HOW TO LOSE YOUR HOME IN PANAMA

By Rebecca Tyre

For the most part, Panama offers a safe and secure environment to buy and sell real estate. Unfortunately, there are some loop holes in Panama's laws that can leave a person homeless.

Panama has a few different types of properties, the two most common are titled and right of possession. Titled land is the most simple and safe way of owning property in Panama. Right of possession property is land that you do not own the title to, but you have been granted the right to live on it or build on it. Right of possession properties are most common in the coastal areas of Panama.

Usually people who own possession rights have few problems with that legal document. They can sell their land and the rights to a second party, and the land can be built on with no problems. A recent incident in the Pedasi area has lead some people to be very worried about the security of owning a possession rights property.

Playa El Toro, just a few weeks ago, had 26 modest homes standing on properties along the shoreline. One of those homes was owned by a friend of mine who is a US citizen, but the other 25 owners (or possession right holders) are Panamanian families. My friend had not visited his house on the beach for about a week. When he returned, his house and the 25 others, were gone. A demolition crew had moved in and flattened all 26 houses on the beach.