Is it safe to buy property in Costa Rica? Yes — with an independent lawyer and escrow.
Buying property in Costa Rica is safe when you use your own independent attorney and a SUGEF-registered escrow account. Costa Rica has a reliable National Registry and foreigners have the same ownership rights as nationals. The danger is procedural — skipping due diligence — not systemic. The three documented scams below are all defeated before any money moves.
The risk is procedural, not systemic.
Costa Rica is not a place where property fraud is baked into the system. Ownership is recorded in a single, centralized National Registry (Registro Nacional), foreigners may own titled land outright, and licensed escrow agents are regulated by SUGEF, the banking supervisor. Foreign buyers get hurt in a narrow, avoidable way: they trust the seller's lawyer, skip the title study, and wire funds under pressure. Close that gap and the safety follows.
The 3 real-estate scams foreigners face — and how a lawyer prevents each.
1. Concession / maritime-zone bait-and-switch
You are sold the “ownership” of a stunning beachfront lot. In reality the land sits in the Maritime Terrestrial Zone — the first 200 meters from the high-tide line — where the first 50 meters can never be owned and the remaining 150 meters are held only under a municipal concession that expires, renews on the town's terms and often caps foreign holders. You wired money for a fee-simple title that does not, and cannot, exist.
An independent lawyer pulls the folio real at the Registro Nacional and reads whether what you are buying is titled land (propiedad) or a concession (concesión). If it is a concession, I tell you before you sign — the term left, the municipality's conditions, the foreign-ownership cap and whether a fideicomiso (trust) structure is even viable. The seller's lawyer has no incentive to raise this.
2. Hidden liens, mortgages or embargos not disclosed
The property looks clean and the seller is charming, but recorded against the finca are a mortgage, a judicial embargo (embargo), a tax debt or an easement the seller never mentioned. In Costa Rica these encumbrances travel with the land, not the person — so once you close, they become your problem, and the seller is gone.
Every encumbrance is recorded against the folio real at the National Registry. The title study I run reads all of it — liens, mortgages, embargos, annotations and overlapping claims — and confirms the seller is the true registered owner with clean authority to sell. If anything is recorded, we clear it before closing or you walk away. This is exactly what a rushed, seller-friendly closing skips.
3. Deposit-pressure wire fraud (rushed wire to a non-escrow account)
You are told the deal is “hot,” that another buyer is circling, and that you must wire a deposit today — directly to the seller, the realtor or a personal account “to hold it.” Once the funds leave your bank to a non-escrow account abroad, they are almost impossible to recover, and sometimes the property was never really for sale.
Funds never move to a personal account. Your money goes into a SUGEF-registered escrow account, held by a licensed, regulated escrow agent under Costa Rica's anti-money-laundering rules, and released only when the agreed conditions — clean title, signed and recordable escritura — are met. Urgency is a pressure tactic; real deals survive due diligence, and I let you slow the clock down.
What changes when the lawyer works for you, not the seller.
The same purchase, seen from two sides of the table. Independent counsel is what turns every risky moment into a controlled one.
| The moment | Rushed, seller-friendly closing | Independent lawyer + SUGEF escrow |
|---|---|---|
| Title status | Taken on the seller's word; concession sold as “ownership.” | Folio real read at the National Registry; titled land vs concession confirmed in writing. |
| Encumbrances | Hidden liens and embargos surface after you own them. | Every lien, mortgage and embargo read and cleared before closing — or you walk away. |
| Your funds | Wired under pressure to a personal / non-escrow account. | Held in a SUGEF-registered escrow account, released only on clean conditions. |
| Who is accountable | A lawyer paid to close the deal — for the seller. | One attorney and notary accountable only to you, end to end. |
Five steps that make a Costa Rica purchase safe.
This is the sequence I follow before you sign or wire a single dollar. Each step neutralizes one of the documented scams.
- 01
Hire an independent attorney first
Retain your own lawyer — not the seller's or realtor's — before you sign anything or move any money.
- 02
Confirm titled land vs concession
Verify at the Registro Nacional whether the property is fee-simple titled land or a maritime-zone concession.
- 03
Run a full title study
Read the folio real for liens, mortgages, embargos, easements and overlapping claims, and confirm the seller is the true registered owner.
- 04
Use a SUGEF-registered escrow account
Route all funds through a licensed escrow agent. Never wire a deposit to a personal or non-escrow account.
- 05
Close only when conditions are met
Release funds and sign the escritura only when the title is clean and the deed is recordable at the National Registry.
Property due diligence & title search
Exactly what I check in the Registro Nacional before you wire a single dollar.
ReadBeachfront & the maritime zone
How concessions really work — and why oceanfront “ownership” is often a trap.
ReadDo you need a lawyer?
Why your attorney must be independent — not the one your realtor recommends.
ReadIs it safe to buy property in Costa Rica?
Yes. Costa Rica has a reliable, centralized property registry and foreigners enjoy the same ownership rights as nationals for titled land. The risk is procedural, not systemic: buyers get hurt when they skip an independent title study and escrow. With your own attorney and a SUGEF-registered escrow account, buying is safe.
What are the most common real-estate scams targeting foreigners in Costa Rica?
Three patterns are documented: (1) selling “ownership” of maritime-zone land that is really a concession; (2) closing over hidden liens, mortgages or embargos recorded against the property; and (3) deposit-pressure wire fraud, where you are rushed to wire funds to a non-escrow account. All three are defeated by an independent title study and SUGEF escrow before any money moves.
How does escrow protect me when buying in Costa Rica?
A SUGEF-registered escrow agent is a licensed, regulated third party. Your funds sit in the escrow account and are released to the seller only when the agreed conditions are met — a clean title study and a signed, recordable escritura. This removes the single most dangerous moment for a foreign buyer: wiring money directly to a stranger's personal account.
Can I use the lawyer the seller or realtor recommends?
You can, but you should not rely on them alone. The seller's or realtor's lawyer is paid when the deal closes, so their incentive is speed, not scrutiny. Independent counsel — accountable only to you — is the person who runs the title study, holds the escrow and can tell you to walk away from a bad title.
The seller says another buyer is waiting and I must wire a deposit today. What should I do?
Treat urgency as a red flag. A legitimate seller and property survive a title study and escrow. Never wire a deposit to a personal or non-escrow account under time pressure. Route any deposit through a SUGEF-registered escrow agent, and let your attorney verify the title first. If the “deal” cannot wait for that, it was not a safe deal.
How much does it cost to verify a property is safe to buy?
A title due diligence study starts from US$900 for a standard titled property, and from US$2,500 when the property is maritime-zone, concession or otherwise complex. Every engagement begins with a Strategic Valuation Session at US$350 + IVA — a mandatory, creditable first step, not a free call — so we review your specific deal and its real risks before you commit.
Before you sign or wire anything, let's check the title.
Tell me about the property you're considering. We start with a Strategic Valuation Session — US$350 + IVA, creditable toward your engagement — to review the deal and its real risks, in English, with one lawyer accountable to you. No free calls, no rushed wires.
Book a Strategic Valuation Session