Private property is registered before the Public Registry, therefore any change in ownership must be recorded, through a public deed granted by a notary public, before said institution in order to acquire legal protection. The information in the Public Registry is of public access; therefore any person may search the ownership, area, limits, liens, rights of way and all important information on the property.

Prior to the acquisition of any private property, a comprehensive study of the land must be undertaken. The issues we usually search for in the due diligence process include, among others, the following aspects:

The land on the maritime zone belongs to the State, thus making said land inalienable. Municipalities and the Costa Rican Tourism Board may grant people concession or lease agreements.

For a limited right of usage and enjoyment over a specific section of the Terrestrial Maritime Zone, for a period which varies from five to twenty years depending on the Municipality’s criteria, term which may be renewed upon its expiration. Concession land is also recorded before the Public Registry where the beneficiary of the concession rights is indicated, as well as the period of time the rights were granted by the municipality. It is important to mention that Costa Rican law does not allow a foreigner to be the beneficiary of concession rights, or hold more than 50% of the shares of the corporation which is the beneficiary.

There is a special regime for the concessions in the Papagayo area which have certain differences with the concessions in the maritime zone, which among others include that the granting of the concession is made by the Costa Rican Tourism Board and not by the Municipality.

The Terrestrial Maritime Zone (TMZ) is a 200 meter strip of land adjacent to the shoreline which is comprised by two areas: (i) the Public Zone; and (ii) the Restricted Zone. The Public zone consists of the first 50 meters from the shoreline, and the Restricted Zone is the next 150 meters adjacent to the public zone. The public zone is of public domain and no private exploitation or use can be given to that strip of land. On the other hand, the Restricted Zone can be subject of private use via a concession or lease agreement with the Municipality.

Concessions enable users to exploit and use the piece of land in accordance with the zoning regulations for the area. In order to do so, the Municipality signs a contract with the future concessionary by which the person is allowed to exploit and use the piece of land, but at the same time having the obligation to pay an annual fee to the local Municipality.

Before acquiring the beneficiary rights over a concession on the terrestrial maritime zone, the following aspects need to be taken into consideration: the duration of the concession agreement between the respective Municipality and the concessionary; the use that the Municipality has designated for said specific area, and a thorough review of the administrative file in which the concession rights were granted to the concessionary, in order to ensure that all of the legal prescriptions were duly observed.

It is important to mention that in order for the Municipality to grant a concession, there has to exist a zoning plan for the area in which the parcel is located. If the parcel is located within a protected area or a forest, the entity in charge of granting the rights of use of the parcel, which is not the same as a concession, is the Ministry of Energy and Environment (“MINAE”). These rights of use are for very restricted uses even if there is no zoning plan.

*	through the acquisition of the corporate stock of the corporation that owns the property;
*	directly by acquiring said land through a public deed, or through a public deed using a trust.

Acquiring land via share transfer is fast and less expensive. Under this method, you would only have to endorse the shares and sign a sale and purchase agreement for the shares. The only changes registered in the Public Registry are the ones related to the modification of the Board of Directors of the company which was acquired as well as any further changes you might desire such as representation, domicile and any other clauses which might be needed. The main risk that said method carries is that the new owner is not released from any obligations or contingencies assumed by the company prior to the sale of the property.