PLEASE HELP ME DR.GUZMAN

2 questions: 1)Can a non resident buy proprety (house) in the DR without authorization from the government? 2)After hurricane Hortensia, the government gave houses to the homeless (damnificados). Now many of them want to sell their house. I have been told that if I buy one of these houses, the government could take it back from me, is this true? I am a Canadian and I when I travel to the DR it is with a tourist visa. Thank you. If it is more convenient you may reply in spanish.

There are no restrictions on foreigners purchasing real property in the Dominican Republic. Formerly, Decree 2543 of March 22, 1945 and its amendments required foreigners to obtain prior Presidential approval except in certain cases. This regulation was abolished by Decree 21-98 of January 8, 1998.

Houses given by the government to the homeless usually cannot be sold to third parties without certain authorizations. I would have to look at the title to the property to give an informed opinion.