It is the question people ask us quietly, at the end of a meeting, once everything else has been covered: “what about squatters?”. On English-language forums the subject is everywhere, and mostly wrong: you will read that an occupant becomes the owner in three months, that they can never be removed, that Costa Rica “protects squatters”. All three statements are false.
The reality is more precise than that, and it is precisely that precision which lets you protect yourself. Here is what Costa Rican law actually says, which properties are genuinely exposed, and which are not exposed at all.
1. Two different mechanisms — and they are always confused
Losing ownership of a property to the person occupying it is called usucapión — acquisitive prescription, what common law calls adverse possession. In Costa Rica it exists in two forms, with neither the same conditions nor the same victims. Almost all the alarmist content online comes from confusing the two.
Ordinary usucapión — the one that does not apply to squatters
This is the Civil Code regime. It requires three things together: a just title (justo título, a document capable of transferring ownership), good faith, and possession as owner, continuous, public and peaceful, for ten years.
Special agrarian usucapión — the one that really does exist
This is the other regime, set out in articles 92 and 101 of the Ley de Tierras y Colonización (Land and Settlement Act nº 2825), and it is the only one that can genuinely worry a foreign owner. Its distinctive feature: it dispenses with both just title and good faith. Here, the “title” is the agricultural work itself.
Let us not pretend otherwise: this means that a property duly recorded at the National Registry can, under this regime, be lost to an occupant. That is the point most agencies leave out. But it comes with cumulative conditions, and they are strict:
| Condition | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Land of agricultural interest | The regime only applies to property with an agricultural vocation. A condominium unit, a serviced urban lot or land in a tourist zone does not fall within it. |
| Agrarian possession, not mere occupation | Being there is not enough. The land has to be put into production — farmed, grazed, worked. An empty shack is not agrarian possession. |
| Public, peaceful, uninterrupted | In plain view of everyone, without violence, and without a break. This is where the owner’s action counts: reacting interrupts it. |
| More than ten years | Not three months, not one year. Ten full years of that kind of possession. |
| State of necessity | The possession must answer a subsistence need of the occupant and their family. This is not a mechanism of opportunity. |
| A court action | The occupant has to sue the registered owner to have the registration in that owner’s name annulled. Nothing switches over automatically, and the owner is a party to the proceedings. |
2. The threshold that matters is not ten years — it is one year
Here is the genuinely operational piece of information, and it is almost always missing from articles on the subject.
Long before the ten years of usucapión, Costa Rican law recognises an intermediate status: that of precarista, a possessor “in precario”. A possessor in precario is someone who, out of necessity, carries out stable and effective acts of possession, as owner, peacefully, publicly and without interruption, for more than one year, in order to put the property into production for their own subsistence or that of their family.
That status makes nobody an owner. But it changes the nature of the problem: you are no longer dealing with a recent intrusion, you are dealing with an established situation, with its procedural protections and, often, a social dimension the authorities take into account.
3. Which properties are really exposed
The risk is not spread at random. It concentrates on a very recognisable profile.
Exposed
- Rural or agricultural land, especially large parcels
- Unfenced, with no boundary marked out on the ground
- No visible use: no crop, no building, no upkeep
- Owner living abroad, with no representative on the ground
- Isolated, with no neighbours to watch and raise the alarm
- Bought to sit on — acquired, then forgotten for several years
Little or not exposed
- A house that is lived in, rented out, or run by a property manager
- A unit in a condominium or a gated development: security, controlled access, and a non-agricultural vocation
- A serviced urban lot, outside the scope of the agrarian regime
- Land that is fenced and maintained, visited regularly
- Property entrusted to an identified caretaker, with a documented record of visits
In other words: virtually every house and condominium we offer falls outside this subject. It is large rural parcels bought from a distance that concentrate the risk — and that is also the type of property where the price per square metre looks most tempting.
4. Someone has moved in — what do you do?
Do not go there alone. Do not evict anyone yourself, do not destroy an installation, do not cut off access. An owner who acts by force loses the legal advantage they had, and can end up on the wrong side of the case. Do not negotiate a departure in exchange for money without advice either: badly drafted, an agreement can amount to recognising the very situation you were trying to challenge.
Photographs, dates, statements from neighbours, a formal record. The starting point of the occupation becomes a central element of the file, including for everything that follows.
Not informal advice: how the situation is classified — recent intrusion, tolerated occupation, possession in precario — determines which route to take, and taking the wrong one costs months.
The desalojo administrativo (administrative eviction) is applied for at the Ministry of Public Security, without going through a court first. It covers, among other cases, invasion, possession in precario and tolerated occupation. The stated time to resolution is in the order of three months — provided the file is complete and the situation genuinely falls within the scope of the procedure.
Depending on the circumstances, a criminal complaint for usurpación (unlawful occupation of property) may accompany the process. That is a lawyer’s decision, not a reflex: it does not suit every situation.
5. Prevention, which costs infinitely less
Everything above comes down to one principle: a property that is visibly possessed offers no purchase. The measures that matter are neither sophisticated nor expensive relative to the value they protect.
- Fence the land and mark out the boundaries. This is the single most effective measure, and the only one visible from outside.
- Have the parcel maintained at regular intervals by someone local — clearing, walking it, checking it.
- Keep a record of that upkeep: invoices, transfers, dated photographs. This is the evidence that establishes the continuity of your own possession.
- Pay the municipal property tax and file the declared value of the property — an owner who is up to date is an owner who is present in the records.
- Have someone go and look. A neighbour, a manager, an agency. Early detection is worth more than any procedure.
- Give the land a purpose, however modest: an observable use beats an empty parcel.
6. What this changes when you buy
The subject is not dealt with after signing — it is dealt with before, and it is part of due diligence.
- Is the land occupied today, even partly? A track being used, cattle, a shack, a crop: any use by a third party is documented before the offer.
- How long has the seller owned it, and what have they done with it? A parcel left abandoned for fifteen years does not carry the same history as one that has been worked.
- Is there a procedure under way? This can be checked, and it forms part of what your lawyer verifies at the Registry and beyond.
- Are the boundaries marked out and consistent with the cadastral plan? A fence that does not follow the plano catastrado (registered survey plan) is a dispute in the making.
- Who will look after it after the purchase? If the answer is “nobody, I will be back in two years”, that is the moment to reconsider the type of property.
Frequently asked questions
Can an occupant become the owner in three months?
No. No three-month period opens up any ownership right. That figure, widely repeated online, most likely comes from the time it takes to process an administrative eviction, which is an entirely different thing. The ten years of the special agrarian regime remain the threshold, and they come with several further conditions.
Does a title recorded at the National Registry protect me completely?
It protects you very substantially, but not absolutely: the special agrarian regime allows action against a recorded title, under its strict conditions and for land of agricultural interest. A recorded title nonetheless remains the first of all protections — which is why we only offer properties held under full titled ownership.
Should I buy through a Costa Rican company to protect myself?
The legal structure changes nothing about this particular risk: what counts is the actual use of the property, not the identity of the registered owner. A company is chosen for other reasons — succession, tax, several buyers together — and that is a discussion to have with a lawyer.
What if the land is in the maritime zone?
That is an entirely different framework, where you do not hold ownership but a municipal concession, with its own rules and its own risks. We explain it in our article on maritime concession versus titled property.
Should this subject put me off buying in Costa Rica?
No, and it would be dishonest to suggest otherwise. It should shape what you buy and how you look after it. A property that is lived in, managed, fenced and maintained is outside this subject. A rural parcel bought from a distance and forgotten is not.
