I recently read some information posted in a page, regarding the inexistence of Conflict of Interest laws that prevent an attorney from representing both parties in a real estate transaction.

This comment isn’t completely accurate and requires a brief explanation. There is a difference between the Notary and the Attorney. In most countries, a person can’t work as a Notary and a Lawyer at the same time. Why? Because the Notary is supposed to be an impartial third party, representing all parties involved in a particular act; and the Lawyer is supposed to protect firmly and decisively his client’s interests. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply in Costa Rica, and a Lawyer usually has a protocol book and works also as a Notary. There is no legal restriction for that.

In Costa Rica, real estate transfers as well as other important acts such as marriages, vehicle transfers, company constitutions, among others, require a Notary and his/her protocol book. The real problem comes when a Lawyer acts as a Notary for one of his previous clients, for example, the lawyer of a real estate development who makes the deed of the transfer for a property sold by his client. Even thought in this cases he / she is working as a Notary, expected to be impartial, sometimes they don’t follow that rule and protect only his client’s interests.

What to do in these cases? Every Notary is supposed to be impartial, otherwise you are allowed to denounce him / her at the “Dirección Nacional de Notariado”, official entity in charge of regulating all Notary’s activity. Unfortunately, this is the “after”, but what to do in order to prevent this misconduct? As I stated in a previous post, hire outside counseling: “When investing in Costa Rica, my first advice is to contact a lawyer before giving one single dollar to anyone. With more than 13 000 lawyers duly incorporated to the Costa Rican Bar, most of them English spoken, you’ll have no problem getting proper assistance. In fact, try to get more than one legal opinion if you can and please don’t rely only in the seller or developer’s attorneys. Outside counseling will always be recommended”.

I hope this post helps you prevent an incident such as the one occurred to the person who posted the information I read. Good luck!!


Lic. Juan Pablo Ruiz Imbert
Attorney at Law – Notary Public
Specialist in Commerce Law
San Jose, Costa Rica
Phone: (506) 221-3821
Mobile: (506) 840-2210
Fax: (506) 255-0139
E-mail: jpruizcr@gmail.com