August 24, 2022
In the middle of 2020 during the COVID Pandemic shut down, my husband and decided to purchase a condo in Costa Rica. We couldn’t travel to the country at that time, so we asked our Costa Rican friends for a referral for an attorney to help us. They recommended GLC Abogados.
Within a few hours we got a call from Augusto Arce, one of the partners, who explained to us how we could purchase real estate without actually being in the country. It would involve opening a Costa Rican S.R.L. business (which is similar to an LLP in the United States). His firm would help us every step of the way from opening the business to buying the condo, as well as be our resident agent in Costa Rica. Augusto introduced us to Manuel Porras, Estefanía Brenes and Diego Elizondo, who would be working on our real estate purchase issues as well as helping with the SR documentation.
As with most things in Costa Rica, time slows down. But within a few months we were proud SRL business owners and had a luxury condo waiting for us in Uvita. The team working our project handled every detail and advised us of any concerns with the real estate purchase as It progressed. The legal fees for all their work weren’t out of line at all.
In 2022, we had had the opportunity to enjoy our condo for several months, but circumstances changed and we needed to sell the property and return to the United States full time. GLC Abogados was there to help us with the selling process as well as the closure of our SRL business. The team assigned to this task was Manuel Porras, Diego Elizondo and Estefanía Brenes. They did an excellent job with all the sales documentation and due diligence issues. Once the real estate transaction was complete, they directed us to the accounting services of Carmen Zuñiga for help with getting the Costa Rican capital gains taxes figured and paid. Once the taxes were paid, Manuel, Estefanía, and Diego were able to close the SRL. These last two items took a bit of time as sometimes things don’t run as smoothly or as quickly as we all hope, but in the end, everything is well.
Should we ever need legal counsel in Costa Rica, we will always use GLC Abogados. They are an excellent law firm and very knowledgeable in all aspects of Costa Rican law and keep a cool head when working with seemingly impossible obstacles in the Costa Rican bureaucratic system.
Sincerely,
Karen Tieken
Our Costa Rican Law Firm was created to provide first-class legal services to selected clients that conduct business in Costa Rica and in other countries. For more information, email us at info@glcabogados.com or call us at +506 2524-3176.