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No concerns my friend. Just experience and history. I truly wish you the best of luck here in CR. Perhaps you’ll revisit with us in a year and share your experiences at that point. In the meanwhile soak up as much information and knowledge from this site from folks that have some experience in CR. You might even find that what they share isn’t as naive or vacuous as you currently feel it might be.
Learning from the experience (and mistakes) of others is the cheapest yet most valuable education you will get in life…. and it’s absolutely free if you choose to avail yourself of it.
Will do, pal, That is why I got on this site. Fact is though, you don’t know me well enough to make predictions about my future or capabilities. You don’t know me at all. To give you a synopsis, re my vitae: I am a former very successful treasure hunter. We (Treasure Salvers Inc. found a Spanish ship sunk in 1622 and found in 1988. That was 10 years of hardship and 5 lives lost.
I later lived 4 years in small villages in Vietnam when few tourists were allowed into the country. The list goes on and on. I am one of the very few survivors of such ventures. I survived MUCH worse conditions than here. I will easily last in Costa Rica, unless I just get tired of it.
What wonderful history and resume. Adventure is fun and exciting. Challenges are part of what makes it such. You may however find that the frustrations of living day to day life here in CR are very different than the past adventures you have endured. As Bill pointed out it’s a different world here. And for many folks it dooms their stay from the start. Thinking that you will change it may be the biggest roadblock in finding your happiness here. Adjusting to the Pura Vida lifestyle is possible and I hope you do so… you sound a lot more interesting than many of the folks that find their way to CR under somewhat less interesting circumstances!
Once again best of luck here and soak up all you can from this site.
Thank you. I do have to say that Costa Rica life and customs are not truly
unique. Cultures in which I have been immersed sort of overlap. I
appreciate your site.I have found that on many sites in many countries people treat me as a
newborn. Well, they tremendously underestimate my capabilities and
experience. Gad, I hate to boast.:))
I have some advice for the forum. When asked a simple question, give a straight forward answer. It seems that some contributors are dedicated to ferret out unasked for but assumed collateral questions from the original interrogative. This is a unexcusable assumption. We all are are aware of the trite but true description of “assume” No? Is anyone capable of saying yes or no to a question asking only for such a concise answer? Or are they compelled to extrude as much as possible from a simple question to overwhelm the audience with their extensive “privy to knowledge.”
G
Fair enough.
Your question was would/should you pay your attorney in cash….
My answer Yes (BTW, Always with a bill for services and receipt of payment)…. for if you don’t trust your attorney enough to pay them in cash at the conclusion of your business you certainly shouldn’t be using them to conduct your legal affairs.
The idea that paying by check, credit card or wire provides you any additional level of “protection” or recourse is foolish here in CR. And in many ways can expose you to other issues that will impact you financially at the hands of someone up to no good.
If you get a bad vibe or have not properly vetted your attorney then DON’T use them.
Well, to put this more in context, the question is; am I right in questioning whether or not an attorney’s dictated policy of cash payment for a service advance for services is a wise thing to do? That is also for all future transactions as well. I think that sort of “business activity” is ludicrously irresponsible. So far, all expats I have asked about this agree with that. This attorney has no copy machine, fax or other office tools to work with. I have taken a subtrafugal approach and asked if his office was his. It is not. He rents the space from another business. This, in my opinion is not business as usual.
I do hear and commend your advice about vetting the attorney in question. That, sir, is partially why I am asking questions on this site. The range of answers have been phenomenally divergent. I will take the business high ground on this matter and say that I am hiring a new attorney who comes highly recommended and has his own office equipment. He also does not demand CASH up front. He gives an estimate which is adequate and charges only on completion of the requested transaction. That is the way to do business. I pay cash for an ice cream or a beer. Charges for medical/legal etc. services I will pay for by check, or bank wire. But again, most of these are in the multi-thousand $ range. I do appreciate the discourse allowed on your excellent web site.
Thank You
G
.I think you’ve answered your own question there my friend. If the attorney you’re working with is operating this practice out of the back seat of a 1987 Honda parked on the corner across from the MaxiPali and is requesting cash upfront…. RUN AWAY!
Might I ask how you came to engage this person? Was he recommended by the real estate agent? The seller? The cab driver that picked you up at the airport?
I think you have already identified more than enough warning signs without even having to get to the issue of how payments will be made.
Do yourself a favor and get a referral from the real estate firm you’re working with…. that is if they’ve been properly vetted and aren’t running their operation out of the front seat of that same 1987 Honda!
Best wishes and welcome.
Done deal, thanks. Appointment with a real (reliable) atty today who conducts himself like a businessman. Great rating.
My sarcastic thanks to those who advised to rely on “trust” with my attorney. Mine, who insisted on cash “up front” took a check from me for services yet to be rendered. It went against my business radar, but I did anyhow. A few days later , I got an e-m from him stating that he was having trouble converting my check from USD to CR colones, and he asked that I pay cash up front. I did, then got another e-m from him stating that he was still having problems, and asked for MY help. 😀 I did not rise to the bait, found an honest attorney and now have the original SOB against the ropes. So, for those broke, financially embarrassed people who insisted that mutual trust is culturally embedded; Good luck! As a financially extremely well off person, I offer this advice. TRUST no one in business in Costa Rica, or anywhere else for that matter. Trust in their performance. BTW, I have reaped benefits from the SOB “trusted lawyer” I love it.
G
“The limitation is $10.000. If that runs out, there is virtually no way to get money from the US to YOURSELF in Costa Rica unless you have a bank account here, and you cannot have that until you have a residency permit.”
I know you didn’t ask about this, but your statement is wrong. You CAN open a bank account here before you apply for residency. My husband and I did this very thing almost 1 year before we applied for residency. Just wanted to let you know this because having a bank account here makes things a lot easier, in my humble opinion!:lol:
Dear contributor and member, We have long ago established a bank account in CR and I have surpassed the limits easily, thanks to some of the back door maneuvering by my financial advisor. You are right, I did not need this information, but I still thank you for your well intended advice/information.
My only contention was some advice I got on a former interrogative thread to those who advised me to “trust” an attorney or how imperative it was to abide to some sort of trust inculcation there was into the CR “society” or whatever one would call it.
Ergo, I was not wrong, but you may not have been privy to the prior dialogue on the subject.
Anyhow, my wife and I thank you for your attempt.
Hang in there and support each other.:D
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