In Costa Rica the ownership of shoreline property is regulated by the Maritime Zoning Law (Ley sobre La Zona Marítimo Terrestre). The Maritime Zone encompasses two hundred (200) meters of beach frontage which is owned by the Costa Rican Government. Of the two hundred meters regulated by the maritime law, the first fifty (50) meters of tideland are zoned as the “public zone” (Zona Publica). These zones are open to the general public, and private possession or occupation of this area is prohibited. The remaining one hundred and fifty (150) meters farther inland are zoned as a “restricted zone” (Zona Restringida). The law allows the government to grant leases called Concesiones for the occupation and use of this area for terms that range from five to twenty years. (See Appendix 17 for Maritime Concession Request and Figure H. for an illustration of the maritime zone).

The first determination that must be made is if there is an existing concession already granted for the property or if it will be necessary to apply for a concession for the first time. If a valid concession exists then the holder of the concession may assign his rights to that concession to a purchaser. The assignment of right must be ratified by the Municipal Government with jurisdiction over the property.  If a prior concession exists there should be a file open in the Municipal government and it would be wise to obtain and review a copy of the entire file before you purchase an assignment of rights.

In order to apply for a concession for possession of land in the maritime zone for the first time, the applicant must prove that they have had actual and open possession of the particular property. The property must also have a duly recorded property survey map (plano catastrado) which has been approved by the municipal government where the beach property is located. This generally requires an inspection by the Municipal government to verify the information over the survey map.

The concession request is filed with the Municipal government where the property is located. The concession department of the Municipality where the property is located will review the application to the Municipal Council who must vote on the application and then issue a written resolution in response to the application. The Municipal resolution is the document that confers the concessions and will state the terms and conditions of the concession. Once approved the concession is submitted to the Concession Department of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) who will ratify the Municipal resolution and enter the Concession in their database and which will subsequently be recorded in the Registry of Concessions in the National Registry of San José.

Before a concession can be granted, the particular beach where the property is located must have an approved Coastal Zoning Plan (Plan Regulador Costero) in place. Prior to this the National Geographic Institute (Instituto Geográfico Nacional) must place the high tide markers called mojones on the shoreline property that is to be zoned. The zoning plans are approved by the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (Instituto Costarricence de Turismo). Only the actual concession will clearly define the rights and terms of ownership which the occupant has to the property.  In theory the Costa Rican government should carry out this task on it’s own initiative. In practice, it rarely does so and it is quite common for private parties that have an interest in the area to cover the expenses of having the necessary work done.

Although local governments will collect a land use tax known as canon from occupants of land located in the maritime zone it does not mean that a concession has been granted. As such, the payment of a canon is simply recognition of the right to possession. On many occasions people purchase a right of possession believing that they automatically have a concession from the government. This is not the case. The granting of a government concession is a separate procedure and a zoning plan for the area must be approved by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute before a concession will be authorized.

Also, in the past Municipal governments have granted concessions to individuals without complying with the legal pre-requisites established in the law. Although this practice has been common for many years it is risky to rely on a concession that has not complied with each and every aspect of the law. As the value of beach properties increase so does the scrutiny by administrative agencies to ensure compliance with applicable laws. In 2004 the Office of the Comptroller General (Contraloría General de La República) completed an audit of the actions of the Municipal Governments to enforce the Maritime Zonning Law and issued a strong reprimand to those governments for their failure to properly regulate development on the maritime zone and lack of enforcement of existing laws. (Informe No. DFOW-AM-11/2004). Interestingly the last time an evaluation of the maritime zone was made in 1993 when the Tourism Institute (ICT) commissioned a study to determine the amount of illegal constructions on the public area of the maritime zone. At that time in the Municipality of Santa Cruz alone it was determined that there were sixty four illegal constructions. The new report by the Office of Comptroller General determined that those illegal constructions were still there.

The law also restricts foreign ownership of land under concession. Pursuant to the law, the following may not acquire a concession: (1) Foreigners, unless they have been residents of Costa Rica for at least five years; (2) Corporations with bearer shares; (3) Corporations domiciled outside of Costa Rica; (4) Costa Rican corporations incorporated by foreigners; (5) Corporations with 50% or more ownership by foreigner. Any transfer which is carried out in violation of the law shall be deemed void.

Since the Maritime Zoning Law did not come into effect until 1977 it cannot be applied retroactively. As such any shoreline property previously titled can be freely transferred. In conclusion, an investment in shoreline property which is regulated by the Maritime Zoning Law requires extra caution and thorough investigation.

In Costa Rica, most land is titled, and titles are registered and centralized at the offices of the Public Registry in San José. Most titles are currently organized by the means of a computer system called “Folio Real”, although some of them, especially the ones for properties that have had no transfers or other transactions affecting them for a long time, are not organized in the computer system and are still registered in an older fashion, which refers to specific books, pages and entries of hard records at the Public Registry.

