Property scam warning !
Problems with property title are not a new issue in Nicaragua. It is surprising however, how many potential buyers are still being approached with questionably titled properties.
One could understand this if the sellers were poorly educated Nicaraguan farmers who don’t know the latest laws or regulations. However, some of the persons offering property without solid title are “Reputable Realtors”. I can assure you, they are neither reputable nor are they Realtors.
Case in point:
Last week I received email from a member of the Nicaragua Living Blog Site inquiring about our Buyers Agent Services. During our preliminary correspondence it became clear that a person operating a real estate website had approached the potential buyer with an offer to sell property near the Poneloya's estuary.
From working in the area for years, we have a fair knowledge of the properties in that area and we know what is indigenous land and what has solid title.
I asked the potential buyer to contact the “agent” and find out if the titles are real or indigenous titles. Sure enough, the answer came back:
From: "sales@-deleted- realty.com" <sales@ -deleted- realty.com>
To: Deleted
Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 7:34:34 PM
Subject: Re: PID: 58416264
Both are Indian Community Titles. A lot of titles in the area are from them. I own several properties and their titles are good. Taxes are a little higher (100USD/year) than simple fee title (60USD/year).
Another type of title in the area is concession title. Their yearly fees are a little higher.
Mauricio.
Well I have news for Mauricio: The tiles are not “good” as he states and he does not “own” any land there unless he is a member of that indigenous community.
If he in fact holds title to any property on indigenous land, he holds title to nothing. He can never sell the property since he does not legally own it unless he is a member of that community. Even then selling any title outside of that community is against the law. He may enter into and agreement with the community to rent the land one year at the time but that is about it. If Mauricio is trying to sell land that belongs to an indigenous community he may well be guilty of land trafficking and subject to lengthy jail time.
It is important to understand that the Junta Directiva of indigenous communities change regularly. (Mostly annually). The new Junta has the right to change any and all agreements and it is not uncommon that non-indigenous “owners” of property within the boundaries of indigenous communities have to buy their right to use the property annually over and over again since they have no rights whatsoever to the property under the law.
It is sad that these scams are still happening and that so called “Realtors” are involved in this type of transactions. They are either plain criminals or too lazy or too dumb to educate themselves in the laws of the land.
For this particular potential buyer, contacting us to find out about Buyers Agent Service, saved him a lot of grief and money. Best of all, it did not cost him a penny.
Our advice:
- Be careful
- Educate yourself
- Use a Buyers Agent for all purchases no matter how “good” the title may seem.
