Changing From Corporation To Private Ownership

I dont know what the advantages would be anyway to have it in a corporation unless it is a commercial property for commercial purposes. A recidencial property I would think is best to keep as private owned.

This is an issue that needs to be examined case by case. The solution depends on the particular situation of the owner and the risks he or she is willing to take.

The main advantage of holding a property under a corporate structure is very much the same everywhere: limited liability, meaning that company assets are not liable for the personal obligations of the owner. For example, if you have a car accident or problems paying your creditors, only property held personally can be affected, not the property held by the company.

Companies are also a useful tool for estate planning, specially for foreigners owning real estate in the Dominican Republic who wish to avoid the application of Dominican “forced heirship” rules. Under Dominican law, inheritance of real property is governed by local statute that establishes that part of the estate must go to certain heirs by law (for example, a foreigner with a legitimate child must reserve 50% of the estate to that child despite the existence of a will or of the law of his country of residence). The company structure simplifies greatly the handling of the estate and the transfer of control to the heirs.

Also, in an estate situation, transferring title to the property from the owner to his or her heirs is not necessary, since the owner is a company and companies never “die.” In case of individual ownership, title transfer is required, which involves a petition to the Registrar for a new Certificate of Title, among other things.

In addition, holding property under a company also allows for quick resales since reselling all the shares of the asset-holding company is easier, faster and less expensive than it is to convey real estate

Finally, if the company is in fact a working company paying income taxes: (a) the owner may deduct any property taxes paid from the income tax due, in effect negating property taxes; (b) the owner may also deduct property expenses.

The disadvantages are two: (a) the continuing expense of running the company; and (b) that companies pay an annual 1% tax on assets, while individually-owned property only pays the 1% tax on any value greater than 5 million pesos.

The fact that inheritance taxes are due to the Dominican government does not mean that Dominican forced heirship rules apply. As an American citizen, you can freely will your shares in a company to whomever you like because shares are "moveable" property, not real estate.

As to the property itself, it belongs to the company, not to its shareholders; therefore, a personal creditor of a shareholder cannot put a lien or judicial mortgage on it. Also, something that is missing from my original post, a shareholder is not personally liable with his personal property for any liability of the company.

It is true, as you say, that your shares in the company may eventually be seized, but the process is more difficult and time-consuming that putting a lien on the property.