Good morning!
And I am back with more information to be useful to you!
I hope you had a great weekend and that this week is very productive! Here is some data about closings in Puerto Rico that you need to look at.
Enjoy!
ML,
Santiago Lampón
Before a closing in Puerto Rico – What do you need to look at? – Transcript
Hello my name is Santiago Lampón I am a lawyer and notary in Puerto Rico and welcome to this episode of Puerto Rico Legal Video Blog. I am going to give you a list, its going to be a complete list, I am going to be giving you what you should be discussing with your lawyer or what you should be looking at, when you are doing a closing for a real estate property in Puerto Rico.
So pay attention and by the way some of these subjects I have already covered on this blog, so you may want to watch some of the other videos I have on this. When you are going to purchase a property in Puerto Rico, obviously, you are going to take a look at the title. That may seem obvious but you want to make sure you discuss it. Is the title OK? Are there any encumbrances? Are they any liens? Are there any restrictions? I’ll give you an example; if you are purchasing a property in a residential area: What are the restrictions that apply to that area? That’s all covered in the title. Yes you have some residential properties with some restrictions and no they are not necessarily what you call legal restrictions. It could be that when the area was created many years ago, somebody signed a contract limiting the use of the property or the use of the area.
One of the items that people on this blog watch a lot and ask questions about, a lot, are taxes. Meaning property taxes. Property taxes are a big issue in Puerto Rico. Are they assessed? Is the property correctly assessed? Not only assessed, not only appraised but has it been correctly appraised. When was the last appraisal done? Did the heirs (if the heirs are present) change the name of the person who appears as the owner of the property at the property tax authority which in Puerto Rico is: CRIM, that’s how you know it. CRIM.
Mortgages. It is common that properties have mortgages, half paid begin cancelled. Will they be cancelled when you are doing the closing? How are they going to be cancelled? That’s one of the items. Another thing you are going to look at maybe is insurance, title insurance, property insurance. This is not necessarily a legal subject but I will give you an example. Some people purchase the properly from someone. Not an entity, someone, an individual. Then they said I am going to rent it, I am going to lease it because I can make money out of it. Then when they go for the insurance they go for personal insurance because personal insurance is cheaper, its less money and they rent the property because this is a residential area.
You know what. If you some of your guests have it claimed maybe the insurance will not cover, because you should have taken another type of insurance, commercial insurance. Just discuss it with your lawyer or discuss it with your insurance agent. These are some of the items. They are actually more things that need to be covered. That would be another chapter and another episode. Again my name is Santiago Lampón; I am a layer and a notary in Puerto Rico. If you have any questions you can send them by email and my email address will appear on the screen or you can give me a phone call or you can post them on this page and I can get to them as fast as I can. I hope you have a great day.