Costa Rica Squatters Law

Squatters or precaristas, as they are known in Costa Rica, can be a real problem.

Costa Rica Squatters

In Costa Rica squatters have certain rights. The laws that protect them were originally passed to prevent wealthy people from acquiring too much land as in some Latin American countries. Land ownership here is an active process, stop taking care of it and it will go to someone who will.

It is the law!

Costa Rica established their law so that foreigners could not buy large chunks of land and leave it idle as a future investment. They established their law originally so that they didn’t have a large class of people denied land because a few very rich owned it.Undeveloped land is a prime target for squatter invasions all over the country. Once they establish themselves on your land it is difficult to get rid of them. If they occupy the land for less than a year it is fairly simple to have them removed, especially during the first three months by simply calling the Fuerza Publica. The sooner you get them off the land the fewer problems you will have. After the squatters have been occupying the land for more than a year, the legal process to have them removed is often a long, exhaustive process.Be careful! After a certain period of time they can claim the land as their own.Costa Rica’s take on squatters is unique, compared to other countries of the region. For example, in Panama real estate squatters have no legal rights whatsoever. If you buy land in Panama, leave it alone for ten years, and upon your return people are living on it, you can have them removed immediately.The best way to avoid squatters is preventing them from settling on your land. Visit the land periodically to help prevent people from settling on it. If you cannot live on your property year-round, then you will have to hire a guard, caretaker or a reliable house sitter to watch it for you. If you have a caretaker make sure to obtain a receipt each time you pay them. Have your lawyer or some other person keep an eye on your caretaker. There have been cases where caretakers have tried to squat on land.Also, make sure boundary fences and limit signs are well maintained and visible. If you have to be an absentee owner, you can also have a friend or attorney stop by to check your property periodically.There was is a big discussion on the squatters topic in a prominent English-language newspaper in Costa Rica, A.M. Costa Rica. To read the opinions and stories from expats living in Costa Rica, click here.

• http://www.amcostarica.com/morenews3.htm