Agent claims foreigners cannot sell a house for six years

[FamilyK]

Hello - new to this site, and this forum. My American parents bought a house they've never seen in the town of San Rafael about 10 years ago. Now they are elderly and need to sell it to pay mounting medical bills here in the US, where they live. The real estate agent conveniently "rented back" the house from my parents after the transaction was completed, paying only taxes and promising to do maintenance.

This sounds fishy!

The real estate agent told them that no foreigners can sell for at least six years, because the taxes will eat all the profit. After that, he has been uncommunicative for the last 5 or so years. Last they know, still living in their house. Uh-oh. All I have to help them with is the address in San Rafael.

Any good ideas? Does anyone know a legit land agent in San Rafael? Any ideas what I should do for them?

 

[Joglide]

Hello - new to this site, and this forum. My American parents bought a house they've never seen in the town of San Rafael about 10 years ago. Now they are elderly and need to sell it to pay mounting medical bills here in the US, where they live. The real estate agent conveniently "rented back" the house from my parents after the transaction was completed, paying only taxes and promising to do maintenance.

This sounds fishy!

The real estate agent told them that no foreigners can sell for at least six years, because the taxes will eat all the profit. After that, he has been uncommunicative for the last 5 or so years. Last they know, still living in their house. Uh-oh. All I have to help them with is the address in San Rafael.

Any good ideas? Does anyone know a legit land agent in San Rafael? Any ideas what I should do for them?

Can you explain what your parents had in mind in buying a house they had never seen and then letting an agent handle it, continuing for many years without communication or income? Was it so cheap that they were willing to lose all their money?

 

[Ries]

somebody is going to have to go there in person, hopefully somebody who speaks spanish. And it will take some time to iron this out- probably at least 2 weeks, inititally, and then, 6 months to a year before you could actually sell it. The wheels of argentine bureacracy grind exceedingly slow.

 

[sts7049]

this has quilombo written all over it

 

[sergio]

weird.

 

[MorganF]

@FamilyK — Get an Argentine lawyer who solves this type of issue. That’s the only thing to do.

 

[steveinbsas]

Hello - new to this site, and this forum. My American parents bought a house they've never seen in the town of San Rafael about 10 years ago. Now they are elderly and need to sell it to pay mounting medical bills here in the US, where they live. The real estate agent conveniently "rented back" the house from my parents after the transaction was completed, paying only taxes and promising to do maintenance.

This sounds fishy!

The real estate agent told them that no foreigners can sell for at least six years, because the taxes will eat all the profit. After that, he has been uncommunicative for the last 5 or so years. Last they know, still living in their house. Uh-oh. All I have to help them with is the address in San Rafael.

Any good ideas? Does anyone know a legit land agent in San Rafael? Any ideas what I should do for them?

Do I understand correctly; it has been ten years since the real estate agent told them they could not sell as a foreigner for six years?

Did your parents actually sign an escritura? Did either or both of them have a CDI or DNI at the time of the purchase?

Did they ever receive any papers (certified by an escribano) that showed their names and the details of the purchase?

Do you know the Nomenclatura Catastral with the legal description of the property? They would also be included in the escritura.

If there has been no contact with the agent for five years he is obviously occupying the house without a lease and that makes him a squatter.

I sent a message to a real estate professional I know asking how long a "squatter" can live in a house and pay the taxes before he can claim it as his own as there is a new law that makes it possible for someone who has occupied a property for (I believe) five years to do just that.

If you have the numerical details of the property you should be able to ask the provincial tax authority for a "CONSULTA DE TITULARES DE DOMINIO" to see who's name is on it. Hopefully, it will be theirs.

I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging. I'll post again as soon as I hear from the agent I know.

 

[Silvie]

Great! After a stranger proves having paid municipal taxes/ services for 10 years, he can claim ownership too.

 

[semigoodlookin]

Why.... so many why's in this story.

 

[steveinbsas]

Great! After a stranger proves having paid municipal taxes/ services for 10 years, he can claim ownership too.

This morning I asked a man I know (and trust) if he could recommend a lawyer in Punta Alta who would know how many years of possession/occupancy it would take for someone without a title to claim ownership.

I met with the lawyer this evening and he told me the existing law is 20 years, so there are still ten years left for that to happen.

Hopefully, the "parents" in this story had the escritura and the property was registered in their names.

If they did and it is, they will need a lawyer in San Rafael to try to rectify the situation so they can sell the house (which won't be easy if the real estate agent is living in the house and refuses to move).

If they didn't sign an escritura and/or the property is not registered in their names, they won't need a lawyer.

PS: The lawyer I spoke with did not charge for the consultation, even after I offered to pay.

People here are SO nice!