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Anyone can tell you how to lose property overseas, and although I am not a specialist in overseas property, I have heard my share of both legal and non-legal advice on such matters, most of which began in earnest when I decided to marry a Norwegian.  Making the move from the U.S. was traumatic enough without the ‘culture shock’ that snuck up as the days and months passed.  Refusing to feed that monkey, I found myself progressively more established in Norway, speaking and writing Norwegian, and at least by year seven, trying to stomach some of Norway’s more challenging culinary fish delicacies. Norway prides itself on its high ‘quality of life’ score, although I would not recommend it if you were to consider any number of social and economic factors, including the crushing dairy and meat price supports that make its EØS participation almost laughable, or its exorbitant consumer prices and taxes.  I imagine it is nice to be in Norway if you are Norwegian to begin with and want endless sick leave or disability, while still rowing down the fjord and back daily. But, face it, the weather is temperamental at best, and living in the dark for several months each winter just gets hard to do.  No wonder Norwegians continue their Viking tradition of plying their trades and ideas in every corner of the globe, toting their husbands, wives and children, in spite of U.S. travel ‘advisories.’  After all, Norwegians know how to handle themselves in these other cultures – they’re gifted, smart, savvy, respectful, and clever.  Just like you, right? Moving my legal and non-legal consulting activities to foreign shores presented a vast array of challenges, not least of which was ‘being out of my jurisdiction,’ a predicament creativity and careful study have only partially resolved to date.  But the jurisdiction of the heart is a wide open plain on which both the loner and the socialite roam, and, in the last three years, to be precise, I have heard quiet tales of overseas property woe from Norway’s mighty modern Vikings.  As usual, such tales are secretive: after all, if you lose, you don’t advertise it. You may as well put a “Stupid” sign on your shirt, and one word Norwegians hate is “stupid.” I’d like to use the context for three such stories to paint a larger-than-life warning sign for those on the road to purchasing overseas property, wherever it is.  This is the Everyman article.  Let’s call our Vikings by the assumed names, Alice, Pippi, and Peer.  Alice, of course, is in Wonderland.  Things were not very interesting on the home front, and she was specialized in both agricultural and intensive gardening.  She was an accomplished professional artist, and interested in travelling to foreign shores, where she established herself on a seasonal basis as a tour guide to the major destinations of a small island in the Caribbean. Don’t get me wrong:  Alice is smart and Alice is a confident and accomplished, self-directed and sensitive individual.  For all the right reasons, Alice should have done fine when she decided to purchase and run a small farm there, but one thing led to another, and within a period of a few short years, her dream became a nightmare she could hardly escape from, her land steward was murdered, and, even back home in Norway, calls to Alice for money from this ocean destination run from personal charity requests to legal ‘ambulance chasing.’ Pippi was different – she was a world traveller, independently social and clever socially, politically, and intellectually. She excelled at everything she did in Norway.  She moved herself to Europe to teach, and later to a Southeast Asian nation which will remain nameless, but specializes in Buddhism.  There, she excelled at making fast friends on the nightclub scene, and teaching.  The culture was endearing.  She bought an apartment, and lived there comfortably part of the year, returning to Norway to visit friends, family, and associates.  Then, why does she no longer wish to speak about the desperately sweet young mother and that mother’s young daughter, both of whom she adopted there.  She had not had children, and they were in such great need.  Three years later, the picture of what happened is not so clear cut, and she finds herself living, well, here and there. Worldwide consulting, after all, has its benefits, but they do not usually include losing control of one’s property. It must be easier, however, to hide the questions and discover the answers if one is jet-setting about on project contracts. So we may just as well move on to Peer. Peer is named by me after Peer Gynt who, as Henrik Ibsen wrote, succeeded at his international business dealings, despite his lack of self-realization, and determined he would share his fortune with… his banker, his chef and his steward.  So much for charity.  In this case, we have a fantastically attractive and successful Norwegian businessman who comes upon a former ranch property in South Africa and falls head over heels in love with … its tourism potential.  Toss in the neighbouring properties, an ability to use it as a vacation destination, next to a large nature reservation, and you have the recipe for that lovely mix of environmental protection and humane management of endangered natural resources and species that both aging hippies and yuppies find so very attractive, even if this Viking was neither.  Add the need to collect on board eight or ten good friends’ extra cash-on-hand, and your pot-o-gold at the end of the rainbow is almost already brimming over.  It’s not too funny, then, when your local investor’s verbal promise to put up an equivalent amount for development – after closing – falls through.  Falling dominoes are a nicer structural failure than imploding friendships banked up with disappearing gains, and the long-term vision to put this very real project back on the path required the Zen master in Peer to get out there and exercise his own self-control and… presence.  One heart attack later, the enterprise has been successfully re-organized and re-assigned to tougher stuff, but is still struggling to meet ...local bank loans? Property re-zoning hoops?  Re-patriation registrations?  Who cares when it’s not fun any more. Especially when one’s focus  was on the value of the tangible (um, better wines and bigger steaks).  This investment ‘family’ is stabilizing - ever so slowly, but already at an angering cost and loss.  So much for investment returns. Forget one bank payment and you may as well give the place to the locals in a gift-wrapping. Add the new period for pre-apartheid land claims to be registered, and this could be an unrefreshingly new and yet more expensive venture before the tourists can get there.  In each of these three individuals, the following expressions were probably heard, in general order of appearance:  “Unbelievable,”  “Fantastic,”  and “Incredibly lovely,” “Why not?” and “Why wait?”  These were probably followed shortly or not so shortly afterwards by “Oh,” “Damnit,”  “It couldn’t be,” and others similar and/or unprintable. And, what I am hoping is that I will not have to wake up in the middle of another endlessly bright sunshining summer night in Norway trying desperately to solve such problems for someone I care about, in my dreams. After all, there’s no billing for dream time. - Article Continued Below -

