What are Squatters Rights in Costa Rica?
According to Costa Rican law, a person can acquire rights to a property if the property owner allows that person to use or maintain possession of the property for more than a year. Once the property has been acquired it can’t be taken away, except for reasons such as eminent domain, and then only with proper compensation. If a person has held possession of a property for at least ten years, that person can go to court, claim full ownership of the property and register the property at the Registro Publico. If a landlord does not take action to evict squatters during the first three months of their invasion, then squatters may not be evicted at all. If the landlord does not take action within a year, the squatter has a right to demand compensation for any improvements he has made to the land. If you have squatter problems you must act promptly, before the third month of the date the squatter moved in. You need to start an Interdicto (a civil procedure), or level criminal charges, called
