Buyer Beware
Apr 3rd, 2007 by Don Ray
I received an email from one of the Chiriquí Chatter readers and I told her it would make a good post. She re-sent it as a more complete email. Read it and take heed.
Dear Don,
Buyer Beware. The reality of the situations with beach property in Panama is that it is virtually impossible to tell (especially on Las Lajas) who really “owns” the properties, unless they have already been titled. It is very easy to “create” a document from the municipality that states a person has “right of possession” and has allegedly has rights for years, or even decades. Hence, just about anyone could represent to unsuspecting potential buyers, that they in fact have a legal right to sell the property, such as ours.
Imagine our surprise, after owning our small beach lot in Las Lajas for two years, to find a Se Vende sign on our property! The once warm, sunny, laconic haven we enjoyed on weekends, or holidays, now suddenly had a dark, sinister cloud hanging over it. We took down the sign, and had several close Panamanian friends, and our attorney call the number listed. It is unclear whether or not, for sure, the sign was intended for our property, but we are pretty sure. Our amateur investigators determined that the man who answered the cell phone had offered a lot for sale but it had just been sold to a couple from Costa Rica. He would give no other information. This leaves us with the possibility that someone else believes they have purchased the property, and a messy road ahead. We won’t know until - when?
The property next to ours was allegedly for sale last year and when a friend of our visited from the US, he was interested in it. A man calling himself Mr. Danny, said he represented the sellers and arranged for the “sellers” to meet our friend at the beach with all the documents for the lot. Again, a “right of possession” letter from the municipality” and an actual plano were produced. Only it turns out that the plano listed someone other than the owner listed on our plano. Hhhmmm. A mystery. The guy who was alleging he owned the property was the cousin of the fellow we bought ours from. Easy enough - we called him. “No,” he said, “my cousin does not own that property, he sold it to the man who is named on my plano.” The deal was nixed and since then, the neighboring property is rumored to have been purchased by someone in Boquete.
So, we don’t know. Anything. While it would be painful to lose our small, sandy piece of paradise, it is something we could absorb financially. Painful, nonetheless. It is definitely factoring into whether or not we improve the property by building a more suitable shelter, or cabana. There is absolutely NO way of determining who owns a right of possession property, not with any certainty. And even titled properties can be victims of scams, while the rightful owner would certainly have recourse in that situation.
My lay advice:
1. Request a plano, and all other documents for a property. Take them to owners of surrounding properties, and to the municipality and ask them to review them with you to verify the information.
2. Actively pursue titling of the property which can be done.
3. Post non-removable signs with your name and “propiedad privado” and “not for sale” on them.
4. Visit often and keep the property up.
5. Don’t invest if you can’t afford to lose.
And lastly, let me say that the people in the town of Las Lajas, just up the road from the beach, and most of the people living around the beach, are some of the loveliest people I have met in Panama. They live quiet, simple lives, and are kind, generous and helpful. But there are always those scammers and con artists in every community, even in the United States. Just be cautious, careful, and forewarned, and informed.
We are currently traveling and recently received this email from a friend who has family in the Las Lajas area:
“….a little news item: the guy who was or wasn’t offering your lajas property up for sale, teofilo santos, was shot and killed in a tolé cantina about a month ago.”
A sad end. I’ll keep you up-to-date on our inadvertent possible timeshare! I also want to add that I have no way of knowing if any of the people I have named here are, or were involved in deceptive practices. It is just the facts, and information as given to me. I’m sure there will be some comments on our foolish, headlong plunge into buying beach property, and probably well-deserved. I hope that this information is helpful to others considering purchasing property, and that ours will still be ours, as we have always dreamed.
Vicki
Vicki, thanks for taking the time to do such a good job of writing your experiences up. I am sure that others will find it interesting as well.
Don Ray
I wonder if “titling the property” is similar to a “quiet title” action in the U.S. where every known person with a conceivable interest is named in a court action and then lots of publication notice is given before it goes to a court hearing. Anyone have any information on this?
[...] other day I posted a piece called Buyer Beware”. It caused me to think about a person I met in 2002 when I came here checking out Panama. This [...]
Do you know the last name of the Mr. Danny you mentioned earlier?
I don’t because I didn’t write that part. It was in an email to me.
hi don
I am going to Panama the last week of April hopefully to purchase property BUT believe it or not I was interested in a piece of beachfront in Las Lajas and I’m to contact a man by the name of Mr. Danny to show. me the property.Can this be the Mr. Danny mentioned in buyer beware? I’ve been told his real name is Denis Moran and I also have a phone number for him.I hear we are arriving at the start of the rainy season..does it rain every day and is it a heavy rainfall ..how long does the rainy season last? Should I be bringing any special clothing?
thanks Stuart
Hi Stuart. I can’t answer the question about Danny. Maybe the email author can respond.
In the rainy season it will rain most days. Usually the morning is nice and the rains come in the afternoon. Some rains are nice and gentle and some rain comes down by the buckets full.
Mr Danny lives and works in Las Lajas. he has been very helpful to me over the two years it took me to purchase my beachfront lot on Las Lajas. He showed me all the lots that you speak of but I would not bit in ROP land. He knows everybody and is love by most but not all, (he competes with others locals for the gringo buck) Danny likes to work for Gringos as his english is perfect, he went to high school in the states. He will freely tell you that he usally gets paid around $40 per day to translate or run errands for you. This can be a wise investment if you have spent days trying to do the simlpe things, he genraly can get them done quickly. I buy him a $10 phone card when I arrive so we can keep in touch and give him a $20 if he spends more time helping me. Danny loves to talk and is a very nice man. As for the lots he represents stay away from ROP land would be my advice unless you can truly afford to throw the money away.
I am interested in investing in a beach front lot at las lajas my question is, are all these lots untitled and what is the latest situation on the river? regards Brenda.
I can’t answer your question. I haven’t been in that area for over a year, but I do know that a lot of money has gone to fixing the problem and I would think that things should be better there now. It would be better to see for yourself and talk to people who are living there.
Interestingly, I spent a half day driving around with Mr. Danny in las Halas area. He does speak good english and was originally native to the area. I believe he said he was with the US military for quite a while too. Anyway, I was recommended to him as someone who knew the area intimately and he showed me alot of properties. I never did get too excited about any of the properties but still found him to be an interesting fellow to talk to. I guess the buyer beware and check everything out before you write any cheques would be the best course of action in any real estate transaction in Panama.