[BUYING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE IN COSTA RICA]
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❖ Procedure to Register a Concession The procedure for a land grant or concession consists mainly of submitting a request before the local Municipality. The request will be reviewed, and the land will be inspected. If approved, the local Municipality will issue a notice that must be published in the official newspaper, allowing interested parties to manifest their concerns, complaints, or opposition regarding usage rights that may have existed previously. Once this procedure concludes, the Municipality can pass a resolution approving the concession and authorizing the drafting of a contract with the selected beneficiary. The Costa Rican Tourism Board must also approve and sign such a document. After this contract has been signed, a Public Notary must notarize the contract and file it before the Concession Registry of the Costa Rican Public Registry to guarantee that the grant will be protected from potential future claims by third parties. ❖ Term of the Concession Concessions are granted for terms ranging from five to twenty years, but they may be extended for equal time spans if the beneficiary of the concession has complied with the Municipality’s requirements and established concession fees have been paid on the required dates. ❖ Payment of Concession Rights At the moment in which the concession is granted, the Municipality will establish an annual cannon (recurring tax obligation) that the beneficiary must pay in order to enjoy the rights granted to him by the Municipality. Condominium Property The Condominium Property Law governs condominium property in Costa Rica.
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Condominium Property Regime (System) Private property developments may be admitted into the condominium property regime if the owners have complied with the legal requirements established for this special category of property ownership. The system operates under the principle of one principal property from which filial or branch properties will be derived. Each filial property will be assigned a different registration number in the Real Property Registry, which will always include the letter “F,” which stands for “Filial.” ❖ Areas Within the Condominium Two types of areas are established in a condominium property. Together, they comprise the total land area of the Condominium: i-Common Areas, which normally are for general use of the condominium owners, but such use may be restricted to only a portion of the owners, depending on numerous variations of the concept and, ii- Private Areas, which belong exclusively to each unit owner, who will have complete domain over the property. ❖ Rights of the Condominium Owner The unit owner is therefore the exclusive owner of his filial property and owner of a proportional right over the general common areas. Such proportional ownership will be determined by the size of the filial ownership as compared to the total land area of the condominium. No owner can be limited in using and enjoying the general common areas, nor may he claim a preemptive right over other owners for having a larger percentage of ownership of the total property.
ILN Real Estate Group – Buying and Selling Real Estate Series
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