Loaning money

I agree and will request this be moved.

Thank you for the suggestion of a new thread. My bad, I should’ve just started one.
I definitely believe ex-pats are targets which is why I am looking for a good attorney and I will have property valued higher than the loan amount listed as collateral.

Once the new topic is created we can have a good long discussion about this, about how to protect yourself. The pros and cons of all of this!

Basically all I'm hearing is it's the Wild, Wild, West in the D.R.

Guzman Ariza (aka drlawyer.com) does all of our real estate legal work. They are solid, with N. American or Euro levels of professionalism. A bit more expensive but very good. I am sure others can back up this up. Of course, people do not, on average, like lawyers so you will certainly get the "don't trust any of them" comments.

Of course, people do not, on average, like lawyers so you will certainly get the "don't trust any of them" comments.

That's because so many of them are bad news. I've avoid them as much as possible but my few experiences have always been rough. The last one tried to tell me I needed to sign a power of attorney so he could pick up some documents for me. It struck me, if he needed a paper, then I must be able to do it myself.
I did, and saved the cash - Lawyer, or liar?
Way too many of that lot cheat, steal, con, and are out to get whatever they can regardless of cost to other people, so of course the profession has a bad reputation.

My experience has taught me not to trust lawyers.

Aem -. Guzman Ariza is a large well known firm.  You will pay top dollar but they are very good! 

In some ways it can be the wild wild west here.  Always take your time, do your research and trust your guts!

RockyM wrote:

Guzman Ariza (aka drlawyer.com) does all of our real estate legal work. They are solid, with N. American or Euro levels of professionalism. A bit more expensive but very good. I am sure others can back up this up. Of course, people do not, on average, like lawyers so you will certainly get the "don't trust any of them" comments.

Sorry everyone....I was posting to a different thread. Not sure how this got here.   

I will clean this up. No worries.

So lending money in this country!

There is a reason or several reasons why interest rates are high here.  One of course is lack of  rules  about how much you can charge.

The other is risk. 

Lending money here is RISKY.   It is getting better but  there is a long way to go. 

The first rule about  "lending" money is that   most of the time its not a loan at all its a gift. Regardless of the words exchanged, if there is no piece of paper  - legally drawn up - then consider it a gift! 

As expats we are automatically considered rich.  It does not matter if you are,   how you see yourself or  what you own or owe!  The fact that you can CHOOSE to live here means you are rich.

So that aside, the attitude is that you will not suffer if I do not pay you back.  Put yourself in the shoes of the person needing the money.  To them you have it all and they have so little.

Now,  If you are going to lend money make sure  EVERYTHING is in writing.   Do it right.  If you are taking collateral it needs to be documented. AND  you need to confirm that the person actually owns  what they are giving as collateral.  You want to  over collateralize not under.

With vehicles they need to be insured in the name of the  lender, full insurance!  Otherwise its totally useless. AND you want to install YOUR GPS on the vehicle.

Get a contract drawn up  by a good lawyer who knows this type of business!   Often you can hire the lawyer to also do the collecting monthly!   

Critical points - everything in writing!   Document every single detail.  Be willing to lose the money! And if doing this for someone you know be willing to lose the friendship over this!

Another type of loan -  the  loan sharks that  we see.  They loan smaller amounts with very high  rates of interest and payback is daily or weekly, rarely monthly.    They will often take  the persons bank ATM card and password  so they get their money first on payday.  OR they take papers for someone's moto! 

This is a very very risky  type of  lending business. I will never ever recommend it to an expats. Stay well away from this. The type of people using this type of loan are  usually  very very street smart or very  desperate! Either way it makes them  very dangerous!