大咖福利影院

I agree and will request this be moved.

Thank you for the suggestion of a new thread. My bad, I should鈥檝e 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.

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

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

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.聽 One of course is lack of聽 rules聽 about how much you can charge.

The other is risk.聽

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

The first rule about聽 "lending" money is that聽 聽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聽 - legally drawn up - then consider it a gift!聽

As expats we are automatically considered rich.聽 It does not matter if you are,聽 聽how you see yourself or聽 what you own or owe!聽 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.聽 Put yourself in the shoes of the person needing the money.聽 To them you have it all and they have so little.

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

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

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

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

This is a very very risky聽 type of聽 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聽 usually聽 very very street smart or very聽 desperate! Either way it makes them聽 very dangerous!