The legal system in the United States is hard enough (okay, impossible) for me to understand.  But then try to figure this all out in Costa Rica! More than overwhelming.

Many of you already know about our existing problem with the property we bought last year. In short, someone sold us property that  includes a parcel of property sold by the same seller to another buyer 10 years ago.

Two weeks after moving in, the “other guy” broke onto our property by cutting through the fence and then continued to cut down all of our 40 fruit trees claiming the land was his and he was going to build a house for his daughter.

The seller, Karen Belyea, has been hiding out in Canada while we have been sued three different ways by this other guy. He is claiming, of course, that we stole his property and that we stole his tools, not to mention a further claim that we threatened him and two other big guys with a rifle and a machete. (Need I even say we don’t own a gun or a machete? Not to mention that by time we arrived back at the property the police were already here.)

The first two lawsuits were dropped, thank God. The third came before a judge in a preliminary audience this morning. I’m happy to say that, though we won’t have her decision for 10 to 45 days, things went well for us.

The hearing (audience) was surprisingly informal. We met in the judges “chambers” in private. Each lawyer was given the chance to present their case – or in our situation a defense.

Supposedly if the judge throws the case out, this guy can’t come back on us for "usurpacion" (stealing someone’s property) or "assault with a weapon." But he can (and will be) directed to file a civil lawsuit. The judge already suggested he might think about such a thing — but against the seller. We’ll see. This guy doesn’t give up easily. (Did I fail to mention that he didn’t actually pay for the property, but isntead stole it from this woman in Canada who didn’t know what she was signing when she filed the original paperwork on the sale?)

One would assume (very dangerous) that since we bought the land in good faith, we would have some sort of recourse. As it turns out, unless we spend a fortune in legal fees and sue all parties (which supposedly would take up to 10 years), we have nobody to turn to for support in this country. What about people with even less money than us? Do they just lose everything?

These kinds of land games are famous here in Costa Rica and number in the thousands. The legal fees for JUST TODAY’S hearing were $11,000. Can you imagine a 10-year process and what that would cost?

I can already hear you saying, “Why didn’t you research the property before buying?” Well we spent a ton of money on that too. But it turns out most of the documents in the Registro (town hall record department) were filed (and accepted mind you) illegally. Bottom line is we had no way to further verify what appeared to be perfectly free & clear property documents.

I’m still searching for the greater lesson in all of this. The only advice I can give to other people who are buying land in Costa Rica is to beware of these kinds of problems. Spend all the money you want researching, planning, preparing and “protecting” yourselves, but in the end it’s still a crap shoot.