When does a legal claim expires?

[Kurt]

Hello,

I bought a piece of land on the hills. The seller and I made a contract (with a lawyer) that has two parts:

1. the purchase of the land
2. the seller agreed that he would build an infrastructure for the land: a road and water and electricity supply.

For the land and the infrastructure I paid one total price. The valid title I already received, but the infrastructure has only partly been build yet. The seller (who has quite a good reputation) says that he waits for a rising demand (he himself owns some land that borders on my land). I know it sounds naïve, but I think that there still is a chance that he builds the infrastructure without force.

I wonder how long my claim against the seller is valid. When do I have to sue the seller to build the infrastructure that was agreed upon in the contract, is there a time limit? If it is possible I would like to wait, but I don’t want to loose my claim.

Thank you very much for an answer!

Kurt

[Fabio J. Guzman]

The standard statute of limitation under Dominican law is 20 years (Art. 2262 of the Civil Code). The statute of limitations for a damage claim based on breach of contract is two years (Art. 2273 of the Civil Code), subject to extension if the defendant has acknowledged the claim.

This is not an uncomplicated issue in Dominican law. You should have a lawyer look at the contract.