as eating a good chocolate cake and there have been some very elaborate real estate situations that even though you thought you did your homework, something or someone might not have been acting in good faith all along. I certainly don’t know the particulars of this situation and I can’t assess that there was any intentional wrongdoing here, I guess the attorneys and the courts will figure that out, but that’s why it’s always so much better when you deal with agents that have a proven track record and not just on paper, but that you hear this from real people that can attest to their integrity and experience. I hope Waggoner41 is able to resolve this situation with his new attorney…
Waggoner41: You seem to be very well prepared to face this unfortunate turn of events and I do hope all will turn out positive for you. Please note that although I know some very good attorneys in CR, I also have met a few unscrupulous ones along the way. Even so, I would not be that willing to share anecdotes with their names due to the legalities involved in doing this in CR unless a case had actually been thru the court system to document it. In other words, please don’t assume the guilt (or innocence) of any party based on the lack of information forthcoming from the Forum regarding your question. However, El Colegio de Abogados in CR (like the BAR Assoc) has been keeping track of complaints made against attorneys or notary publics in CR for the last few years. Please check with them. http://www.abogados.or.cr/info_general/quejas/procedimientos.php (Legal Director Licda. Natalia Rudín 506-283-0419). Best of luck and let us know how this turns out…
“Why didn’t you hire a lawyer to check all this out BEFORE you gave them some money?”
The attornies were working on the contract at my behest and came highly recommended. Seller an buyer agreed to all major points before the contract was drawn up and refined at the table with the attorneys.
It is difficult to check out what has not occurred. The fact that the filing of the contract with the National Registry did not take place was issue #1 and did not take place until after the fact.
The lawsuit against the property, issue #2, occurred six months after the signing of the contract and would not have existed had the contract been filed with the National Registry.“do your homework first to avoid being ripped off later.”
It is true that I could have avoided these issues if I could foretell the future. So far I have been unsuccessful in gaining that ability.However, the attorney that I have currently retained is very thorough and has proceeded step by step in obtaining information very quickly. I would not want this man working against me. He is very confrontational when he has the facts to back him up and has no fear of being in your face regarding legal action that can and will be taken.
The issue of the lawsuit is no longer an issue. He has taken steps to assure that the seller will be responsible for the outcome.
The issue of the legal firm that did not perform their due diligence is still open but I assure you that it will be resolved in our favor. Although I am not familiar with Costa Rican law per se, there are consequences for this type of behavior in Costa Rican law.
Edited on Nov 23, 2007 19:52
It’s good to hear that you have found an well organized and detail oriented attorney who is working on your behalf. There are many folks who could benefit from the services of an attorney like yours who works from a good offense prior to needing a firm defense. Perhaps you could share this attorney’s name and contact info. Thanks
Wagoneer –
Time and again I have heard all this stuff about great attorneys. Let me tell you something about attorneys in general. You have to swing the bat. The bat does not swing itself. – That is = attorneys are tools and how well the tool is applied determines the result you get.
What do you want as your results???
To be declared the winner in your law suit? I have no doubt many and aggressive attorney in CR can do this. But will that help you execute your judgment (get your money back) once and if you receive a judgment against the defendant?????
Most CR attorney will “forget” to mention this as it will put them out of a job.
My point is the best investment you can make legal wise is to have an experienced consultant manage your case. They know how to use the tool (attorney) and can tell you when the tool is using you. They also know the best tool to select – kind of like picking a golf club for a particular shot. You don’t pick a putter when you want to drive the ball and you don’t pick a driver when you need to put.
An experienced consultant can save you a ton of money and time and stress by giving you a realistic view of what you can hope to accomplish. (They did for me and I do not think I would have won a case that saved me seven figures if not for my consultant).
They will not try a sell you vindication only – as most attorneys will. They will be realistic with you about what money you can expect to recover and how long it will take and then let you decide if it is worth it.
Attorneys will tell you what you want to hear and word it in a way that well get you the results they promised – which most of the time is not congruent with your best interests (yes you got the judgment, but they didn’t say that they are near impossible to collect). So they give you a false victory. You won in court but you do not recover your funds (isn’t recovering your money what you really want or are you satisfied with being vindicated from a legal victory – Me? I want the cash back).
Also experienced consultants can advise you about strategies that according to the law would be illegal for CR attorneys to talk about. CR is a world unto itself and the way to get things done here is many times accomplished outside the law book. Consultant and attorneys know this, but attorneys will not tell you about such practical ways of achieving your goals (getting your money back). One – it would be violating their code of ethiocs – Two – it would put them out of a job.
An attorney with a golden tongue and strong stage appeal is important – but who wields and how the attorney is wielded is as important. Most people for obvious reasons have no idea how to deal with their hired professional and furthermore many attorney will tell you that they practice all kinds of different types of law. When in reality they are not specialists in the field you need. A consultant can steer you to a specialist and then mange him and your case to be sure that you get you money – and not just a hollow victory. The problem is experienced consultants are few and far between.
BTW – Rebe – you are starting to grow on me – you have given some good advice lately.
Good luck – the good (/boring) Diego
You have my attention and I would like to hear more regarding your statement: “An experienced consultant can save you a ton of money and time and stress by giving you a realistic view of what you can hope to accomplish.”
This is one of the pieces of information that I was hoping to gain from my original posting.
It is difficult to know that the proper legal steps are being taken in a situation like this when you are unfamiliar with the fine points of law in another country.
Regarding your statement: “The problem is experienced consultants are few and far between.” How do I go about finding a competent consultant?
In order to avoid legal issues for this web site I did provide my email address in my original post. I have noted that it is no longer there.
Could you respond to this inquiry by direct email to: waggoner41 “at” verizon.net?
You may have the answers that I require.
Thank you for responding,
Les
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