The Process of Bankruptcy in Costa Rica

May 14th, 2009

There are many established forms of declaring bankruptcy in our laws, amongst those are included the application of the very manager or administrator of the company that is in the process of bankruptcy or including a creditor that can prove that the has stopped paying, amongst others, (these being the most common).
When the debotr applies for bankruptcy the application should be accompanied by various requirements which include the balance dated and signed, the facts that led to the bankruptcy, general state of the business, amongst others, any inexact data will be a motive to declare the bankruptcy as fraudulent.
After the bankruptcy has been decreed by the judge, it will be decreed that no act be inscribed, whether it be a sale, mortgage, forfeitures, etc. in the Public Registry, communication to banks and lending institutions that they abstain from handing over to the debtor stock issues, any curator (who is the representative in this case of the bankrupt company)and not to the bankrupt company, an embargo on real property of the bankrupt organization.
The Public Ministry must determine if the bankruptcy was applied for in a fraudulent or guilty manner.

Refer to aspects such as fulfilling existing contracts, severance pay, notice, rental contract for the buidling, etc.
Our regulations establish an order of priority of payments, that is, of all the property that the company has at the moment of bankruptcy, they must pay in the following manner:

- Mortgage Creditors and Lendros
- Payment to Workers. The workers enjoy the very special privilege above all creditors, and the curator will be obligated to pay a notice, severance pay, and indeminizations of damage and prejudices if they exist, within 30 days following the formal recognition of the credit. The bankruptcy of the owner is included in the causes for termination of the work contract without responsibility for the worker, but in no moment does he lose the right to be paid corresponding amounts.
- Credit to landlords and renters. In the bankruptcy or insolvency of the renter, the curator is responsible for the representation of the bankruptcy amongst the competition of creditors, exercising the rights and fulfilling obligations derived from the rental contract.  The landlord will have the status of privileged creditor, in any pending process or action that must be exercised against the renter or against the bankruptcy or in competition from other creditors.
Mass creditors (expenses that come from judicial expenses such as stamps, honorariums to lawyers, personal costs, taxes, medical assistance expenses, provisions used during the execution of the bankruptcy, amongst others).
- Common credits (the creditors that never legalized their credits)

Is there somewhere on the internet where the pertinent law can be consulted?
Various laws in Costa Rica regulate related issues to bankruptcy, some more special than other in the matter that they regulate.  Nevertheless, the Commercial Code, the Civil Process Code, and the Labor Code regulate the established norms for the material.  All of it can be found at: http://www.pgr.go.cr/Scij/
What is the equivalent of Chapter 13 in Costa Rica?
Chapter 13 refers to the intervention undertaken by the government of the United States with the purpose of reorganization for the bankruptcy of companies or the insolvency of a physical person.  In Costa Rica, although it is unusual and few companies have choses this treatment, there exists what is known as “administration and reorganization with judicial intervention”, which is a process in which the physical person or company that find itself in a difficult economic situation with an end of payments or without them altogether, that is still solvable as long as bankruptcy as not been declared.  Very formal requirements must be satisfied, being that beneficiaries must be companies whose disappearance can provoke pernicious social effects, without possibility of substitution.

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Costa Rica’s Real Estate Market and the Economic Crisis

April 19th, 2009

Even though the world is in an economic slow-down, real estate experts are all saying that buying real estate in Costa Rica is going to be a great investment as the market starts turning around and getting back on its feet.
Where else around world can foreign people come to a country with no army and a government that loves foreign investors and has real estate with no rules and where foreign people are eligible for the identical ownership rights as citizens of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is an amazingly peaceful country, sitting between the Pacific cost and the Caribbean coast, presents possible buyers a big array of decisions. Un-created and undeveloped coastal real estate properties from ranches to cabins to hotels and homes on the beach, all these types of real estate are very prevalent in Costa Rica.
Real estate property prices stopped growing for many years now, creating a great chance to make a lot of money in the Costa Rican real estate market in the coming years.
An old Costa Rican real estate vendor said signals of a market turnaround started around 1998, and they continue to be on the rise. Hotels and rental properties are being booked around 80 percent for the year of 2000. The quick and fast marketing plan of the previous tourism czar, it is showing very strong conclusions, and the recent international airport in the area of Northern Guanacaste is very populared and usually very busy with tourism flights from all over the world.
One of the biggest changes around the real estate market from the last ten years is that prices went up a whole lot as Costa Rica became a part of the international community, the prices have gone up more than 100% in the last few years.
Just a ten minute walk to the beach, a couple bedrooms, a couple bath homes begin at thirty thousand dollars and a single-family home begins at six thousand dollars. Full family homes can cost as much as thirty thousand dollars.
Except for the cheap deals, Costa Rica used to be known for especially good deals on real estate might even be discovered at the public auctions that are announced around the Costa Rican government.

