between the escritura and catastro, the 2 documents which officially define the property. It is important to verify both of these documents by doing a topographical study of the property and defining the property boundaries clearly. Any inconsistencies between these two documents must be resolved before proceeding with the purchase of a property.
Once you have verified the title, and checked for any problems, the seller will provide the buyer with two tax documents. The first is a copy of the tax receipt, or impuesto territorial, showing that all taxes and registration fees have been up to date, and the second is a tax clearance certificate issued by the Municipality where the property is located called a constancia municipal.
Now you are ready to have a notary draw up the sale agreement as a testimonio,
ugg for sale, or public deed. In Costa Rica all notaries are lawyers. The notary should work for both the buyer and seller and should not be biased. If you are financing your purchase with a bank or other lending institution,
Belstaff Sunglasses, the institution may reserve the right to designate the notary as a condition of the financing agreement. The notary responsible for the closing will draft the purchase contract, and be present at the closing.
On the day of the closing you are required to present proof of payment to cover several taxes and duties involved in the purchase transaction. Here are the most common:
?Transfer Tax: 1.5% of property price
?National Property Register Stamp: 0.5% of the property value
?Municipal Stamp: 0.2% of property value
?Fiscal Stamp Tax: CRC 625
?Agrarian Stamp: 0.1% of property value
?Costa Rican Bar Association: 3000 CRC for deeds over 10 million CRC
?National Archive: CRC 20
The taxes and duties are calculated based on the highest stated purchase price and the property value appearing on the Registry. The notary will certify an affidavit that the payment was made and it will be included in the documentation.
The purchase contract will then be incorporated into the notary's register, under a specific deed number. Once it is signed, it the notary is responsibility for registering the purchase as soon as possible.
When the papers have been filed, the affidavit of the transfer deed will be reviewed by the Registry and if all is well,
tory burch patterson boot, it is recorded and the buyer is declared the formal owner. Should there be any problems, the document will be returned to the notary for correction and re-filing.
Once your deed is registered, you can request an original copy of the deed, or testimonio, or a copy of the closing document with the seals showing the registration for your own verification and records. In addition, your property will have a folio real number showing you as the owner, which can be verified at the Registry.