Property transfer require for buyer and seller to sign a deed before a Costa Rican Notary Public (whose concept is different than the one in many other countries such as the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom and is required to formalize all transactions dealing with real estate) and for such deed to be recorded at the Public Registry.

A. “Folio Real” and “Book/Page/Entry” Systems – Title Searches.

All titled land in the country, regardless of whether it is  registered following the “Folio Real” system or the older book/page/entry system can be accurately and safely title-searched in order to determine all relevant aspects on the specific property, such as ownership, liens, encumbrances, annotations or other issues that may affect ownership rights or the possibility of transferring the land to a third party.

Title searches on “Folio Real” properties may be initiated in the computer system, which is accessible on-line, but will probably require to be continued in the book/page/entry system, especially when the computer search shows liens, encumbrances or other property characteristics that were “inherited” from older transactions on such land before it was transferred to the “Folio Real” system. Additionally, although the computer system will indicate a list of liens and encumbrances, in most cases a thorough and complete title search will require the review of microfilmed or scanned documents indicating the details of such finds, which are not accessible on-line and can only be obtained at the offices of the Public Registry.

In addition to the performance of a title search, when the property is owned by a corporate entity, it is essential to perform a corporate search at the Commercial Section of the Public Registry, since only this step will allow to verify that the entity transferring the property is in good standing and that the proposed signatory of the transfer deed has sufficient capacities to do so.

B.  “Folio Real” Search Reports.

When reviewing a “Folio Real” title search report, the main elements that will appear and need to be understood are the following:

1. “Folio Real” Number:

This number is traditionally reported as composed of:

(i) a single number from one to seven, indicating the Province where the property is located, namely 1 for San José, 2 for Alajuela, 3 for Cartago, 4 for Heredia, 5 for Guanacaste, 6 for Puntarenas and 7 for Limón;

(ii) then followed by a sequence of five or six numbers;

(iii) finally with a sequence of three more numbers, which are generally three zeroes (indicating that the property is fully owned by one person or corporation) or two zeroes followed by another number (indicating partial ownership by different parties).

2. Location Information:

The report will show the name and number for the Province, County and District where the property is located.

3. Measure:

An indication of the size of the property, in square meters will be made.

4. Boundaries:

There will be four boundaries indicated, normally North, South, East and West; although it is also possible to find them as Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast. Boundaries can consist, mainly, of names of the owners of the neighbouring properties, natural landmarks such as rivers or lakes, or manmade landmarks such as public roads.

5. Owner Information:

For corporations, it will indicate the company’s name and its corporate identification number. In the case of individuals, the Public Registry will show full name, identification number and marital status. In the case of marital status, it is crucial to verify that it has not changed from the one shown at the Public Registry (i.e. married once to divorced once; married once to widowed once) since in many cases the transfer or other transaction will not be authorized without a Court’s resolution resolving the division of assets.

6. Map Number:

In most cases, the “Folio Real” will show an existing registered map for the property (in Spanish, “Plano Catastrado”), although there are still properties in which such survey number is not quoted or simply does not exist.

Within the Public Registry, the department that registers and keeps record of these surveys (namely, the Department of  “Catastro”) is different and separate from the Property Registry, where “Folio Real” is.  This means that one may encounter a registered survey which is not quoted at the Property Registry and that even shows data such as measure or boundaries which does not coincide with the computer search. If that is the case, there must be a determination of the consequences of these differences and if they are not obstacles for the transaction, a rectification of the record must be made at the moment of the transfer.

By law, no property transfers can be currently made if the land does not have a registered survey, and such survey must be quoted in the transfer deed. If such survey does not exist, it must be made y a specialized registered surveyor, then recorded before the transaction can be effectively achieved and a delay of several weeks should be expected while this process takes place.

7. Encumbrances:

This item is referred to in Spanish a “Gravámenes” and it includes many items that under other countries´ legal terminology may be considered not only as encumbrances but also as liens.

If the title indicates the existence of “Gravámenes”, the most common elements that can be found are:

(i) Mortgages, which will show their term, amount, creditor and debtor. Further information and mortgage terms would need to be consulted in microfilmed or scanner documents at the Public Registry.

(ii) Easements, which might be in favour or against the property and may consist on road rights, rights for the passage or water, transiting rights, etc.

(iii) Conditions and limitations, which normally originate when the property was originally  titled and generally concern public roads, bodies of water, limitations on sale or use, etc.

Encumbrances will show a reference number that allows to follow-up with microfilmed or scanned documents, in many cases directly related to the filling data of the document that originated tem.