Other cheap deals could be discovered in more secluded places, like the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica’s southern area. Buying real estate in remote places usually leads to better prices and good deals.
In Costa Rica, a few places have already nad their property values increase by almost 300 percent. Not around the Osa Peninsula, nonetheless. The prices are building, they’re going up, except you can even get an amazing piece of real estate with public electricity and fresh water, even a view of the ocean and occasionally even a home for under the cost of a one bedroom condo in the United States.
Even though the Costa Rica’s central valley only accounts for about five percent of the total land mass, it consists of the most of the country’s total population. So itt shouldn’t come as any surprise that real estate prices all over the higher in the metropolitan area because it’s so populated.

admin Why Real Estate in Costa Rica

Costa Rica credit crisis

April 19th, 2009

The United States credit crisis keeps harming real estate and investments over seas as well. Many developments in Costa Rica could be delayed or canceled altogether because of a lack of money from investors. The world wide credit crisis is hurting the emerging real estate market in Costa Rica with many different projects being put on hold or flat out canceled.
Many big hotels in Costa Rica are given money by United States banks. Everything from the Hyatt hotels to the Regent hotels and many more in Costa Rica. All the construction and building is currently in question and the results depend on when the credit crisis will end, and when banks will start lending money again.
AOL Founder Steve Case gave a lot of money, almost 800 million dollars, for the construction of the Cacique hotel on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The construction was suppose to begin early next year. Except now the project that includes a couple hotels and a big spa, as well as amazing tennis courts and other sporting arenas won’t even start until late 2010 or early 2011. That’s assuming the credit crunch ends by then.
It’s additionally a down-side for Agassi who has huge plans for the real estate market in Costa Rica. Earlier in the year they stopped building a luxury hotel because they couldn’t get the required money loaned to themto build their new arena.
Around the recent habitat, we don’t think about it being a good idea to begin with construction, he said, except as soon as the markets are back to to regular, the project should continue as it has been planned, we just don’t know exactly when this will happen. The Regis hotel which was suppose to be built in Costa Rica has been put in hold for the same reason, because of money problems.

“We are putting this on hold for the moment, to give us an opprotunity to investigate how the credit crunch situation is going to play out” said a hotel developer with big plans in Costa Rica. That new Regis hotel was being given money by the United States bank Lehman Brothers, the same bank that no longer exists because of the credit crisis and banking crisis. They haven’t been able to find another lender in these conditions to back up the construction costs.

The next Lehman Brothers financed hotel project was Manzanillo’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Additionally it finds itself on unstable grounds, because its bank sponsor filed for bankruptcy. Due to money worries and instability in the market, the whole project might be extended or even terminated.
There are additionally many concerns about who the owners of these projects will be once they’re completed. The American people represent the biggest groups of visitors to Costa Rica, and there are fears in the government and all over the world that tourism is going to slow down or stop because of the credit crisis.

admin Costa Rica credit & loans

Constructing and building Laws in Costa Rica

April 19th, 2009

Constructing and building a house in Costa Rica could be a memorable event that can be enhanced by the choice of a good, quality architect and expert construction consultants. Finding the right guys for the job starts with a meeting then is followed up by exact stats that will set out the information needed to start and complete the construction job.
When first examining your property, studies have to occur to find all accessible resources and all demands must be fulfilled. If the consultants find something wrong with your property, or inaccessible natural resources, this could pose a problem for your new real estate investment.
These very simple studies are required to figure out the conditions of the environment and physical characteristics of your new property. Until you do this, any development or building can’t be done yet. These simple studies include examining the soil around your home and going over the architecture plans.
Big projects like this are split into a couple different phases. First is the design of your project, and second is the actual construction. Obviously phase one is where all the studies happen, and  you go over your plans for building and construction. After everything clears with the city and the state, you are able to move on to actually building your new property.
The preliminary design has to live up to established requirements in addition to recent regulations and rules. The preliminary design has to involve an approximation of the total costs for this project. It should additionally involve all graphics required to clearly show the technical aspects of your project, such as how your house will be built.

Your construction design should clearly display the character and reason for any work and permits that are needed to finish your project in time, with an accountable expert. In accordance with this kind of project, these designs have to involve many different aspects from distribution and structural information to installation notes. All your technical specifications have to be included around the construction designs. Construction designs normally involve the design side of things, from construction to architecture.
The 2nd part of the building process is the construction phase. Some of the things involved here include inspecting the house or building, making sure electricity works, and the house is functional.
Inspection of the home is performed by an expert while the construction is still in process to ensure that the work is completed in accordance with the rules of the state. Even though the expert in the allegation of this inspection is accountable for it, the job does not free the constructor of any contract responsibility. The inspection service contains frequent visits of the expert to the place you’re doing construction. If you ask for a resident expert to finish inspections, this service has to be given to a special contract and separately to the expert price per hour which can be found on the official rate list.
Consultant work is thought of as an expert service, in which the expert is the representative and owner of the clients best interests. Below the overseer’s responsibility for the inspection, the work must be performed in accordance with proper legal construction designs, real estate laws and technical rules from Costa Rica. The work overseer organizes all of the work in advance of each phase. They are also responsible for managing the budget and giving cash to the people who are constructing the property.

