UP FRONT
Life Here in Costa Rica is Referred to as Pura Vida by John Quam
EDITORIAL
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Life here in Costa Rica is referred to as God help you if you lose a license plate on pura vida. Well, in many aspects it is. your vehicle. I did — that was an experience Great beaches, beautiful people, nature and expense I would not wish on anyone. and amazing scenery. Another scenario that makes you wonder What hides behind this Pura Vida veil? about Pura Vida in Costa Rica is the sale of a property and dealing with someone else’s Have you ever visited a bank and waited attorney, who just is not buttoned up or just up to two hours to do a transaction with the doesn’t really care. teller? I recently sold a property that happened A simple thing like changing a $100 bill to have a corporation involved with it. What for colones or making a deposit can take an a mistake it was for me to form a corporation extraordinary amount of time. in the first place for a home I lived in. (That’s another issue altogether.) Upon the The necessity to do what seems like simple acceptance of the offer, the real work began. paperwork at the “platform” can drag you Getting the corporate books up to date and down the rabbit hole of bureaucracy. Well, filing the documents for shareholders. Going that is the norm when it comes to banking. to the municipality for the tax records and The sense of urgency or wanting to get much more. The checklist seems long but is transactions done quickly by the tellers just important for a smooth transaction. doesn’t exist. The employees are not there for our urgency. And it is obvious. A very important aspect of having a corporation is to have it written in such a way It would be interesting to see how many that the sale of property proceeds smoothly. hours we spend in the national banks doing My corporation was written so that all transactions that probably turn into a time shareholders had to be present in Costa Rica frame of days throughout the year. That is just for the closing. This can be problematic for one of the inconveniences that many of us many. I had to have my lawyer update and add face on a daily basis. You eventually just get an addendum to the corporation so that the used to it and accept that if you want to get transaction could proceed with just one signer something done, it's necessary to be one of at the closing. If I had been aware of how my the many waiting. corporation was formed, I would have had changes made in the beginning rather than in a I think banking is probably the most rush at the end. annoying aspect of life here in Costa Rica.