Archive for January 20th, 2010
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Costa Rica earns its reputation as the easiest country to buy property in Central America. The political stability and volume of expats help keep surprises to a minimum, while there are ample bi-lingual resources.
The actual process is fairly similar to the United States, with a certified escritura (title) and plano (survey) required for most transactions. Title insurance is available. Agents don’t have to be licensed, but the Costa Rica Chamber of Real Estate Brokers and other groups are helping to bring standards and the NAR’s ethical code to the industry.
Moving and living in Costa Rica is on the rise today. A lot of people are opting for Costa Rica as one of the best places to spend the best years of their life. Costa Rica is an enthralling country located in the isthmus of Central American between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. When this country was discovered by Christopher Columbus in the 1500s, he named the country “Costa Rica” which means “rich coast” in English. This is because this lovely country has a rich and vast coastline.
Let’s look at what makes Costa Rica so attractive for expats. A very low rate of crime (no society is crime free), a low cost socialized health care system, inexpensive housing, a wealth of every imaginable activity to stay busy and happy, with a few excellent online English newspapers top10costarica.com, amcostarica.com, and ticotimes.net, cable and Direct TV with all of the U.S channels, high speed internet, wonderful state of the art malls, the latest movies (lucky for us all the movies here are kept in English with Spanish subtitles), buy whatever new cloths you need from brand name chains, all the fast food chains from North America (KFC, MacDonald’s, Burger King, Taco bell, subway to name a few), state of the art hospitals and cosmetic surgeons, lots of bilingual college students at the bars, great surf for the novice beginner to the veteran surfer (competitions going on yearly), simply put there’s plenty to do. This is the land of unlimited and exciting business opportunities for enterprising a foreigner. Moreover, most people can live on less than $1,500-2,000$ monthly excluding rent. Some live for less and some for more depending on their lifestyles.
When you take into account all of these factors and such intangibles as a more peaceful and laid back way of life - no price is too high to pay for living in a unique tropical paradise like Costa Rica. Housing is only a fraction of the cost and it is in most prime area of Central America not to mention hired help to keep that house tardy is a steal. A full-time maid costs around $10-20 per day. Utilities such telephones, electricity and water are much lower than in North America (much, much lower). Public transportation (taxis) is excellent and very inexpensive, so you don’t really need a car.
Faced with the spiraling cost of living, oppressive taxes and a slew of government regulations in the U.S., people of all ages including baby boomers and entrepreneurs, are searching for an affordable place to reside outside of the United States without sacrificing their current lifestyles. Costa Rica may be the place you are seeking. (more…)
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Another 4.7 earthquake hits the Panama - Costa Rica border yesterday at 07:06
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
The Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), Laura Chinchilla, has filed suit in the Tribunales de Justicia, Otto Guevara, candidate for the Partido Movimiento Libertario (ML).
Chinchilla considered insulting that Liberatio candidate questioned the origin of the funds used to buy house in the residential community Villa Real, located in Santa Ana, where she resides with her husband and son.
Chinchilla says that the claim by the Liberatarian that the house is valued at ¢500 million colones is false, as well as implying the money came from questionable sources.
Doña Laura made it clear that her house is valued at ¢167 million colones, which she was able to buy thanks two mortgage loans, one to buy the lot and the other to build the house.
“I do not have have great wealth, I have my house and a 1999 model vehicle. My only asset is my honour and honesty, and that is priceless”, said Chinchilla.
The PLN candidate said that her opponent has crossed the line in his political attacks in this campaign, saying she will not tolerate being accused of corruption that has been common in the country, referring to the Caja-Fischel case that recenlty saw a former president of Costa Rica and high profile government officials and businessmen sentenced to prison.
Chinchilla has hired former Fiscal General, José María Tijerino, to argue the case in court.
“I am saddened that this is happening at this point in the campaign. I have led a responsible campaign and have not provoked any personal attacks against my person and want to assure all Costa Ricans that they will never be ashamed of the person (she) they will elect to govern”, said Chinchilla.
If the Libertario’s retract, the former vice-president said she will ask for damages from Otto Guevara, which undisclosed amount will be donated to the Hospital Nacional de Niño (children’s hospital).
“I don’t want to receive any compensation from this. I will not touch a single penny coming from that party”, said Laura.
In the ML camp, Christian Arguedas, heading the campaign for Otto Guevara, considers the Chinchilla action one of a desperate woman due to rise in popularit of the Movimiento Libertario.
Arguedas was firm in his assertion that Chinchilla is lying about her personal finances, that some of the most influential people in the country live in Villa Real, where homes go from us$1.5 to us$2 million dollars, and that she and the party are panicking with the results of the latest polls.
Although Chinchilla continues to lead the polls, her popularity has dropped some points, while that of Guevara is rising quickly and steadily, in what many are beginning to believe that there may be a run off election.
In 2006, Oscar Arias was considered, like Chinchilla, a shoe-in for the presidential chair, but almost lost it to Ottón Solís on election day. Arias won the 2006 elections by a margin of less than 1.000 votes.
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Nearly nine months after arriving at Buen Pastor women’s prison in San José, Christine Wenger-Bartee was taken back to the United States in handcuffs earlier this month.
According to the U.S. Embassy, she and her husband Linn Morris Bartee, both of northern California, were arrested and transferred on tax evasion charges.
For the better part of 2009, Christine fought off attempts to return her to her home country, while living on rice and beans in prison and bunking with women convicted of far more serious crimes than her own.
Her lawyer, Arcelio Hernández, successfully blocked three prior extradition attempts while Bartee lobbied for refugee status. Yet this last, successful attempt, on Jan. 9, was allegedly done without due notification and outside of normal business hours.
“It was basically kidnapping,” Hernández wrote in an e-mail to The Tico Times. “(The Osa court) made sure I had no chance to file a habeas corpus … and did not let my clients call me.”
The Bartee’s case is being prosecuted by the Eastern District of California Bankruptcy Court, where they are being charged with conspiring to evade the payment of federal income taxes, making false statements in a bankruptcy case and fraudulently concealing property in connection with a bankruptcy case, according to U.S. attorney Philip Ferrari. The maximum sentence the Bartees face is five years.
In May, Bartee, 51, was taken from her home in Tres Ríos de Coronado and separated from her husband and granddaughter. She was wanted on tax evasion charges, the result of a bankruptcy filing gone wrong, she said. During the process of filing for bankruptcy, she said she was “cheated and tricked.”
In her absence, she said, the U.S. government seized her ranch and drained her of her assets. She told The Tico Times in a September interview, “Any debts I left behind were more than paid off with what they took.”
While in Buen Pastor, Bartee said she survived in part because of the company of Ellen Stubenhaus, who was arrested weeks after Bartee on charges of conspiracy against the U.S. government. Stubenhaus, who came to Costa Rica in 2001, remains at Buen Pastor.
According to the U.S. embassy, the number of extradition requests made to Costa Rica varies from year to year, but average from 10 to15 annually.
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