8. Annotations:

All filed documents pending registrations for transactions on the property as well as some court procedures concerning the title-searched property will also are shown.

Pending registration may be due to filing of incomplete or erroneous documents, lack of payment or taxes, etc. A document filed on a property while an annotation appears will not be registered until the annotated document or documents are either registered or removed from the queue following a special procedure.

C. Additional Elements.

1. Form of Ownership:

Although titled land can be purchased in Costa Rica in the name of an individual as well as in the name of a company, and foreign ownership is fully permitted (except in beach front properties and other specific cases), it is advisable to purchase property through a corporation.  This structure allows to have flexibility and more predictability on areas ranging from estate planning (if share ownership is properly structured the investor can avoid his heirs a painful and lengthy long-distance probate procedure), tax management (as an example, rules on corporate expenses are more flexible than the ones on personal ones), and representation (shareholders meetings can facilitate granting special powers of attorney or other types of authorizations for many actions thus not requiring physical presence in the country).

2. Buying the shares of the company that owns the property instead of transferring it through the Public Registry:

A common practice is to transfer the shares of an existing company that owns the land to be purchased, instead of transferring it through the Public Registry to a third party.

Although the share transfer system may sound appealing at first sight, since it allows to save money in notary fees and transfer taxes and may seem like a faster way to achieve the goal of transferring control of the property to the buyer we do not recommend to take this path and strongly advise to transfer property through the standard procedure of a notarised deed.

When you acquire the shares of a corporation in Costa Rica, as in most other countries, you not only get company’s assets (in this case, mainly, the land) but also its liabilities, and there is no mechanism to satisfactorily list them or rule out their existence.  Such liabilities, if existent, would directly affect the land being acquired.

Under such term, it is recommended that the extra cost be taken and that a normal transfer through the Public Registry is made.  Many people will consider such extra cost as a type of insurance of the property which will shield them against possible future claims from the seller’s creditors.

3. Buying only a piece of a registered property:

Purchase of portions of a titled property are also possible in Costa Rica, this is called “segregación”.  For such purposes, a registered survey for the land to be purchased is required, as well as an authorization for the local government (“Municipalidad”) where it is located.  Such authorization must appear in the registered survey in the form of a stamp, which is referred to as “visado municipal”.

4. Concession land:

Several areas of the country, mainly the ones affected by the Maritime Zone Law and located adjacent to the ocean, are not subject to private ownership and their possession is granted as a concession which could simplistically be compared to a lease made from the government for a specific period of time.

Concessions are difficult to examine and in many cases the prospective buyer will not be able to get a good level of certainty on what is being acquired.  This type of transaction should be avoided if pieces of land with similar conditions and titled can be found; otherwise, additional caution must be exerted.

5.  Calculation table for transfer of Real State in Costa Rica:

Certification Statements

1. The dog/cat was examined and found to be healthy and free of any clinical sings of infectious disease. Note: In general this examination should be conducted within 2 weeks of the departure date.
2. Dogs were vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, Leptospirosis, parvovirus and rabies.
3. Cats were vaccinated against rabies.

Vaccination Requirements

1. See Certification Statement No. 2.
2. Animals over 3 months old must be vaccinated against rabies.

Other Information

1. It is recommended that a State or Federal (VS Form 18-1), U.S. Interstate and International Certificate for Small Animals be used.
2. The accompanying health certificate should be made out at teats in duplicate.
3. The health certificate does NOT need to be signed by an attorney at law, nor does it need to be stamped by the Costa Rican Consular office.
4. Animals exported in commercial lot numbers must be accompanied by an import permit. Personal pets (dogs or cats) do need an Import permit.
5. The rabies vaccination certificate should accompany the health documents.

The following are the declared Geographical areas of risk:

AFRICA SUB SAHARAN

Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Saw Lioness and Sudan.

SOUTH AMERICA

Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.

CARIBBEAN

French Guyana.

All the people that reside in Costa Rica, that are going to travel to the countries of risk and that intend to return to Costa Rica, should be vaccinated at least 10 days before their departure. This requirement will be verified by the person of the airline responsible for the review of the clearance papers. It is important to mention that the Costa Rican citizens cannot be denied the entry to the country by constitutional mandate, for which the absence of the vaccine will not be an impediment.

All the people that are going to travel to the countries of risk that cannot be vaccinated against yellow fever by an absolute or relative medical counter-indication should present an official medical issued by the Medical association of Costa Rica with the legal stamps and respective seal. These people should present the certificate before the Department of Health prior to their exit of the country.

In the case of foreign non-residents with counter-indication for the vaccination against yellow fever coming from countries considered of risk, must present the respective medical certification endorsed by the country´s Health authority, prior to entering to Costa Rica.

