Costa Rica real estate law firm
You are buying the ground, not the view.
We act for buyers: legal and technical protection, so the ground under whatever you came here to build actually holds.
Lawyers lead the file.
Solid ground under the life you came to build. That is the point of the file, and the reason the team signs it.
The name, and the promise
Solid ground, in the legal sense.
Underneath every file there is the same intention: that you can build the life you came here for, on ground that holds. Title, boundaries, access and a contract you can exit are not the point in themselves. They are what makes everything you plan afterwards possible.
In Costa Rican practice, tierra firme is land held under title, as distinct from a concession in the maritime zone or a right of possession over land that is not titled. The phrase separates property you own from property you are allowed to use.
That is the promise, and it is deliberately narrow: ground you can stand on. A title that holds, boundaries that match the fence, water and access you can prove, and a contract that lets you leave if the file does not survive the review. The firm behind it is Simple Legal Consulting, the same lawyers, working only on land and buildings.
Approach
Technical work finds the problem. The contract decides who pays for it.
We are lawyers first. We commission surveys, technical inspections and site studies, we read them, and then we make them mean something in the purchase agreement. That combination is the product.
01
We act for buyers
The engagement is with the person paying. Not the seller, not the agent, not the developer. That single fact decides how the file is run.
02
We lead the negotiation
Price, conditions, deadlines and remedies are negotiated as one package, with the technical findings already on the table.
03
We draft for the exit
Conditions precedent, staged payments, long stop dates and refund mechanisms. Leaving should be a clause, not a lawsuit.
04
We run the room
Surveyor, technical inspector, architect, escrow agent, notary and counterparty on one timeline, with one point of contact.
Services
Due diligence first. Closing last.
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Reports
Two documents, two different jobs.
One measures the land. The other reviews the file and says whether to sign. They are not interchangeable.
01 · Technical study
What the land can carry.
Boundaries, occupation, contours, water, access and what the parcel supports. Prepared and signed by the surveyor and the architect.
See the sample (PDF)02 · Due diligence report
Whether to sign.
Title, registry, land use, taxes and contract conditions, with findings graded and a recommended sign-off. Redacted sample.
See the redacted sample (PDF)Costs
Two stages, and only one is a percentage.
The review is priced per property, because a flat parcel with contours is a different job from a steep lot with no survey. The closing is different: it is fixed by law as a share of the value.
Due diligence and site review
We inspect the property, coordinate the licensed professionals and read the result. Quoted after we see the listing, the area and whether contours exist.
- Topographer: boundary, occupation and contour survey
- Technical inspector: structures, services, defects
- Architect: site potential and comparable scenarios
- Legal: title, cadastral, access, land use, contract
Quoted per property. A contour line survey is the prerequisite for any site-potential work.
Closing and transfer
The final stage, where the property changes hands: deed, taxes, stamps, registration. Around 3.8 percent of the higher of the price or the fiscal value, plus 13 percent VAT on the notary fee.
- Transfer tax, Registry and municipal stamps
- Bar Association and agricultural stamps
- Notary fee for the deed and registration
- Escrow release and final registration
3.8 percent of the value, plus 13 percent VAT on the notary fee. It is an estimate: the taxes are paid in colones, so the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate.
Estimated closing cost*$9,500
| Item | Share | Amount | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax | 1.50 percent | $3,750 | Statutory rate on the higher of the price or the fiscal value. |
| Notary fee | 1.00 percent | $2,500 | Deed, transcription and registration, under the notarial tariff. |
| National Registry stamp | 0.50 percent | $1,250 | Registration of the transfer at the Registro Nacional. |
| Bar Association stamp | 0.45 percent | $1,125 | Scale applied to the value of the deed. |
| Municipal stamp | 0.25 percent | $625 | Municipal charge on the transfer. |
| Agricultural stamp | 0.10 percent | $250 | Only where the land is registered as agricultural. |
| Total* | 3.80 percent | $9,500 | Does not include 13 percent VAT on the notary fee, nor bank or escrow charges. |
Estimate only, and it does not include the 13 percent VAT on the notary fee. Transfer tax, stamps and notary fees are assessed in colones, so the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate on the day of the deed, and the brackets and tariffs are revised. The exact amount is confirmed on your file before you commit.
The transfer tax rate is statutory at 1.5 percent. The 13 percent VAT applies to the notary fee only: on a 250,000 purchase it adds roughly 325. The stamp components vary with the municipality, the registry value and the classification of the land.
Closing
Closing is where the file holds or falls apart.
The review decides whether to buy. The closing executes that decision: money, deed, registry and services, each one with a document, a responsible party and a date attached.
01
Escrow
The deposit and the balance stay with a registered escrow agent under written release instructions. The money does not sit with the seller while a condition is still open.
02
The deed
The notary drafts, reads and records the transfer, with the transfer tax and stamps settled before the deed reaches the registry.
03
The registry
We follow the inscription to the folio real and confirm the entry is clean before the file is closed, because a chain defect surfaces exactly there.
04
The handover
Water, power and municipal accounts move into your name with arrears cleared, and you keep the full file: title, cadastral plan, permits and the closing record.
After closing
The bills that arrive after the keys.
Two annual taxes, the capital gain on a sale, the tax on rent and the PYME route. The home page gives the shape; the detail lives in its own section.
- 0.25%
Municipal property tax
On the value the municipality has registered, every year.
- Above the threshold
Solidary tax
On the built value of a house, declared on form D-174.
- 15%
Sale and rent
On the taxable gain, or on rental income after the statutory allowance.
The office
Ten works, five zones, one conversation.
