property tittles and security

You should verify who the owner is currently

If you have a contracto de compra-venta only then the land is still owned by the origional owner, there are things you must consider in this case.

1) The contract should identify the lot i.e. solares by parcela, manzanna and lot# if it is in an urbanization zone, this identification should be on the contract, next you should go to your local Tribunal de terras and as one of the assistance to look up the lot for you (a tip is expected when they are done). If it is not found that is an indication that it might have never be desilinda and as suce the planners of the ubanization zone might have changed the designation for the lot since your contract was written. In addition to being able to verify the lot, I think the tribunal de terras should also be able to identify the owner of the lot, make sure this is the same as the person you bought the land from. If you have a lot that in general is designated as a "Resto de la Parcela" then chances are the people in the "Tribunal de Terras" will not want to be bothered with searching for it, (they might have 20 or 30 or more for a single parcela).

My personal opinion, get another laywer to process the contract to a title. The more you wait, the more problems you will have, in general it is typical for people to be duped into beleving the transaction has completed when only a contracto de compra venta exists.


Taxes might accrue over those years also, some one else I am sure will clarify this.

-Lee

I advise you to handle this ASAP. The reason your cousin might not be able to get a title is because there are other people holding claims, inheritances, or who knows what to this land. He may uncomfortable giving you the bad news, but the longer you wait, the more entangled the mess becomes.

We had someone sell us land they didn't own (they had options on part of the land), and because our lawyer was in cahouts with this seller, we didn't find out for two years. Our lawyer couldn't deliver the title (but let us pay 1/2 the amount of the sales contract). Funny thing is, we ended up getting title from the real owners for much less than the original contract. Pretty soon the seller will now ask for the rest of his money, and we will tell him to stick it where the sun don't shine.

7 to 10 years! If the proper documentation is in place, the longest it could take is months, never years. Sometimes you can obtain a Certificate of Title in days.

For a checklist of the documents required for a trouble-free closing, go to http://www.drlawyer.com/txt/articlesreal.html

property titles

Thank you so much Fabio, we are in the process of buying a property near POP over the internet, from UK, we have paid a deposit after seeing a copy of the title, but we have asked for a certificate that your article refers to, now we'll make sure our lawyer, Guido perdomo or his staff has conducted the search, not just accepted a signed cert. from the registrar. We have noted all of your advice of procedure. Very grateful. E Candido

FYI, encandido, Guido Perdomo is a reputable lawyer. If someone didn't want to use Fabio for some reason or other, he is the lawyer that I would recommend.

Thank you Ken I dont know why I dont set up a direct line to you, youve answered so many questions. Im glad Guido is good that is a relief, and the gmt clock is still wrong lolololol Barby. where do you live>

Sosua; have a condo in Residencial El Neptuno in town.