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No, I am not asking all of you squatters out there how things are going with your squatting……
I know the topic of squatters has been covered many times. I am wondering if there is any anecdotal evidence regarding squatters among readers of this message board who live in and know the Central Valley. Is this on the rise? Is it dropping or staying the same? Is Is it even a concern? My impression is that it is not an issue in the Central Valley based on what I have heard and read.
I am reading blogs from other expats who live in Escazu and Santa Ana who are warning readers that squatters are a real concern. I took measures to have a contract drawn up to cover the mutual obligations between me and the fellow I hired to take care of my property in my absence. It is a one page contract which seems to cover everything and I feel the man is trustworthy (recommended by a friend). However, it is still disconcerting to read about squatters along with the rampant petty theft.
One blogger puts forth her anecdotal evidence that she doesn’t know a single expat living in CR who has not been the victim of theft. I think I can say the same thing about people I know who live here in Miami, though, so you have to always put things in perspective. (Scott, I see that you answered the same blog I refer to here)But regarding theft of land by use of squatter rights, well, that just doesn’t seem to be a problem in the States.
In the more than 8 years that I have lived here, I have come across this problem three times.
I send and receive 200-300 emails per day from VIP Members, developers and other real estate professioanals, we have over 12,000 people that receive our weekly newsletter so we do keep in touch with what’s going on out there ….
In my mind, it makes it yet another BLOWN-OUT-OF-ALL-PROPORTION problem that we like to make a lot of fuss about.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comAuthor of: How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/84.cfm and …
Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore in Bull & Bear Markets https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/500.cfm
This is what I think the case is as well…another blown out of proportion problem, like petty theft. An educated acquaintance of mine (Tico) who lives in Palmares once said the same thing to me about this matter. People love scandalous news and more is reported about it than is warranted and soon, people are talking about crime waves and squatters everywhere. Sometimes people behave like a nervous herd of water buffalo at the river’s edge. Watch the stock market for a daily lesson in this stuff…..
It’s easy to control people when they are scared and with yellow alerts, orange alerts and red alerts for the so called global war on terror in the US and the UK, most people are unjustifiably scared.
More people are beginning to wake up to the fact that it’s our own people – our supposedly elected leaders – who are trying to scare us who are our real enemies and NOT the people they are telling us are the ‘enemy.’
I will not be controlled – ever and will happily die fighting to remain free from tyranny in any form, and I passionately believe that we all have a duty to ourselves and our loved ones to keep ourselves educated about what is really going on the world so that we are able to plan accordingly.
We must understand the games that our political talking heads play and the lies that spew forth from their mouths so that we know when they are trying gain more control over us which is ‘always.’
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI don’t have much confidence that people will ever be free from fear control or even understand properly that they are being controlled. It is such an ingrained part of human character that it will always be a leash for controllers to use at will. I read where North Americans are one of the most easily frightened people in the world, perhaps because they have so much material wealth to protect. So many voted for Bush not once, but twice. And they are liable to do it a third time if they elect McCain.
Scott, you have your work cut out for you if your intention is to educate North Americans about crime and fear in Costa Rica. Good luck. They are already starting from a position of paranoia which has been carefully developed to a peak by our neo conservative government.
I disagree that North Americans are easily frightened. I believe the more appropriate term is complacent ignorance. In a recent survey, 25% of college bound high school students could not even identify Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria on a world map.
Furthermore, when asked if this region was important to the world the answer was NO. We are an insulated, consumerist, me, me, me society that is producing a generation of idiots who cannot even balance a check book.
This is the generation that will eventually run the country and we expect Social security to remain solvent?. Bill Gates has repeatedly begged congress annually to allow educated immigrants into the country to work for him and many of the other high tech firms for we simply do not produce enough of the caliber of people required. We will eventually become a nation that manufactures nothing, will be owned by the rest of the world to service the rest of the world.
Also, remember that the crime rate in Costa Rica is 12/1,000 vs the US average @ 80/100, almost 7 times higher.
Hi there, My brother claims that the U.S is the greatest place on the earth…I say it is rapidly becoming the worst….well not maybe the worst but a very very sick and diplorable place to live. We are in a self distruct mode and the comment that the people are totally oblivious to how bad it is must be recorded as so accurate. We “Love” being Americans but most are so blinded by this love that we can not see how absolutely crazy and left we have gone. We have inprisoned ourselves. We are sick and stupid people and as the rest of the world has marked accuratly called us arrogant.sp. sorry.
terry from texasGRB, I believe those crime stats are a bit erroneous for the US. In 2005, the crime rate was 469.2 per 100,00. It has actually fallen a few percent since. Using your numbers, this would give CR a rate of 120 per 100,000. The US is a little less than 4 times higher, and we can only guess which country has the more accurate reporting by victims, or by governmental agency.
I believe I know where you got your figures from. Here is where I got mine for the US. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_01.html
There is crime everywhere, and Latin America as a whole, is deemed to be one of the higher crime ridden geographical areas in the Americas. That being said, Costa Rica is one of, if not the most safe.
As far as the US failing in its mission to educate our present generation to compete in the future, I fully agree. On our present course, it will take only a few more generations to bring us down to third world status in education and GDP. We need to take the ring out of our noses, and be resposible for the educating and rearing of our children, and not let the “nanny state” have the control it has had. Also, the amount of persons living off the national teat has contributed to this lazy “what, me worry?” attitude.
Unfortunately, I don’t see much hope for us either.
Edited on May 01, 2008 04:25
Alfred, I got my stats from State Department, but I would put more faith in FBI stats. Do you see the US gov’t getting smart enough to realize that much of the wealth is leaving the country and attempt to control our egress? My wife and I have stepped up our plans to become completely liquid within the next 5 years…no debt whatsoever other than the mortgage and the house will be sold as soon as the market is more favorable, however, the market here in Seattle is one of the few places in the country that has not been so adversely impacted. We have an S.A. in CR, a fantastic attorney, are fluent in Spanish (my mother is Argentine), travel there every 6 months and after our last trip, we are ready to bail. The overall stress level in this country is increasing dramatically, but most of us plod along our merry way like nothing is wrong or maybe most of us are to oblivious to care.
Grb, I agree. We are being limited in how we can conduct our lives by our own government. Fear has been the biggest factor in people willing to give up their freedoms. A few more abridgements, and we’ll all be safe. NOT!
The airlines already have to submit your name to HS in order to find out if you are one of the persons able to leave the US. How will it be in 10 more years is anyone’s guess.
It will still be a while before my wife and I are able leave. I hope when that time comes, we still will have the opportunity.
Good luck to you!
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