Most countries have laws effecting property ownership that are unique. Clearly understanding what these laws are and how they work is important. Costa Rica has a Civil Law system rather than a Common Law system. The practical difference between the two is that Civil Law is more rigid than Common Law. This makes the "procedure" frequently more important than the "substance". Realising this is important when purchasing property because the letter of the law must be followed precisely when registering property in order to obtain the full legal title. The good news, Title insurance is now available in Costa Rica.
 
As in any developing country legislation effecting non-resident ownership tends to be driven by market conditions. For instance in early 2008 Costa Rica changed its laws to allow non-residents to use mortgage financing to acquire and develop property. This opened the door for international banks to get involved in the residential markets. Over the next few years Costa Rica's mortgage market will continue to mature and provide non-residents with a broader range of financing options.
 
There are a couple of other potential hazards that need to be avoided in Costa Rica. Laws concerning squatters, expropriation and ownership of beachfront property need to be considered. During the process of acquiring several large parcels of land Costa Rica, Loring has experienced all of these unique conditions. The Loring team has successfully dealt with all levels of governement to perfect its ownership of its property portfolio in Costa Rica.
 
The full benefit of these efforts are passed on to purchasers of Loring's homesites in San Miguel by the Sea. All of Lorings' property in Costa Rica has title insurance through Stewart Title Guaranty Company, based in San Jose, Stewart Title is a 105-year-old U.S. company based in Houston, Texas, with over 3,500 offices in the U.S. and abroad.
 
To enable prospective purchasers to better understand property rights in Costa Rica we provide a synopsis from the US Embassy which it published to provide American citizens with the information it considered appropriate.

More useful information:
Purchasing Property
Building a Home in Costa Rica
Establishing Residency
Oceanfront Property
Squatters
Expropriation