fishy

I read somewhere a while back that if you were not actually in your home for a number of months, a squatter could easily claim your property. It went on to talk about the difficulties in removing them. I'm not sure if it was Panama or CR, but it made me uneasy. If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it.

PanamaPat

It's Costa Rica that is known for its squatter problems. I don't think it's a real issue in Panama. From a legal point of view, a squatter can claim right to a property only after a decade or more of actually living on it uncontested.

Still, if it does happen it can be a real nuisance. Here are some preventive measures I'd implement:

• Do a thorough title search before buying a property. This makes sure that nobody else can claim to have a title on the property later.
• Pay taxes on the property regularly. This protects you from organized squatters who might be looking for properties that are late in their tax payments (with the assumption that these properties might have been abandoned).
• Keep the property in good shape and have someone look after it. Makes you less of a target... squatters will first go after homes that actually look abandoned.