In Costa Rica there is a strong area of the law which is Agrarian Law. This area of the law, which is highly specialized, deals with properties and other activities which are considered to be agrarian by law. There are many agrarian laws but the two most prevalent or important are:
a) Ley de Jurisdicción Agraria (The Law of Agrarian Jurisdiction) which covers very important aspects of substantive law
b) Código Procesal Agrario (The Code of Agrarian Procedures) which is a very new law that just came into effect on February 28th and covers the procedural aspects of the law.
In general terms, agrarian law covers those activities that refer to a biological cycle of production done in a professional manner. This includes the production of animals, vegetables (vegetables, fruits, lumber, flowers, medicinal plants, etc.) and other organisms and the activities of transformation, industrialization, valuation and commercialization of agrarian products. The concept of professional activity means that the person derives his or her livelihood from that activity and it’s not just a hobby.
It often occurs that a person will own a certain property (the law does not state a minimum size to be considered agrarian) and rent it out or allow someone to plant on it or allow someone to take care of it or use it in certain ways without realizing that they have wittingly or unwittingly permitted the development of an activity that can later on be considered agrarian activity and therefore subject to agrarian law.
One of the most contentious areas of agrarian law occurs when the property owner wishes to regain the possession of his/her property and the person occupying it refuses to return it arguing that they have acquired certain rights and therefore, the owner must contemplate his options for eviction of the tenant.
Eviction can be requested through an administrative procedure, which is carried out by a specialized department of the Ministry of Security, or it can be done through the courts by various procedures available to plaintiffs.
In principle, property owners prefer to attempt the eviction under the administrative law procedure because it should be a quicker and less onerous process. Basically, the owner must prove that they actually own the property and indicate that the person occupying the land has no right to be on the property. The classic case is when someone “invades” or occupies the property as a squatter.
The officials at the Ministry of Security will confirm the owner’s title and notify the occupant which will be given the opportunity to respond and present his arguments as to why he has the right to possess the property. Once the occupation has been deemed to be illegal, the government will proceed to warn the occupants to abandon the property, or they will be forcibly removed.
Nevertheless, the new Code of Agrarian Procedures now indicates that this administrative procedure of eviction (desahucio administrativo in Spanish) is not allowed for the property owner in the following cases:
a) If there is already a court case pending in which the owner is requesting the return of the property against the same occupant
b) When the occupant is possessing the property by virtue of a contract (written or verbal) or because the occupant has been occupying the property by mere tolerance for over one year
c) In cases where the occupant has been occupying the property for more than one year
What this means for property owners is that if the person occupying their property has been doing so for more than one year, an administrative eviction will not succeed. This in turn means that they will have to attempt to recover their property through a judicial procedure, which can last two or more years, especially if the case is complicated and there are appeals.
This also means that the occupant can, under certain conditions, attempt to recover from the property owner those amounts of money that were legitimately invested in the property if they were necessary improvements to the property. There have been a few important cases in which the occupant has been able to prove that their investments in necessary improvements have been of a value equal to a large portion of the property value and in some cases of a value higher than the value of the property, in which cases, the owner basically ends up losing the property.
Therefore, it is very important for property owners to establish clear rights and obligations of all parties involved in the occupation, possession and use of properties that can be subject to agrarian law.
About the Author
Lic. Jorge Montero B. is an attorney and Notario Público educated in the U.S.A. and in Costa Rica. He holds various Post Graduate Degrees in Criminal, Commercial, Environmental and Agrarian Law from the University of Costa Rica and has over 30 years of litigation, contract and counsel experience.
- Email: acmbalaw@gmail.com
- Tel: (506) 8384- 2246
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