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introduction
property types
buying process
protection
escrow
title insurance
squatters
financing
construction
corporation
residency
conversion chart
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squatters
According to Costa Rican law, a person can obtain rights to a property if the property owner allows that person to use or maintain possession of the property for more than a year. Once the property has been acquired it can't be taken away, except for reasons such as eminent domain, and then only with proper compensation.
If a landlord does not take action to evict squatters during the first three months of their invasion, then
squatters may not be evicted at all. If the landlord does not take action within a year, the squatter has a
right to demand compensation for any improvements he has made to the land.
If a person has held possession of a property for at least ten years, that person can go to court, claim full ownership of the property and register the property at the Registro Publico. If you have squatter problems you must act promptly, before the third month of the date the squatter moved in. You need to start an 'Interdicto' (a civil procedure), or level criminal charges, called 'Usurpación'. Delay may cost you dearly in red tape and legal procedures. Fortunatly, squatting is becoming more and more a thing of the past as the prime real estate market in and around Dominical is too active to allow for the complete process to take place. |
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