Seniors Frequently Swindled Into Selling Land Cheaply
The question that is being asked, would a normal person sell an important and valuable piece of land with little money down, the payments on only a personal note and without interest? Well, that is what happened to a elderly couple in Heredia and a Telenoticias (local channel 7 news) reports that this is more common occurrence than at first believed.

The case reported by Telenoticias involves Doña Linda and her deceased husband, Héctor Wilson, who colonized the area known as Cariari, west of San José. The land is now valuable and important to the overall development of the area.

Following two heart attacks and the weight of the years, the Wilsons sold the 5 hectares (12 acres) of land to a family friend identified as Rodolfo Solís for ¢35 million colones (us$68.400 at today's exchange rate), with payments of ¢5.5 million per year and without interest.

To guarantee payment, Solís gave the Wilsons a "letra de cambio" (a promissory note) but placed the title of the land in the name of a corporation. Worse off, as many seniors accustomed to doing business in the time of a different era in Costa Rica, did not turn to the services of a lawyer and the document (promissory note) was never registered.

The agreement was made in the year 2000.

Shortly after Héctor died and that is when the problems began for the widow and the rest of the family, which has left the family with nothing and no one to turn to.

Solís maintains that his debt was with Héctor and now that Héctor is dead, the person he made the deal with, the debt has extinguished as well. And since the land is not encumbered by the loan, the family cannot use the property to recover the debt guaranteed by the promissory note.

Without disclosing the exact location of the property, the property is located near the General Cañas highway and the Plaza Real Cariari and is worth today more than 20 times the purchase price negotiated by Solís.

Telenoticias, in their report, said that this is not an isolated case and many more like this one are happening every day and that people are sometimes too ashamed to come forth and make a report, like the sale of 15 hectares for ¢4 million colones with payments of ¢100.000 colones per year and without interest.