I am pleased to inform you that the charges of defamation and slander – which is a criminal case in Costa Rica and not civil as it would be in the USA – filed against me by Steven Bryant were finally laid to rest by the Judge in the Pavas Court on 9th June 2011.

Mr. Steven Bryant failed to show up in court – again – this time because of “medical problems.” We were not informed if these were general medical problems or psychiatric problems but we do hope he gets better soon.

Steven Bryant filed these charges against me – Scott Oliver – following the publication of two articles:

1. Costa Rica Rental Properties – The Psycho Tenant.
2. Costa Rica Rental Properties – The Psycho Tenant Saga Continues.

What was very strange both to me and also to my attorneys – who were consulted before publishing these articles – was that from day one, this appeared to be an extraordinarily frivolous case without any legal basis because:

• Up until this article you are reading, nowhere on WeLoveCostaRica.com or in the two previously mentioned articles is the name of Steven Bryant mentioned.
• Nowhere in these two articles is the name of the geographic location mentioned.
• Nowhere in these two articles is the name of the condominium project mentioned where these ugly events took place.
• There was in fact no indication whatsoever of who was being referred to in the articles.
• The two short articles are little more than a commentary of the incident reports produced by the property management company of the condominium project. The most damaging commentaries were the two scanned reports included within the article from the A: The property management company and B. The security guard’s report.
• The only people who know exactly who these two articles are referring to are the security guards who were threatened with violence by the “psycho tenant” in the condominium project, the person responsible for making those threats, the property managers, the Realtor who manages the apartment where the person lived at the time and myself.
• Anybody who reads the “Psycho Tenant” articles based on these property management reports will instantly understand why the “psycho” term was used however, once again, the only real clue to the identity of the person responsible is the fact that this person is described as a “Canadian man” and there are probably over ten thousand Canadian men currently in Costa Rica…

The problem tenant created quite a reputation for himself in a real estate project of approximately 300 apartments located in Santa Ana and here’s a summarized version below of the 7th December 2009 letter from the property management company translated into English about the behaviour of this tenant:

1. On Sunday the 29th April 2009 “… he broke the main glass door at the entrance of the building in which he lives.”
2. “On the 5th July 2009, he attacked and verbally threatened the security office Pedro Aragon, saying that if he had a revolver, he would use it against him, like intimidating him…“
3. “On previous days, the man allowed a girl to enter and told them that she was authorized to enter at all times. A few days after receiving this authorization, the officer called to verify she could enter but he did not answer the telephone so the guard allowed her to enter and found him with another woman. A little while later he appeared at the security guard box screaming at the officers, breaking a window, and throwing various things on the floor and then throwing eggs at the refrigerator and the computer screens. He was never held responsible for the damages caused.”

As the British would say about this type of outrageous behaviour: “It’s just not cricket!”

If any of one of these three incidents had occurred in the UK or the USA, I’m guessing that the police would have been called, that he would have been arrested and serious charges would have been filed against him…

When it became apparent that we had a “problem” tenant, my long-time girlfriend the Realtor – who had rented one of our client’s apartments to Mr. Steven Bryant – and I discussed the matter with the owner and at his request we started keeping a closer watch on the situation. It was at this time I received an interesting telephone call from my “buddy” Steven Bryant.

It was on the 27th November 2009 that Steven Bryant telephoned me and made a number of comments that some people might consider to be threatening. Unfortunately for Mr. Steven Bryant, I recorded the telephone call and include the exact transcript here for your review:

“Hey Scott, this is Steven, from (the name of project has been deleted), the guy you have been fucking with my life, you and your stupid cunt girlfriend have got a lot of nerve fucking telling my landlord that I have fucked up, when I haven’t, you have absolutely no idea of what is going on and you guys are just stirring the pot. I will be in touch with you buddy, I will be back in Costa Rica shortly and am gonna come and find you, because I haven’t gone, I haven’t left, I paid my rent up until today and yes I have a friend staying there but at the end of the day you have a lot of nerve fucking stirring it up for me, I will be in touch buddy”.

My girlfriend – the Realtor – was living in the same condominium complex as Steven Bryant at the time and since this telephone call could be construed as a threat and I was understandably concerned for her safety, on the 8th December 2009 we both filed a Denuncia Contravencional against Steven Bryant with the idea that he would be forced to stay away from her.

Since Steven Bryant has failed to appear at most of these proceedings which have been repeatedly rescheduled thanks to him not appearing, this complaint has not yet been resolved.

In the initial reconciliación in front of the Judge for the defamation and slander case, Steven Bryant produced a sheet of paper entitled “Pre Trial Reconciliation” which his attorney handed to me which declared that he would “drop the suit against Scott Oliver” and “Steven will consider the matter closed” if “Scott will Pay Steven 2400 Break down below”

Flights 450

Flights 800

Airport tax 52

Lawyer fee 1000$

Airport transfers, taxis etc. 100

Total 2400

“Scott will remove all instances of any story with respect to Steven, including all of the calls for death, mutilation,

Scott will remove all instances of racist anti Costa Rican parts of his website.

Scott will consider the matter finished.”

Apart from the outrageous demand for US$2,400 to pay for his flights in and out of Costa Rica – and I had also paid a US$1,000 retainer for an attorney – I’d love to know where the “calls for death, mutilation” are and, where the “racist anti Costa Rican parts” of WeLoveCostaRica.com are published because I certainly can’t find them …

You can see this information in the Audiencia de Conciliacion y Recepcion de Pueba Expediente 10-100011-242-C1 scanned image below which is publicly available information.

• Steven Bryant stopped paying rent on the apartment he lived in which was owned by one of our real estate investment clients.
• With the help of a local attorney, the owner of the apartment initiated legal proceedings to have Steven Bryant evicted from the apartment he had rented from our client.
• Steven Bryant was then legally evicted from this apartment because he failed to pay US$7,600 in rent.
• On 4th June 2010 Steven Bryant was ordered to pay the amount of US$7,600 to our clients’ attorney by the Judge Lic. Jose Bernal Rodriguez Marin before the 1st July 2010
• Steven Bryant has ignored the order from the Judge in Costa Rica and as of July 2011 – over one year after the Judge ordered him to do so – Steven Bryant has failed to pay the amount owed.
• Because he has failed to pay this outstanding debt, our client has placed an embargo on a property partially owned by Steven Bryant in Costa Rica.

So this article was written for you to clearly demonstrate to our VIP Members that there is such a thing as justice in Costa Rica, it may take some time but you can evict problem tenants like Steven Bryant who fail to pay their rent and you can put legal measures in place so that people like Steven Bryant can not sell the property they own in Costa Rica without first paying their outstanding debts.

Written by Scott Oliver, author of 1. Costa Rica Real Estate Scams & How To Avoid Them, 2. How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa, and 3. Costa Rica’s Guide To Making Money Offshore.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.