Realestate purchase on a Power of Attorney

[jw2004]

I make an offer to purchase an apartment. Later on found out the current occupants are not the owner. They have a POA to sell this apartment.

The owner is Austrian. So this POA is a Austrian POA.
1) The holder of this POA sign a conditional purchase agreement with me. But later on the lawyer told me they cannot proceed to the final agreement unless this Austrian POA is "legalized" by the DR embassy. Then I found out there is no DR embassy in Austria. She then told me there is a consulate. But if the POA has not been "legalized" under the DR law, what legal authority does this holder of POA had when he signed this conditional purchase agreement with me?
2) What exactly is "legalized" with the DR embassy mean, to translate German back to Spanish or plus legalize it by the a representative of the DR government which is the embassador or consulate, so the POA is just as good legally as if it is drawn up in DR?
4) The holder of this POA insist I used his lawyer. Furthermore he insist the money be paid to him and not the legal owner of the title. He also insist the money be paid in cash or cash equivalent (which he suggest AMEX traveller checks). He would not take a bank draft or wire transfer.
3) Since there is no "liability Insurance" for the lawyers in DR. What if the POA turn out is a fake or not legalized properly and the legal owner come back and reprocess the apartment. Then I will have a 100% loss plus legal nightmare.
4) I thought may be I will pay to the legal title owner , in his name with his passport number on the bank draft to protect me. So worse come to worse, I have a paper trail proofing I pay the purchase price to the legal owner of the title.
5) Why there is no "liability insurance" for the lawyers in DR?

Please input advices or share you experience on purchase with a POA holder.
Thanks in advance.

[Lambada]

Sounds to me like you're being shafted, Joseph. If I read this together with your post in Living Forum, about behaviour of real estate agent, sounds like they could be in on it too! Be extremely careful. And next time, you might receive more help from decent non-scamming expats if you don't try inviting yourself to move into their home for a week, when they have already said 'no' several times!

[Peterj]

I agree with Lambada...even more...don't buy it!
There is too much risk things will go wrong.

[gringosabroso]

1. You don't mention the purchase price of the apt. How much $ is on the table? How much $ will you have at risk?
2. Can the legal owners of the apt. physically come to the DR to sign the necessary contract of sale, etc. Why not? Red flag?
3. Is it possible, perhaps worth your time & $, to go to Austria, with all of the necessary documents in Austiran & Spanish; then sign all of the documents in the presence of an Austrian [& perhaps Dominican] notary public? Why not.
4. Be careful of powers of attorney in the DR. The system does not function smoothly; all POAs must be in Spanish. There is frequently some fraud involved.
Food for thought.

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Powers of attorney for real estate transactions in the DR must be signed in the presence of at least one witness and authenticated by a Dominican Notary or by a Dominican Consular Officer abroad (Art. 203 of the Land Registry Law). Authentication or “legalization” means that the signing must be done in the presence of the Notary or Consular Officer.

For a POA legalized abroad, once brought back to the DR, it will have to be taken to the Ministry of Foreign Relations for further “legalization” (the Ministry will attest to the authenticity of the signature of the Consular Officer).

A power of attorney that does not comply with these requirements is invalid.

[jw2004]

Perhaps of the little time the realestate agent and the seller's lawyer had before I head back to Canada, that things were done in a "rush" and "improperly disclosed" manner.

1) I thought I was buying it from the legal owner of the title. When I get to the seller's lawyer, it became I am buying it from the holder of POA
2) the POA (which I have not even seen, just trusting the seller's lawyer), as I was told, is done in Austria with signature witness by an Austrian notary. Much the same as it is done Canada/US.
3) I "think" the seller's lawyer is using this "foreign" POA as the legal basis to have me and the holder of the POA sign a "conditional purchase agreement" and a deposite is required of me.
4) I gave the lawyer a Canadian bank cheque as a deposite

My problem is notary and lawyer in Canada/US carry liability insurance. If the lawyer or the notary make a careless mistake of acception an improper/fake ID to put the stamp on a POA. The insurance company will cover any loss I suffer due to .......

I don't the Austrian legal profession nor the DR legal profession. In case the legal owner of the title start legal proceding sometime down the road to reprocess the title, saying he never signed any POA to dispose his property, then what?

Furthermore, I was ask to give the $$ directly to the holder of the POA. That was the last straw to arouse my suspicion.

As of now, I think the purchase agreement, conditional or final, need to be redone. There is simply no DR legal authority to represent the Austrian owner. A POA from a foreign country has no legal authority in DR. It is as simple as that.

My sincere thanks to the DR1 legal expert, Mr. Guzman. If the seller side agree to a rework agreement, Mr. Guzman, you definitely will be the buyer's lawyer.