ecarignan, I believe you can trust Perdomo. I have never heard anything negative about him and know several people who use him and have great confidence in him. However, if you have any doubts at all, I recommend Fabio Guzman, the attorney who answers questions to the Legal section. His offices are on the 3rd floor of the Bommarito building. His website is
www.drlawyer.com, and you can email him at
info@drlawyer.com. But have the title search done here, not in Canada.
I think the apparent confusion over taxes is easily explained. I am sure what your realtor was talking about were the taxes you would pay if buying the property as an individual. A property tax--I believe it is 4% of the value--would be paid at the time of purchase if you purchased as an individual. Since you are buying a company, this tax isn't collected. Whether or not you pay property taxes annually is another matter and should be checked on.
Re trust account, I can't speak from experience with Perdomo, but I know from experience with Fabio Guzman that he maintains a trust account in Florida where the money is held until the deal is finalized. I would be extremely surprised if there were any problem with Perdomo. I have heard nothing but good about him, and Paul Thate--who undoubtedly does have experience with him--recommends him highly.
We are talking about two of a very short list of attornies that can be recommended highly. You can't be too cautious in checking out attornies, but in your case I think you are in the clear. If it were me, I would use either one without hesitation.
PS: Re the title that you have in your hand, that does not take the place of a search by the attorney. Since you are buying a property owned by a foreigner, chances are the title is good. But when buying from a Dominican owner there are often problems because though the title is genuine it is in the name of some dead relative. The family has never gone through the expense of bringing it up to date. When this property is sold to another Dominican there are seldom problems, but when sold to a foreigner problems almost certain because then the heirs start clamoring for their share. But, as mentioned above, since you are buying a property that was owned by a foreigner it is very likely the title is valid. But you still want to have a title search to be sure their are no liens against the property, etc., that have not been recoreded on the back of the title you hold in your hand.
casa linda
