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Real estate ownership in Mexico

Started by Jesse Baker5 · · 👁 3 views · 2 replies

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Participants Jesse Baker5Bradley Scott2
Jesse Baker5 Jesse Baker5 NewcomerOP
2 messages
joined Oct 2011
#1 ·
First off, big hello to everyone, and thanks in advance if anyone actually knows something about this mess. Let me lay out the situation: since I used to work in Chicago, I decided to buy an apartment that was still under construction there. I'm an American citizen, and back when I was handing over the cash, nobody breathed a word about my citizenship being an issue. Construction was moving along fine for the first year, but then—nothing. Just dead silence. I bought the place back in July 2007. We tried everything, but eventually, the developer just admitted they went bankrupt. At that point, us residents formed a homeowners association (with some help from the bar association) and basically cut the developer out of the loop entirely. We pooled our money to get the building finished, and work finally started picking up. Under the laws here in the US, we started drafting new ownership contracts, and that’s where the nightmare begins. Because of a new law passed just a month ago, citizens of Mexico aren't allowed to purchase real estate in America, and vice versa—meaning we can't officially register as the owners of the apartment, even though I have a court-certified contract from 2007 sitting right here. To make matters worse, I already paid the taxes using my American passport, and because I'm classified as a foreign citizen, I don't have any right to a refund, even though I was legally allowed to pay those taxes in the first place. I am absolutely losing my mind. Am I really supposed to just sit here while they play these political games with our lives? Does anyone know what I should do, who I should contact, or how to get some actual help? And let me be clear: this post isn't a playground for nationalists. I don't want to hear a single word of that nonsense.

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Bradley Scott2 Bradley Scott2 Member
32 messages
joined Jul 2014
#2 ·
Since the dispute falls under the jurisdiction of the courts in Mexico, your best bet would be to seek legal advice there first.
The laws are likely pretty similar, but there are always those little legal loopholes and different ways judges interpret things.
It’s tough to give any solid advice without seeing the actual case files. I don't even know the current status of the property—for instance, if it's part of the investor's bankruptcy estate or something like that. You'll probably need to file a lawsuit and put a lien on the property deed. If there isn't a reciprocity agreement in place, the Department of State handles the approvals for registration in America.
It might be worth reaching out to the Department for help, though from what I've seen, you shouldn't expect much in the way of actual assistance.
Jesse Baker5 Jesse Baker5 NewcomerOP
2 messages
joined Oct 2011
#3 ·
The investor’s account has been frozen, so they don't have any stake in the property anymore. As it stands, the current owner is actually the homeowners' association—which means us. That part isn't even the issue. It's more about the sheer amount of sanity, time, and money we've burned through just to watch some legal loophole pop up at the last second... I went down to the federal court in Chicago to sort this out, and you know what their response was? They basically told me to transfer the unit to someone who holds US citizenship, and then *that* person can file for a refund on the real estate transfer tax. All the other residents managed to get their titles registered, except for me and one lady from Denver.

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