About some "Lawyers"....

funckytown said:

Hello,
in La caletta, i know many people PEOPLE who borrowed money from person ALPHA, signed a contract with lawyer BETA
now, some of these PEOPLE payed back in one year 52.000 where 30.000 basic and 22.000 of INTEREST...[ I know... more then BANCO CENTRAL]

PROBLEM:
this lawyer BETA never payed back ALPHA
ALPHA will not give back the TITULO to PEOPLE
PEOPLE went to court... [loose more money]

and the JUDGE said he cannot do... [2.000 years ago ponce said the same]

so anybody out there, with an idea?

How can the poor people protect themselve from :bandit: "Lawyers"?

A Listin Diario, Hoy, El nacional campaign? :nervous:
Some email address at the Governement
Some Lawyer congregation for complaining?
:rambo:

Click to expand...

See if Lawyer Beta having a minor accident, i.e. 1 broken kneecap, will induce him to resolve problem before a major accident happens.

ALPHA and PEOPLE should file: (a) a criminal complaint against Lawyer BETA for embezzlement ("abuso de confianza")... and (b) a disciplinary complaint for unethical practice. Lawyer BETA should end up pretty quickly in jail and disbarred.

Making a Complaint.???

Fabio J. Guzman said:

ALPHA and PEOPLE should file: (a) a criminal complaint against Lawyer BETA for embezzlement ("abuso de confianza")... and (b) a disciplinary complaint for unethical practice. Lawyer BETA should end up pretty quickly in jail and disbarred.

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Just wondering how one would make a Complaint for Unethical Practice and to Whom.... Any Information would be appreciated. Thanks.. M.

Well I paid one Lawyer in Sosua $1500 for residency in april
had all the tests done in Santa Domingo
when I went to collect it in september he said it was better to
collect it when I come to live in DR.
I also paid him $2450 deposit for fees towards the Purchase contract
of a Villa.
This was not done properly so I got another Lawyer from Santiago to do the contract and paid another $1250 deposit.
So far we have not received a thing from them.
Are all DR Lawyers Crooks for sure in Sosua no Lawyer or Realtor mentions
the property transfer tax on purchases.
We have paid the Seller $46,500 in two deposits
We are due to close the purchase end January 06 we do not know what to do now we do not want to meet another lawyer and pay any more deposits for fees when we have already lost $5200 on lawyers fees for nothing.
Anyone got any sensible suggestions.

maxrocky said:

Well I paid one Lawyer in Sosua $1500 for residency in april
had all the tests done in Santa Domingo
when I went to collect it in september he said it was better to
collect it when I come to live in DR.
I also paid him $2450 deposit for fees towards the Purchase contract
of a Villa.
This was not done properly so I got another Lawyer from Santiago to do the contract and paid another $1250 deposit.
So far we have not received a thing from them.
Are all DR Lawyers Crooks for sure in Sosua no Lawyer or Realtor mentions
the property transfer tax on purchases.
We have paid the Seller $46,500 in two deposits
We are due to close the purchase end January 06 we do not know what to do now we do not want to meet another lawyer and pay any more deposits for fees when we have already lost $5200 on lawyers fees for nothing.
Anyone got any sensible suggestions.

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I would not be worrying about the $5200 lost on lawyers fees. I would be worrying about the $46,500 the sellers are holding. Write the $5200 off as a lesson learned. Start looking for referrals to a legitimate real estate attorney. Many DR1 posters have experience in this area. Fabio Guzman may be a worthwile consideration.

maxrocky said:

Anyone got any sensible suggestions.

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I agree with HOWMAR. If you are going to get another lawyer, use Fabio Guzman's firm. I haven't read one complaint about him on DR1 (which is nothing short of incredible, considering this group).

Fabio Guzman website

www.drlawyer.com

Larry

Let me take this opportunity to describe the way many dominicans think. Now, I am not saying all dominicans. I have a great lawyer. But to find her I had to go through some scum dogs.

"I will get as much from this gringo as I possibly can and I will give him the least I can possibly get away with"

And that is the rule they follow when conducting business.

Lawyer 1 said to himself...this person can be suckered...and I am going to take his money...and give nothing in return. He assumes you will swallow the loss and move on. Which, it sounds to me like you did.

Okay...how do you find a good lawyer? Find a reputable law firm, select an attorney, visit the attorneys office...is the attorney ostentatious or is the office simple...does he give you plenty of time or is he rushing you...is he trying hard to work with you on your broken spanish or does he cut you off and seem at times annoyed...what does his eyes tell you...are they happy eyes or tense and determined...is there something in his office that says, I'm a family man, love my family. Okay, so you like what you see. Next give him a small task that is not so expensive. Make him think you are a person of limited income and you don't expect to be using his services very often. See how he performs with the small task. If he does a great job...then you may just have the lawyer you have been looking for. Does he tell you what you want to hear or tell it like it is? This is a common dominican trait to tell you what you want to hear. Even my attorney is guilty of this. I have to sometimes back her in a corner to get the real scoop. I break it down for her. I say...you said a few days to get this done...are you sure about that or will it possibly take longer....she says "well it could be a week" ....are you sure because this is very important to me...that you get this right. "well it could be two weeks". I cannot tell you how important it is that I get this in two weeks. "Yes, I am sure...no more than two weeks" You are positive? "Yes, I am positive."

