Nuttin' moves fast in Jamaica...

[Bnewb]

I understand you're "just venting"...but a contract is a contract...what is your lawyer telling you about your home purchaser? You should have a confirmed possession date.

[Accompong]

I understand you're "just venting"...but a contract is a contract...what is your lawyer telling you about your home purchaser? You should have a confirmed possession date.

I don't know exactly why but somehow I get a feeling that the "venting" has just begun.

[rtitle]

Oh, we're going to miss the contract date (basically now) due to lost title. The piece of paper that is, he does own the property. I don't think that happens in the US (owners don't hold the physical title). Lawyer says I could legally cancel due to missed date but advises to instead just wait on replacement title because cancellation is itself a long process. I.e. wait for home or wait for 18m J back would be about the same wait. So might as well wait on home since cancelling isn't going to get me any other property faster. I'm learning a bit about the real estate process in Jamaica which is different from US.

[Accompong]

Oh, we're going to miss the contract date (basically now) due to lost title. The piece of paper that is, he does own the property. I don't think that happens in the US (owners don't hold the physical title). Lawyer says I could legally cancel due to missed date but advises to instead just wait on replacement title because cancellation is itself a long process. I.e. wait for home or wait for 18m J back would be about the same wait. So might as well wait on home since cancelling isn't going to get me any other property faster. I'm learning a bit about the real estate process in Jamaica which is different from US.

I have had several friends who when trying to purchase land in the Treasure Beach Area (for example) found that the original title was in a great, great, grandfather's name or sometimes even back to the Land Grant days and was never transferred to the next owner in line. Lots of time people think they own land but they are not the "registered legal" owners. It took a good friend almost 11 months to get a clean title owning to the line of failures to register death certificates. It happens a lot more than you even probably think.

[rtitle]

I have had several friends who when trying to purchase land in the Treasure Beach Area (for example) found that the original title was in a great, great, grandfather's name or sometimes even back to the Land Grant days and was never transferred to the next owner in line. Lots of time people think they own land but they are not the "registered legal" owners. It took a good friend almost 11 months to get a clean title owning to the line of failures to register death certificates. It happens a lot more than you even probably think.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I'm sure that happens. BTW I discovered there is a government website ELand Jamaica https://elandjamaica.nla.gov.jm/elan...activemap.aspx which is pretty useful for checking into these things when considering buying.

[Bnewb]

Oh, we're going to miss the contract date (basically now) due to lost title. The piece of paper that is, he does own the property. I don't think that happens in the US (owners don't hold the physical title). Lawyer says I could legally cancel due to missed date but advises to instead just wait on replacement title because cancellation is itself a long process. I.e. wait for home or wait for 18m J back would be about the same wait. So might as well wait on home since cancelling isn't going to get me any other property faster. I'm learning a bit about the real estate process in Jamaica which is different from US.

I'm glad you have a lawyer! Real estate is different here than the US.
It's similar to Canada's system...which I'm extremely well-versed.
The land titles system in Jamaica is getting better...but as you're figuring out there's issues with some land not being completely "on the books" and questionable ownership.
There's a few oddities in your real estate transaction, that I don't quite understand...but I do hope that your money is sitting with the lawyer and not with the "property owner"?

I do hope this all works out for you, Rtitle! Hang in there and go with the flow as Capt D said...

[rtitle]

Money is held in a bank account controlled by my side but tied up by a "Letter of Undertaking" which means it is committed for the sale and I can't just take it back. You have to get one of these - you can't just show up at a closing with a bank check or briefcase full of cash (which I think you can do in the US). At least that's what my lawyer told me. I trust her.

It's not a huge problem but the delay is frustrating.

[Bnewb]

I don't know exactly why but somehow I get a feeling that the "venting" has just begun.

There's definitely a learning curve here. It can be horribly frustrating if you're trying to apply your learned way of life to another country/culture.
The most difficult can be figuring out who is actually going to give you the best advice!