Easements can keep the backhoes away

Costa Rica is growing fast. Much of the growth is uncontrolled and can trample you if you’re not careful. Costa Rica has strong laws to protect intrinsic property rights, many of which are unknown and thus go unused here.

Powerful little-known easement laws protect property owners so they can control what is built around them. Much like the property rights law, certain easement rights can be acquired over time, like the easements of right-of-way, right-of-view and right-of-illumination. These and other important legal easement rights can also be transferred to another person acquiring a property, making real estate much more valuable in the right situations.

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When it comes to Internet, ADSL is incredibly fast. It will give you a whole new world of content at your fingertips — in a flash. Whether it’s the latest music, a CNN news video, or a streaming movie, ADSL will beam it to you at lightning speed.

The only thing that isn’t fast about it is its rollout in Costa Rica. It is talked about much like the new highway from San José to Orotina which has been “just about done” for over 20 years.

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1995 law finally having impact

Slogans like this dot the landscape because now landlords have the right to jack up rents and evict those who won’t pay. This says ‘No eviction without a fight.’

Many lawyers have made a fortune over the last year desalojando, or evicting people from their happy homes and businesses because of a change in the rental laws which happened over eight years ago.

Much of the tearing down of buildings you see throughout Costa Rica, especially in the older communities, is also due to these events.

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But there does not seem to be an overall plan

Just a sampling of potholes and the real estate offices beside them

Everyone up and down the coast of Guanacaste is getting ready for the real estate boom, all except maybe the Costa Rican government.

With few exceptions, most of the important thoroughfares are in very bad condition. As one traveler put it, “car-sized potholes” are everywhere.

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The consumer protection law in Costa Rica, a model law for Latin America, works well if you know how to use it.

On July 1, 1996, the consumer protection law was published in La Gaceta, Costa Rica’s public records bulletin. Before that date, any consumer who had a problem with a private or public company that sold products or services had few rights. The administrative and judicial processes for complaining were very complicated.

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Victims have right to express views

There may be good news for those who have lost their property or other assets to fraud in Costa Rica.

Believe or not, the courts are divided on who should be protected. Here is a little informational background:

Most jurisprudence is decided in the Corte Supremo, or superior court. The court is divided into four sections. The first court, called the Sala Primera, decides civil matters. The second is called the Sala Segunda, and is the labor court. The third, the Sala Tercera, is the criminal court. The fourth is the Constitutional Court, called the Sala Cuarta or Sala IV, and by its name it is obvious that it decides constitutional issues and that its decisions can override a law made by another of the courts.

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Attorneys are not too well thought of anywhere in the world. Costa Rica is no exception.

One dictionary tongue-in-cheekly defines a lawyer as “One who defends your estate against an enemy, in order to appropriate it to himself.”

There are many cases in Costa Rica where attorneys have done just that, manipulated paperwork so their clients lose assets they have acquired after they use legal services. Also, conflict of interest is not policed here as strongly as in other parts of the world. Lawyers in Costa Rica can represent themselves in cases where they are the bad guys.

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