The office is hung as a constellation, not a gallery. At the door, Federico Herrero's colour field opens the threshold; at reception, Leticia Banegas's Divine Psiqui wears cloth over her mouth and asks what should not circulate. Between the two, the ethics of entry are already set.
In the meeting room, Leonel Gonzalez's Manzanillo stands with her hands on her hips, facing Carlos Vega Faundez's Botero @ MOMA, where a comparable figure arrives packaged as culture. One claims presence without asking. The other shows what mediation does. Both watch the table where a purchase gets decided.
Behind the desk, Jimenez Deredia's Genesis of Peru holds the sphere inside the body, with the drawing that works the same form out hanging behind it. Beside them, a mirrored cabinet of 333 quartz points, selenite pyramids and one sphere of obsidian, built by the owner in the room where he practises law. Furniture by international designers, objects from other parts of the world, and one small maneki-neko by the door.
Property check
Tell us what you know about the parcel.
Location, size, title, plans, land use. What you have, what you do not have, and what worries you. The answers go to the firm's inbox and we reply with where the review starts.
Tick what you already have. Whatever is missing, we can obtain it or tell you who should.
What we will ask for0 of 12 ready
Tick what you already have. Whatever is missing, we can obtain it or tell you who should. A file that arrives complete moves twice as fast.
The lawyer, and the team
One lawyer signs. A team makes it hold.
Herman Duarte has practised in Costa Rica since 2012 and has been admitted as an attorney since 2013, after being licensed in El Salvador in 2010. He leads the property work and signs the legal opinion.
Most of that work is unglamorous by design: reading the registry line by line, comparing the plan with the fence, chasing a municipal certificate, checking that an escrow instruction says exactly what the contract says. The files have included acquisitions in the millions of dollars, where the margin for one missed detail is zero.
His background is litigation, and it shapes how a purchase is prepared. Disputes show you where contracts fail, which is why the work here leans on prevention: the condition written before it is needed, and the exit agreed while everyone is still friendly.
He does not do it alone. A public notary, a registered surveyor, an architect, an accountant and a litigator work the same file when the parcel needs them, and each signs their own part.
- Recommended by Chambers and Partners since 2017 for dispute resolution in El Salvador and Costa Rica
- Two books and more than 200 published legal and opinion articles
- Officer of the Human Rights and Cybersecurity committees, International Bar Association
- LL.M. Stockholm University; MSc in human rights, London School of Economics
Technical team
Measured by people who sign their work.
Diego Espinoza Salas
Registered surveyor, ID 6703
Boundary and dimension verification, field occupation, georeferencing, planimetric and altimetric surveys, contours, cadastral comparisons.
Daniel Segura
Site analysis and preliminary planning
Author of the sample report. Trained in architecture in Costa Rica and Italy, he reads terrain, water, access and land use, then compares scenarios.
Notary
The deed is executed by a notary public.
In Costa Rica only an attorney appointed as a notary can authorise a deed, take an affidavit or certify a signature. Jocelyne García Rodríguez, notary public, works with the firm on closings, protocolisations, powers of attorney and certified copies, so the instrument and the legal review do not sit with two unrelated offices.
- Transfer deeds and purchase contracts
- Special and general powers of attorney
- Affidavits and sworn statements
- Certified copies and protocolisations
- Signature certification for filings abroad
- Notarial record kept with the closing file
Technical inspection, surveying, architectural and engineering work is prepared and signed by the licensed professional responsible for that scope. Tierra Firme carries the legal strategy, reviews the contract and coordinates the assignment.
The firm behind it
Tierra Firme is a division, not a startup.
Simple Legal Consulting handles immigration, corporate law, estate planning and disputes in Costa Rica. Property and land were the part that kept arriving with its own technical problems, so they moved here, under this name, with the same lawyer signing.
Visit Simple Legal ConsultingReviews
What clients say on Google.
5.0
Herman offers top-notch concierge legal services. We have had an excellent experience working with him. He has been outstanding in his responsiveness and communication for all of our family's needs. We would highly recommend him to others that are seeking guidance in navigating Costa Rican legal processes.
I had a great experience working with Mr. Duarte on my Costa Rica residency application. He made the entire process simple, professional, and stress-free. From the beginning, he explained every step clearly, answered all of my questions, and made what could have been a complicated process feel easy.
Herman is one of those people who genuinely cares about his clients, takes the time to explain things properly, and does what he says he is going to do. When you are dealing with something as important as residency, investing, purchasing property, or setting up a corporation in Costa Rica, having the right people around you makes all the difference.
La atención de Herman es excelente, le da seguimiento a cada paso del proceso, resuelve con todos los recursos en su poder y es espectacular. Mi trámite salió en tiempo record.
Translation: Herman's attention is excellent. He follows every step of the process, resolves things with every resource available to him, and my file moved unusually fast.
Read all reviews on Google
Reviews are reproduced as published on Google, with names as the reviewers wrote them. One review is shown in its original Spanish with a translation.
Guides
Read before you sign.
A practical guide for property buyers in Costa Rica
Concessions, titled land and possession rights, the thirty to sixty day review, where the money sits, and what the community expects from you.
The option contract that quietly locks you in
Why a purchase option feels safe on page one and becomes expensive on page four, and the four clauses that keep an exit open.
Legal due diligence: the questions buyers actually ask
Title, access, land use, water, structures and structure of the deal. The short answers we give before an engagement starts.
Free call
Fifteen minutes, no documents needed.
Bring the listing if you have one. We will tell you whether the parcel is worth a full review, what the review would cover, and what it would cost.
- Phone
- +506 6182 6836
- Office
- Futura Business and Plaza, A105. Lindora, Santa Ana, San José.
by Simple Legal Consulting
Send the property, the contract, or the question. We answer in one business day.
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