Problem number one is the state of the legal profession here.  In many respects, the legal profession in much of Latin America may not be up to the standards you have come to expect in your home country.  This means that there are many crooked lawyers out there, and if you get "taken for a ride" by a shyster lawyer, there often times isn't much you can do about it, other than take the situation to court, which can be a long, involved process taking many years and sucking up bucketfuls of cash. 

In my practice, I often hear horror stories of clients who have trusted their "legal adviser" and have lost tens of thousands of dollars in the process!  One scam usually isn't discovered until it's way too late.

Here's how this works.  The client is told by the lawyer that they need to have a Costa Rican own part of their about to be formed Costa Rican company.  Their plan is to either conduct a business with this company, or hold real estate in it, which by itself is an excellent idea.

So, the shyster lawyer gets his secretary or other accomplice put on the board of the company and is made part owner.  In many cases I have heard of, unknown to the client, the accomplice was made a majority owner, or company president, or given a power of attorney.  In other cases, they are a minority stockholder,  but they have the power to extract what they want later from the victim.

Once this structure is in place, the client goes his or her merry way, thinking they are protected, so they either start that business or buy that property and have it settled into the company.

In many cases, the problem doesn't surface until the client dies, leaving the heirs with a problem they are not equipped to solve.  The "nominee" now springs into action, and demands a huge payoff to sign off on any transfer documents or sales.  If they don't receive this bribe, the heirs will either lose everything or face a long, involved battle in the inefficient and slow Costa Rican courts.

Others who are not so lucky, especially absentee owners, return to Costa Rica one fine day to discover that the underlying property or business has been sold right out from under them, and that the "nominee" has disappeared.  And, even if found, their word is backed up by the liar -- er, LAWYER, so there is often very little chance of recovery as it is your word against theirs, as you "gave" them the legal right to do what you did when you signed the original legal documents, which are required to be in Spanish.  Discovering later that you have been lied to, and that the "translation" you were presented with is wrong, is no excuse.  You lose big time.

This is why it is imperative that you deal with a competent, honest, legal professional to do your work IN YOUR INTERESTS, not their own!  For someone who has "just gotten off the plane," not knowing any Spanish, your chances of being "taken for a ride" are very great, as you will most likely want to deal with someone who speaks perfect English.  Knowing this, the scammers ALL know perfect English.

This is where a local consultant can come in very handy indeed.  For our small fee, we can help you to navigate the local maze, steering you clear of the pitfalls you would otherwise encounter. 

I have a full range of personalized services which I provide for my clients, making sure that, as much as humanly possible, you get what you pay for and expect rather than a bad experience.