Transfer Tax delay by lawyers....

Maybe somebody out there could advise me where I stand on this......

June 2006
Paid my lawyers fees and `more than enough' to cover 4.4% transfer taxes in advance as requested by email.

20.9.06
Closed on my property. Confirmed by email of 21.9.06.

13.10.06
Was asked on email to pay $3150 in transfer taxes which I'd alread covered in my June payment. Obviously questioned this and was informed they'd changed their bank account but they'd look into it.

7.11.06
Was informed by email that the transfer taxes would be paid imminently.

8.11.06
Was asked on email by another lawyer at the firm to pay extra money for problems which had been incurred by lawyer incompetence. Strongly argued against this, particularly so long after closing. Never heard anything back regarding this.

8.12.06
Was informed by email that the transfer taxes would be paid that week. Emailed back that I looked forward to hearing from then when title deeds ready. Thought everything ok.

13.2.07
Received email asking for an extra $500 because the real estate tax laws have changed this year and my property has been `re-appraised'.

In my opinion, surely I should not have to pay extra for a law which comes into force in 2007 when my lawyer has held onto money which I paid in June 2006 and when I closed on the property in September 2006.

Indeed, Fabio Guzman advises on another thread that people with untransferred property should act before April 2007 when the new real estate law comes into effect and that there will be an additional 1% tax on all transfers. So does this mean that the new law hasn't come into effect yet? Surely that's even more reason why I shouldn't have to pay this extra money?

Has anybody had similar problems with their lawyers delaying payment of transfer taxes after closing.

Oh yes, the name of my lawyer? It's GUZMAN & ARIZA! (Sosua Office).

I am happy with the outcome....

True to his word Fabio Guzman and his associates have looked into my file in great detail and contacted me directly.

Whilst all the facts that I gave on my original post were true (to the best of my belief) it would appear that there was a great deal of work carried out on my house purchase of which I was unaware. Without going into tedious details, the purchase was not as straightforward as it should have been and was further hampered by the new tax on dormant companies being introduced mid way, plus a seller who was difficult to say the least!

I was not aware that Guzman & Ariza had already waived all the extra fees involved (a substantial amount) after having already given me a discounted quote. Their examination of the situation prior to waiving the extra fees obviously delayed the payment of the transfer tax, but saved me a large amount of money. Thus, when the Internal Revenue raised the appraisal figure from the one which had been given on their website, and which had been quoted to me, Guzman Ariza felt duty bound to request the extra $500 from me, having already absorbed all the extra costs caused by the problems which arose. Even this was only requested after they had endeavoured to lower this figure. They have also admitted that these details were perhaps not given proper clarification when relayed to me, so that my version of the facts with regard to the transfer of title was not quite correct.

Obviously, now that I have been provided with all the facts, and after having reviewed all the original correspondence myself and reminding myself of exactly how much work was carried out on my purchase, I am happy to pay the $500 extra for the re-appraisal. I feel that Guzman & Ariza have MORE than fulfilled their obligations to me and made every endeavour to ensure that I would not end up `out of pocket'. I wish to stress that I have every intention of employing their services again in the future.

I hope this sets the record straight.