No you cannot lose the property due to citizenship unless you lied on the original purchase papers with the notary. The only reason you could lose the property is if you do not pay your annual fideicimo fees to the bank or any mortgage that you may have. Contact Carmen Pino Bianca who is on this site at times. She is one of the best out there and also is from the US originally. Internet speed is not the same as the US. Its adequate but not like you can download serious large files or heavy gaming. You can bring the Vonage line along with you for vacations or if you move to Cancun. So you can have the same features you have now and keep the same number no matter where you may be.
I must be missing something here. I have had my house for over 4 years, and my fideicomiso hasn't gone up one centavo, except for when they raised IVA one percent. (effective this year, mine went up 70 pesos). I believe I was told that your fideicomiso could not go up, and that was federal law. Y'all's banks must be adding their own service charges or something, in which case I feel sorry for you guys, because you're being taken advantage of. I even question if a fideicomiso is subject to IVA in the first place, and have had a lot of trouble getting a definitive answer to that question. I mean, for sure I'm not going to ask the bank!! Losing one's property is usually an ejido issue. Some folks south of Puerta Vallarta are going through that problem right now. It has happened many times in Cancun, and in fact throughout the entire Yucatan peninsula, where there is a lot of ejido land. In my opinion, the only solution is to hire several lawyers, independent of one another, and have the escritura scruitinized with a fine-toothed comb. Very basically, the original purchaser of the property should have had EVERY member of the ejido family with the rights to the property, sign off on his rights to the land, before he purchased it. Another tip when buying waterfront, is to be sure the landowner has the rights... and has also paid (is up-to-date) on the comission for the federal zone, which extends from the high tide mark, to 15-45 meters inland, depending on where the property is located. 15-20 meters is more the norm. Anyway, failure to do this means that someone else can come in, pay the comission and put up a business or even a house on that land....and you are powerless to do anything about it. There goes your view, and water access! just food for thought.
To answer your other two questions, You have to be out of country for either 24 or 48 hours (It's one of those things where, if you hadn't asked, I could have told you for sure) But since you have family NoB, why call attention to yourself by pressing the limit? My advice, if you're going to buy property, is to go ahead and start out with the FM-3. You'll be done with the process just that much sooner. Then as soon as you can, go for the FM-2, and for the same reason PLUS....you never know what is going to happen in the future with all this border hassle. Mexico is notorious for copying the US in its policies, and you just never know what might happen. As said, with an FM-2, you are a resident of Mexico. An FM-3 is really nothing more than an FMT with a one year time limit, instead of 6 months. And unfortunately for some, as of this year you cannot obtain an FM-3 in the states any more. They have to be applied for in the Mexican State where you intend to live.
So the Realitors there do not do the back ground work of making sure that the house is up to date and has a clean title? The realtor's only job is to find you the house? If this is the case does anyone have any idea about what the cost would be to hire the lawyers to do the background work for you? I assume that if you just pay cash for the house that the fideicomiso has to still be set up. Or is paying cash a whole other situation?
When we bought our condo, we were told that the Notario takes care of all the paperwork and makes certain there are no leins on the property etc. The realtor we used, gave us advice, and was there when we signed the paperwork with the Notario, but they had no responsibilites. Well, our Notario missed the fact that our Beach Taxes weren't paid in 10 years. We were responsible for 10 years worth of taxes - PLUS INTEREST (interest is the killer as beach tax is cheap)! Although that all ended up working out OK...it could have been worse...long story. The Notario is supposed to do all the title checks on the property, but really has no responsibility to do a thorough job at it. I'm not sure what I would do if I were to purchased another property. Obviously, I hold little trust in a Notario. I probably would talk to my real estate agent and say that I want paperwork from the Notario showing he checked to make sure the Predial Taxes were paid, the Beach taxes were paid, the condo fees are paid, no leins etc... Before I'd sign anything at closing. You might want to hire a Real Estate Lawyer, I'm not positive but I do believe you would still have to work with a Notario. Not sure a lawyer would do a better job. I'm not sure if there are Title check companies in Mexico. I'd just be careful when using a Notario. I was hoping to just get some advice from the Notario that screwed up my Beach taxes, and he was all happy to speak to me until he found out he screwed up, then he wouldn't take my calls.
If you are a foreignor, you need a Fiedeicomiso or a Mexican corporation, no matter what, unless you are brave enough to title it in the name of a Mexican citizen, which has been known to happen. It amazes me that people would rely solely on the advice of a broker, who makes zero if the deal does not close, and/or a Notario, who has no legal or fiduciary obligation to anyone, for what amounts to legal advice. That is what lawyers are for and you need a good one, experienced in real estate matters. GET AN ENGLISH SPEAKING LAWYER, HOPEFULLY BY referral FROM ANOTHER NON-MEXICAN SATISFIED CLIENT, WHO WILL WORK FOR YOU AND PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS.
You had a bad Notary who did not do their job right. Most can do it right but you pay more for the better Notaries. Expect about 5% of the purchase price for the closing expenses if not more. Lawyers in Mexico are not as well trained legally as the Notary. The word of the Notaries is taken as law since they are more of a legal authority then any attorney Anyone can claim to be a lawyer with minimal training compared to the USA where you have to pass the bar exam.
Wish I could blame it on a cheap Notario, but unfortunately, we had a well respected realtor and a VERY well respected and definately not a cheap Notario ... We just got one who happened to screw up and didn't stand behind his work. I've been told that none of them do, because they don't have to. I get that everyone makes a mistake...even the brightest of professionals, but I guess I would have liked some assistance with settling the problem. I got nothing...not even directions to the beach tax department (it wasn't easy to find--especially for a newbie to Cancun). Not sure if an attorney would have done a better job though. I think we got off pretty lucky. A neighbor of ours had a friend, who had a friend, who had a friend... and we got off for about US $260 to the Beach Tax Department. Surpisingly, we tried to privately tip the beach tax official that was helping us and he didn't take it. He saved us about US $2700. Great deal if you ask me.
Someone told me that foreigners can't buy a house that has an outstanding mortgage on it? It has to be paid off completely in order to get a fidecomiso? Is this true or can you buy a house where the owners are still paying a mortgage?
I don't know the answer to your question, Matkirk, but we've begun looking again and the question always comes back to- do we really want to be here, long term? Cancun, while having its attractions, is lacking in charm, which makes it a tough place to consider a long term solution. _____________________ In celebration of its tenth anniversary the Universidad del Caribe offered a free concert with a German symphony orchestra and night of opera: the soprano was superb, with tones ringing like a glass bell, as she glided through my favorite arias for sopranos. The press said 2,000 were in attendance, perhaps demonstrating a hunger for just a little more culture among those who have, for any number of reasons, adopted Cancun as home.
