Property Law
For the transfer of
ownership to immovable property it is required by law that parties make
use of the services of a lawyer-notary.
The lawyer notary is charged with making sure that the process of
conveyance is done in a proper manner, and that the buyer acquires
an ownership, free and clear, and that the buyer will also be aware of
all relevant conditions, such as restrictive covenants and easements,
as well as boundaries of the property in question.
When two parties decide to enter into an agreement of sale and purchase this implies, that:
If one of these
conditions is not met, there is no sale and purchase agreement. It is
customary on Sint Maarten to establish the sale and
purchase agreement in written form by means of a so-called sale and
purchase agreement.
It can be made by
the lawyer notary, but normally, especially when a real estate broker is
involved, the real estate broker will prepare
the agreement. The agreement will outline the description of the
property, the purchase price, a possible
down-payment (usually 10% of the purchase price) , the closing date, and
all other relevant conditions, such as penalty clauses
in the event one of the parties defaults on his obligations arising from
the agreement.
When the written
agreement has been made it will be presented to the notary for further
handling. The first thing the notary will do, is
to conduct a title-search. This title-search is aimed at:
Thereafter the
notary will inspect the title-deed, and possibly previous title-deeds in
order to establish if there are any special conditions
pertaining to the property, such as restrictive covenants and easements,
which the notary will have to include literally in the deed of sale
and purchase with transfer.
The next step is
that the notary prepares the deed of conveyance and makes preparations
for the closing (signing of the deed etc)
consisting of inviting parties to the closing, asking for pay-out
figures on possible mortgages burdening the property, preparation
of powers of attorney (if one or more the parties can not be personally
present at the closing) and getting all other financial aspects in
order.
After the closing
the notary will transcribe an authentic copy of the deed in the
Land-Registry (for more info on the land-registry
click the appropriate link) and the new owner will be registered as
such, and all information pertaining to title-deed and so on will be
mentioned.