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Costa Rica Real Estate Law

April 19th, 2009

Costa Rica placed 4th around the world as the perfect habitat for real estate investment, because there are not many restrictions or guidelines on foreign people owning land or homes in Costa Rica, foreign people have identical rights as Costa Ricans and don’t need any special conditions to buy real estate in Costa Rica.
Inside Costa Rica, there’s a few restrictions you need to know about, so I advise acting in due diligence when you’re looking for property in Costa  Rica to figure out if the location and restrictions are going to affect your buy. Instructions from locals and other professionals is suggested before going to buy any type of real estate.

Foreign people have to have a current and valid Passport or evidence of being a resident.
Costa Ricans have to give their ID card. Businesses and corporations have to be registered in Costa Rica and their legal people have to give the certificate of incorporation, and this certificate has to be in good standing with the government. You will have to talk to the local city or town government to make sure you are paying all the proper house taxes. Every real estate transaction is recorded and logged for future use. If you obtain a piece of real estate and don’t record the transaction, this can lead to big problems down the road.
You can get a property report to show that the property you’re buying is free of liens and the mortgage is paid. The power of a lawyer might be used if the person selling the real estate refuses to give up their report showing the property is clean and all paid for. The database gives you public access and you can prove the that you own the property by using any computer in the world to access this registry.
The report basically shows and gives advice to the owner, where he current lives and the invisible boundaries on that piece of real estate.. Along with since the report shows if the house has any liens or backed up mortgage payments, you can protect yourself and your family from legal troubles by checking out the property before you by.
Some real estate companies say that you should hire a lawyer before you travel to Costa Rica to make sure all your bases are covered. This way you can call and ask any questions you might have to a real lawyer to make sure everything you’re doing is correct and legal.
Nonetheless, not all real estate in Costa Rica is recorded around the Real Estate Property Registry. There have been even a few real estate properties in Costa Rica in which the owners aren’t the holder of the title. Rather, they have living rights and are required to follow certain procedures at a Courthouse in order to get a judical order to put the property into the real estate registry database.
The Maritime Time Zone is explained as the costal area found a couple hundred meters from the high tide. This zone is split in a couple sections: The public area and a concession area. The Public area enjoys the first 50 meters of the high tide line, while the Concession area is found between the 50 meters and the a couple hundred meters out. Depending on where your property is placed, you could end up having to pay lots of extra money and taxes simply because your home is sitting in the wrong time zone.

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Learning the lay of the land in Costa Rica

March 28th, 2009

No matter where you are choosing to move with, there are certain conditions you first must consider in order to pick the most fitting satisfactory location.  Although Costa Rica may be your dream retirement country or simply just what appears to be your dream  country,  it is important to keep a level head and choose wisely when it comes down to purchasing real estate in the country.  Costa Rica while not very for a country and often thought of as a beach escape land, still has very many different types of living styles depending on where one ends up settling down at.  Due to the fact the land varies so drastically by area in regards to climate, land layout, and its developmental attributes, it would be wise to spend some time renting in Costa Rica before making a real estate commitment as it will be probably be very hard to sell your property within a year should you change your mind.  If you are too impatient to even consider Costa Rica’s low commitment low priced rentals, than here are some general tips regarding the lay of the land that may help you make your final real estate location decision.
One of the first things to consider is what type of climate you and your spouse are most likely to enjoy living in.  Although best known for its beaches and hot weather, mountain area in Costa Rica tends to be cooler with average temperatures in the low 70’s and nights in the 50’s.  If these sound like more livable conditions than blazing 90 degree humid days than you may consider the beautiful mountain scenery with a house nestled gently into the landscape.  Of course due to the difference in the sea level, these areas tend to get more rain than properties near the shoreline.
The next important consideration and perhaps the most important unless you are a millionaire, is how much you are willing and able to spend on your real estate investment.  The most expensive properties are beachfront properties since they are difficult and time-consuming to get the rights too, and properties that are within large cities such as San Jose since they are so close to all the local amenities and entertainment complexes.  Everything you may need such as shopping, the movies, hospitals, grocery stores etc are within the city limits thus driving the prices of housing located nearby up in price.  If you are older and getting around is getting difficult for you or you have health concerns and need to be by a hospital or clinic, than city properties are going to have to be the only choices for you.  Often hospital availability is not something we have to think about when buying a home, but due to the wide rural areas of Costa Rica, if you do not consider it, you may end too far from a hospital for your own well being because hospitals being non-profit organizations for the most part, do not get built on a regular basis.
If you can handle being away from the Costa Rica epicenter of activity and are satisfied with country life and a casual drive into the city here and then, then rural area is scenic and usually the most affordable.  For the same price of a small property in the city, you can probably get a larger house and acres of land in the mountains.  Of course you will be somewhat secluded from civilization and will have to drive into the city regions for shopping and entertainment, but if this is not something that bothers you than these are the best property buys in Costa Rica.

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