Other people exempt of the requirement of vaccination against yellow fever, are the people that in their trip towards Costa Rica, have been in traffic by countries in risk, in airports, ports and borderlines of the countries considered of risk.

People that having been in the countries of risk have remained for space of at least 6 days, in a country that is not of risk before entering in the national territory and have not developed any symptom of Yellow Fever are also exempt of the requirement of the vaccination.

People coming from risk countries, must present their current and endorsed International Certificate of Vaccination against the Yellow Fever. Not doing so, will prevent them from entering the country.

The international certificate of yellow fever will be valid ten days after applied the vaccine, and will have a validity of 10 years.

PLG founded and built the Keiretsu Global Network. This is what sets it apart from other competitors. Keiretsu is a Japanese term used to describe a grouping or family of affiliated companies that form a tight-knit alliance to achieve each other’s mutual success. They have a presence in over 120 countries with their own offices or correspondent offices via their dedicated team of Keiretsu Global Network Members (PLG|KGNMs) which allows the ability to utilize the “Follow-the-Sun” case management process and offer a global service with local connections.

The world of immigration is constantly in flux, and the processes PLG choose to use must be agile enough to change with it. Therefore PLG looked for a tool to ensure that they would be able to translate the concepts of continuous improvement, from a “concept” into actual on-going events, which are many well-designed processes, to deliver a profitable outcome.  Six Sigma methodologies are powerful tools for dealing with and measuring results in this environment of inevitable change. PLG has made a major commitment to using Six Sigma tools and Lean methodology – both to drive improvements in their own business and to deliver measurable results for clients.

In connection with technology, PLG uses INSZoom state of the art enterprise software web based technology. They chose INSZoom after reviewing all the off the shelf options for a global immigration offering as well as looking into designing our their in-house proprietary model. They also had extensive discussions with clients to make sure it met their needs and was a product that they could see value in.

With this strategic alliance, Costa Rica Relocation is able to offer services to any country in the world where services are permitted by law and offer outlines of the country immigration process for certain "highly traveled" destination countries in America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

We are very glad and optimistic for this new alliance.

1) Make a list of the critical requirements for your new neighborhood. These include:

a) commuting time to your employer

b) school requirements

c) community demographics (age, education, lifestyle)

d) population density (urban, suburban, or rural)

e) community institutions that are important to you (being close to entertainment, places of worship, or other amenities)

2) Obtain a map of your new city, and try to become as familiar with it as you can.

3) Get an idea of which neighborhoods are likely to meet your requirements. Try to talk with other employees who already live in your new city to gain their perspective.

4) Determine a price range to look for a home in your new city. It is important to arrive on your house-hunting trip with a realistic expectation of what you will need to spend in order to afford a home in a neighborhood that meets your requirements.

5) Interview us by phone before you make your trip and fill out our Housing Q&A, this will ease the house hunting process.

6) When you go on your house-hunting trip, take along your map, your research notes concerning communities (schools, amenities, etc.) and a house-hunting checklist. This checklist is a list of key features of houses, so that you can take organized notes on every house that you visit.

You can use the map to mark locations of houses. With good planning and the right realtor, you can accomplish a lot on your house-hunting trip!

See you next blog!

La cantidad de plazas formales perdidas el último año ya fue repuesta por nuevas empresas. Experiencia de gerentes desempleados ayudó al éxito de nuevos negocios.

(Click to enlarge)

In Spanish only

Through WED, we are able to give a human face to environmental issues and enable people to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.

WED is also a day for advocating partnerships among all stakeholders or perhaps, even more correctly, among all species living on this one planet and sharing a common future, in line with the theme of “MANY SPECIES – ONE PLANET – ONE FUTURE”, putting out an urgent call to conserve the diversity of life and environmental sustainability, which is why the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has chosen Rwanda to host this year’s programme of events and a focus on Saving Gorillas.
Rwanda is home to thousands of species and about 750 Gorillas (about 1/3 of the world´s) and is one of Africa’s most diverse regions. Of the 151 different types of mammals, 11 are currently threatened. Rwanda is working hard to preserve this biodiversity, which is critical to global environmental sustainability.

There are an estimated 5 million to 100 million species on the planet! Scientist have only managed to identify about 2 million species so far. If you think about it, that means there is a huge amount we still don’t know about our planet or whom we share it with. What we do know though is that humans are among only a handful of species whose population is growing, while most animals and plants are becoming rarer and fewer. Everyone at Costa Rica Relocation invite you to join thousands of people from countries all over the world in celebrating WED this year. There are literally thousands of ways to do something positive for the environment. You could organize a neighborhood clean-up, stop using plastic bags and get your community to do the same, plant a tree or better yet organize a collective tree planting effort, walk to work, start a recycling drive… the possibilities are endless.