Safe and Sound Property Monitoring

Safe and Sound Property Monitoring – Costa Rica

Safe and Sound Property Monitoring Service was launched with the intention of solving the growing problem of Title Theft in Costa Rica.

It is important that we preface this by saying – title theft happens all over the globe and is not just a Costa Rican issue. While we don’t want to make you panic and think this happens all the time, the truth is, it happens in Costa Rica due to the setup of the way notaries are licensed, and because of the lack of foresight on the part of the property owners.

Possibility of this issue to arise

Costa Rica has created the possibility of this issue to arise from the structure of their Notarial procedures, the power given to the National Registry and the snail-like speed of the Judicial system.

For some background: a Notary Public in Costa Rica, through the obtainment of their license, is automatically being entrusted with Public Faith. This is part of the reason Notary fees are so astronomically high when dealing with a property transfer, and part of the reason it takes so long to become a Notary. (It is important to note that any of the ~30.000 Costa Rican attorneys who also want to become notaries can do so upon completion of the Notary course and a wait of 2 years). What this means is, if a Notary Public created a transfer deed (say, for the purchase of a home or car) and signed off on a transaction, the Public Faith entrusted to them makes the document true. The only way to prove this was a falsified document is through filing a lawsuit.

The book

Each Costa Rican Notary has a book called a “protocolo” (protocol), where they are meant to  keep a detailed record of every transaction. This book remains with the Notary, but can be audited by their Board. All parties to the transaction are required to sign the transfer deed to be put into the protocolo. Unfortunately, the Notary is not required to file the protocolo pages with the actual signatures in the National Registry, but only to certify it as a “testimonio” (testimony), stating they have the actual signatures in their protocolo, and by the nature of their given “Public Faith”, this is enough for the National Registry to trust their word. In other words – the Notary has a lot of power and ability to hide the truth. These oversights in process create ample opportunity for dishonest individuals from both the Notaries and the National Registry to commit fraud.

At times, properties change hands several times before the rightful owner notices, and second and third-line buyers are not even aware that they bought a property that wasn’t meant to be sold in the first place. In instances like this, the property is returned to the primary owner and all parties lose money in the process. We even know of cases where the rightful owner passed away and the fraudulent Notary claimed that the owner was physically present to sign off on the sale.

Costa Rica’s court system

Costa Rica’s court system is inundated with cases, and it is not uncommon to hear of criminal cases taking many years to solve. While the property will eventually be returned to its rightful owner, the time and heartache lost to this process will not.

Our goal with creating Outlier’s Safe and Sound Property Monitoring Service is to help our clients protect themselves from losing their properties. Our Real Estate team will be entrusted with not only notifying you if any property transfer is happening, but we will immediately act on your behalf to stop the transfer from being sealed in the National Registry. Safe and Sound also provides an hour of free legal advice per month (not just limited to Real Estate), and ensures your property is kept up to date with municipality and luxury tax authorities.