June, 2006

Costa Rica property titles having security issues.

Registro Nacianal is under severe fire because of fraud.

Currently the secure property records at the Costa Rican national registry are under severe attacks through the use of computers. These records are supposed to be secure andand not accessible by hackers in the outside world.

Attackers are trying to and in some cases actually getting the records and or titles of properties and modifying them so that they can sell them quickly without getting caught. Currently the network of computers is getting hit so hard that often it does not even work at all.

To what extent of fraudulent under goings is actually taking place no one knows. In short this is how the system actually works:

First of all legal documents are made up and then both parties go to a notary or a Costa Rica lawyer that is a notary and sign the documents in their presence so they can be stamped. Now the documents are legal and have to be filed or registered.

Next the document is filed at the Costa Rica Registro Nacional and categorized by a two-part volume and entry number.

After a delay of sometimes up to a couple months a registrar checks out the document and its contents. If all parts are up to par the document is registered, if not it is returned. Many people feel part of the process is to return documents even though they were just fine. This weeds out people filing documents with the register that sometimes could be for fraudulent purposes.

This process can be speeded up greatly with the use of a Costa Rica attorney (abagado) or lawyer.

 

At CostaRicanLaw.net we specialize in providing legal services to individuals and companies wanting to live and do business in Costa Rica. We are with you from the first question to the final request, under the highest standards of service and skill. We want to be a part of your Costa Rican life.