www.CostaRicaTicas.com

This should be a subject for another thread. Here is one long time ex-pats reasoning for NOT buying a house down here in Costa Rica.
#1 - No tax benifits
#2 - Much harder to sell than it is to buy
#3 - Loans are expensive,
#4 - Your capitol can get a better return elsewhere.
#5 - Rents are cheap.
#6 - Laws BIG time favor renters
#7 - You can get out of any lease in 60 days
#8 - The landlord is stuck with you for a minimum of 3 years. It is almost impossible for them to get you out.

Even worse than the U.S. now (really). At least in U.S. there are a few safeguards and different states some with better rules for the man (God bless Texas). But if you really want a Tica espousa strictly adhere to the following process:

1. If they are serious about you they will agree to come up temporarily on a K-1 for 90 days. If you feel like it will work after 30-60 days do a prenuptual with bi-lingual attorney then a quick wedding.

If she does agree to any of the above, NEXT. Try another country.

It is WAY worse. Not even close. The cards are all stacked against you in this regard.

to the Costa Rica scams of which there are mucho. This saga is equivalent to legalized theft on a grand scale. I never will buy a property down there. And if I ever rent only expensive enough to be comfortable, not a luxury place. That way if a Tica crook trys to set a standard of living it will only be on an average-good place. But American women do it too, albeit not as easy to "steal" the house.

One great thing about being a Florida resident are the protections afforded by being homesteaded. It's why those big Corporate Execs. and even O.J. buy homes in Florida. They can get sued but under this law cannot lose their homes. C.R. is just the opposite. Home lost first then have to fight to get it back.

Almost want to cancel both upcoming trips and re-book to other destinations.

Odd as it may sound......even in the U.S., there's many good reasons for renting as opposed to owning a house. One of the foremost reasons for me.......When you live in a small apartment, nobody wants to live with you.

YMMV,
Zebra

In Costa Rica, most everyone has houses, cars, boats, etc in company names. I wonder how that effects things

As a whole, we expats are seen as soft and targets. They don't pull this shit on their Latino boyfriends and husbands. Because there are consequences. I haven't gotten in any jams but I have hinted to a couple of chicas if they screw around with me, I'll take it to the streets. One chica was scared shitless that I had some Beatle Bar chick on her ass. A little intimidation works wonders.

I remember a few months back when VB first posted that this Law went into effect. I feel for you guys that live down there, I'm guessing that most guys that post here i.e VB, BK LVSteve stick to mostly P4P, BUT I'm also guessing that you have girls that you see on a semi to regular basis... You guys better start demanding a receipt from her to prove she is a paid employee

Best of luck guys... I often dream about moving down there at some point but I dunno... I know I would get bored with P4P eventually and want to do the girlfriend thing... Maybe in a dozen years or so they will change the law to make it halfway reasonable.

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Maboman
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I like my women just like my coffee...100% colombian!

Maboman,
I love your tag line !!!!!!!! Touche' !

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

As imperfect as the American system is, I feel safer with my feet on the soil here and am always nervous in Latin America, just have never been able to get rid of the edginess. Carted off to a CR jail for yelling at a girlfriend? That`s wild. And I do not know about CR but have seen on some TV documentaries where some Latin American jails do not provide food. And I`ve read that in CR they can hold you for I think it`s 6 months without bringing formal charges. Having said all that thre P4P situation has been just too good to resist. The gringo is clearly in control and more important to the hotels than the chicas. The chicas have to play up to us, is usually the other way around in America.

You can solve your problem with the Spratt easily, don't go to CR anymore, go to the Dominican Republic instead....and don't tell her!

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Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly!

I have seen this law in action fairly recently. I know a guy in Escazu who got thrown in jail for alleged abuse. He is Canadian, somewhat of a heavy drinker and kind of a mean/krass individual. So, I'm not sure if I believe his side of the story. However, if his side is the truth, then this is very disturbing.

He is married to a Tica. Late night, there was an argument, not sure if anything physical happened (He said she was smacking him, not the other way around). She called the cops. He was arrested and put in jail. During his incarceration, the police beat the shit out of him and stole his passport, watch and wallet.

He was in jail for 3 days and I saw him the day he got out. He was drunk and had bruising all over his face, arms and chest. He got the shit kicked out of him. Haven't seen the dude since, but looks like he got screwed by this lop-sided law.

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http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Could it be a conspiracy against us Gringos/foreigners who come to take their women away? Setup by the jealous Tico Lawyers and Politicos for their own advantage?

Do you CRTers think the Ticos involved with the Legal/Justice system have intentionally set it up this way then permit the enforcement side to use it at their will to harm us? More so than to provide bonafide human rights but only to women?

Personally, I feel that it was set up to be one sided, but I don't think they realized how badly it would be abused.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, because Costa Rica does not have to resources to enforce all these abuses of the system. Believe it or not, those in power are worried about the foreign investor class. It is like the Ch*ld preditor issue a couple years ago. If these things start getting a lot of press outside the country, they will move quickly to do their PR damage control.

Until then, this could be a rough period for those with live in novias. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If I was in that situation, I would be looking to extricate myself from it.

Zebra i would have to agree that is how i think as well. To all the guys trying to find a novia i wish them good luck!