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@jpjones402 stamp duty is usually included as part of the closing and is paid when the transfer paperwork is filed. If you are talking about an owner financing situation or land contract, the stamp duty is paid when the land certificate is transferred to the new owner's name.

@belizelandoffices

Thank you for your answer that raises another question.

If the new owner does not transfer the title in to their name, who would be held responsible if anything went wrong?

John

    @belizelandoffices
Thank you for your answer that raises another question.

If the new owner does not transfer the title in to their name, who would be held responsible if anything went wrong?

John
   

    -@jpjones402

Always use a Belize attorney when buying any property in Belize. The small extra cost added to the total deal is worth it in the long run. If any party or realtor objects to your using your own attorney to protect you interests, walk away from the deal.

Thank you

@jpjones402 I'm not sure your question or the specifics of the situation (are you the buyer or seller, using a real estate agent, private sale, land contract, etc).

A purchase and sale agreement can be completed on your own, but a closing attorney or paralegal should be used for the actual filing of the land transfer paperwork. The cost for this is generally paid by the buyer as part of the sales transaction/closing costs, but can be arranged by either party.

If you are the seller, ask if the buyer has a preferred attorney or paralegal and provide your land certificate and purchase and sale agreement to them. If they don't have an preferred option, select one yourself and charge the buyer for the paperwork and filing fees. 

If you are selling on a land contract, decide if you are filing the land transfer now and taking back a mortgage or waiting until the property is paid in full. In either case, do as above at the appropriate time.

Thank you for your answers. We were in fact the seller and the buyer has claimed they filed for a new title, but a year has gone buy and the title is still in our names.

Hi JP,

Sadly absolutely normal in Belize, everything to do with the governement and expecially the Lands Department takes a ridiculous amount of time, title transfers commonly take a year, even 2 years if there is any sort of problem when the Land epartment finally get around to look at your file, oh and they won't inform you there is a problem they wait for you to physically come in and inquire about your case. The only choice is to go in every month and check,

Making matters worse the website to check filing progress has been out of order for ages, with no forcast of it working again.

You should have been fully paid before the title change is filed and your sales agent or solicitor should be telling your buyer all this, it is out of your hands and no longer your responsibility once the transfer has been filed with the Lands Department. It can for instance be the buyers fault if the Lands Department decide the sale is undervalued and additional Stamp Duty is required and has not been paid by the buyer.

@jpjones402 I hope that your buyer is using a reputable closing agent.

With a paralegal or competent attorney it's been taking about 3 months for title transfer of properties in a registered section. In non-registered sections with a deed of conveyance it's been a little longer,  but nowhere near a year. If they tried to file themselves it can be a very long drawn out process and will likely be rejected multiple times.

Unfortunately, not many people involved in real estate in Belize are joining the professional association (AREBB - Association of Real Estate Brokers in Belize) and are following the code of ethics. We recently heard from a friend that a real estate agency told them (the client) that their title documents weren't ready after waiting almost a year and asked for a significant additional "fee" to push them through. We had the closing agent we work with check for them and the documents had been sitting ready to be picked up for months. This seems to be happening more and more these days. I recommend that anyone who has issues with a real estate agent (or agency) file a complaint with AREBB so that we can work towards a better system in Belize.