If he tries to upsell you then you may have an attorney that is focused on making money and not on doing a good job for you. Beware. If he quotes you a price and you shop it around and find other places are half that price...avoid him.

My attorney is inexpensive, very good, and I can trust her. She has handled several items for me. But like I said...I went through several dogs to find her.
She speaks no English. The dogs all spoke English.

And just because an attorney comes highly recommended does not mean you will get the same quality service.

You need to be comfortable with your attorney. If you are not find another one. There are plenty to choose from.

I like the busted kneecap solution.......


HB

to me... i would rather

Hillbilly said:

I like the busted kneecap solution.......


HB

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Listen to SNUFFY...or take 43yrs from some broken down farm tool that knows a little about this topic.

Also, just because a lawyer is head of a big and respected association, that does not make him an honest lawyer even though one would think that its not possible for a corrupt lawyer to head a respectable association. Everything is possible here.

A criminal complaint for embezzlement is filed with the District Attorney of the jurisdiction where the embezzlement occurred. You'll need an attorney for this.

A disciplinary complaint is filed either at the Dominican Bar Association ("Colegio de Abogados de la Rep?blica Dominicana") or at the Supreme Court.

Any person can obtain from the Dominican Bar Association a certification regarding the status of any attorney in the Dominican Republic.

Our law firm has an office in Sosua and we always tell our clients about transfer taxes. Our website also refers specifically to this subject at http://www.drlawyer.com/txt/articlesreal.html

Many thanks to all who put some replies to my posting
Yes we have paid 46,500 USD to the owners but the realtors
and the 2 lawyers never mentioned anything about the Transfer tax
until after the deposits were made.
Despite us asking for the full purchase costs we were always Quoted
5,000 to 6,000 USD to purchase and that included forming our own company
and all legal work.We were told time and time again that was all we had to pay to purchase so we made the deposits.
Now we have found out that we would have to pay Transfer tax of 12,800 USD and would be charged for it when our names were put on the title some
time after we completed this would be payable based on fiscal valuation by Government.
We feel that we have really been ripped off so much so that now we may not
be able to close end of January and our deposits are lost because if we do not close then it is written in the contract the seller keeps the deposits.
I would love to name and shame these people what was meant to be a new
life in your great country has been ruined by these crooks.
David in UK

Surely David you don't want them to get away with this. At the least you may find someone to step in and assume the purchase. I'm not an expert on something like this but there are others here that are. You would walk away with some of your money back and someone would have a nice purchase. This way the owner does not get to keep the money and property also.

Assuming your info. is true...you should talk to Guzman for advice. And if it comes to it he may know someone who would work a deal with you.

You could probably get a loan for the 12,800 where that if you default on the loan you lose your property.

maxrocky said:

Many thanks to all who put some replies to my posting
Yes we have paid 46,500 USD to the owners but the realtors
and the 2 lawyers never mentioned anything about the Transfer tax
until after the deposits were made.
Despite us asking for the full purchase costs we were always Quoted
5,000 to 6,000 USD to purchase and that included forming our own company
and all legal work.We were told time and time again that was all we had to pay to purchase so we made the deposits.
Now we have found out that we would have to pay Transfer tax of 12,800 USD and would be charged for it when our names were put on the title some
time after we completed this would be payable based on fiscal valuation by Government.
We feel that we have really been ripped off so much so that now we may not
be able to close end of January and our deposits are lost because if we do not close then it is written in the contract the seller keeps the deposits.
I would love to name and shame these people what was meant to be a new
life in your great country has been ruined by these crooks.
David in UK

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Summarizing from your 2 posts: you so far paid USD45K (split in two payments) as a doposit towards the total purchase price, right? (BTW: Who holds these deposits? The owner, their lawyer, your lawyer or an outside escrow agent?)
May I ask how much the total purchase price is? 12K+ in taxes would suggest I quite high value property(?) so I would like to believe that you can afford the 12K instead of writing off 45K of deposits. IF not, you might want to considder above suggestion and get a loan on the 12K from somewhere and put the property back up for sale... your loss if any and if you didn't buy the wrong property should be less than writing off 45K with no chance. On the other hand if you buy a property, and especially in a country like the DR and don't have some money on hand left after the transaction, you were hellbound to trouble anyway.
This only all being my opinion with the little information you shared.
Now, without trying to upset you any further (it's too late for that anyway), did you actully ASK if there were to be any taxes on this transaction? I would not know many countries where this would not be the case.

Good luck! ... J-D.