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We are talking about fraud, here.  Fraud is defined, generally, as  “the intentional use of deceit to deprive another of money, property or a legal right.” (Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Global Crime Report 2003). One would think that if some of the very easy ways in which fraud is actually practiced upon people – especially among the lucky, the loving, the educated, the confident - it would be easier to see that the very aspects of personality and person that make these individuals strong are the means for their… suggestibility, gullibility and ultimate undoing. 

Could I save you from being the next Alice, Pippi or Peer, I would do so, for the love of God, Allah, Buddha and Krishna, not to mention Mohammed.  If you are already an overseas property owner, or are on your way down the road to property ownership in foreign lands, I wish you all the best, and encourage you to exercise the better part of Rational Therapy.  Check your emotions at the door.  Not the door into your new house, the door out of your old house!  If you are neither of these, then you are in the enviable position of living the expat life from the vicarious or armchair viewpoint, always ready to edit, but never to write your own chapter. 
Ah, lucky legions, think of it either as a dry run, or as a test of where you are right now. Ask yourself whether any of these quotations sound familiar to you. Then, please, don’t be surprised if they do:  it’s so very ‘Norwegian’ to be surprised, after the fact, and so very disingenuous.
 

1. “You and your culture are so fascinating!”  In this case, they genuinely bring happiness and socialization to your solo, exploring or ethnocentric existence.  You either do or do not rely on them for anything, but friendliness is a good defense when in foreign territory – or at least it seems so at first.  You’ve used it, but it’s breaking down your defenses not to think more critically about the practicalities of the purchase, at the same time as you need to make a decision.  Don’t ‘go there.’

2. They “sincerely want to work for you.” Hey, you need help.  The local staff can do the job.  They want to help you, and they want you to be a success.  You’re counting on it too, perhaps, because you’ve exercised your investment options within a country that has one or more investment treaties with yours.  Do your own work first, then.  Unless you find mandatory local maid service at their slow pace of life charming, you’ll be climbing the walls until you get out or slow down. 

3. They / he / she “love you.”   Unfortunately, in this case, love is a many-slimied thing.  It can involve either romantic and/or spiritually-charged feelings. It can bridge the gaps between all of our cultures, reminding you deeply, in your most secret heart, of the great common humanity we all share.  It can also, depending on the shark involved, break your back when yours is turned.  Again, checking the emotional element in ordinary daily life, including through words, gestures, and documents, can help you be prepared for what you should see when you should see it.  Not permitting the subtle problems to be un-noticed and un-addressed can help, even if it makes you look like nitt-picky.

4. They / he / she “need your help.” They are sincerely grateful for your personal and financial caring.  Their problems are seemingly not of their own making.  They love your loving or caring, and they seek to make a new life for themselves.  Early NGO responses unwittingly assisted in creating welfare cultures that consistently failed to control resources in ways that assured individual economic development and participatory democracy as a consequence of following the trail of this same quotation. It is therefore worth noting that if your venture in the third world doesn’t accommodate self-economic realization (for others, not just yours), you are not really helping them.  In addition, this type of pleading, on a personal basis, may be a means to trick you.  Of course, I am sorry to say it; I am such a mean uncaring person.

5. They “have a problem relative/friend from whom they sometimes need protection.” Your understanding brings you closer to each other. Stories enrich your lives together. You are able to help them with even a small amount of your money, or even title to some land.  Maybe it is even some land that you actually own, but perhaps you think it will be simply easier to control that way when you are out of country. Agents are agents, right?  Yes, until they are dead, that is.  You don’t want the anguish that comes with the realization that a poor man died because he helped you, especially when his family takes over your deeded property and requests your help feeding the children.  You think the police will help, you say?  But you have already had to pay them off to leave ‘your people’ alone in the past, a pure extortion that is ‘S.O.P’ in more than one popular destination country. Know the corruption extent and depth.

6. They “think the investment is a great way to:   share more time with you;  make your investment 10 times over in just 2 years;  get into that valley before the teaming throngs arrive;  achieve your globalization, agribusiness or environmental goals;  make travel to the U.S., Norway or Europe easier for both of you together;” or any or all of the above.

It is worth remembering when one is ‘overseas,’ in many countries, that a great number of people around you would do anything legal – absolutely anything – to get to the United States or to another western nation under legal pretences.  Their affections  - as well as their economic and business straits - are all part of a picture that should encourage greater reflection on why things are so desperately intense.  Yes, globalization is the great equalizer, and it is rushing forward, but it pushes so hard on genuine and noble intentions, clearly realized goals and objectives, and natural inclinations to succeed at cross-cultural business or personal ventures, that these can become cute monsters you can’t tame.  You risk your personal security or you do not.  That part is up to you, your own vision, and your own strength.  However, at a minimum, one’s own personal desires should not overcome a mountain of contrary evidence.

7. They “promise to give you X money on Y date.” (with or without regard to its relationship to the property itself).  See above discussions.

8. They “promise to watch the property for you.” You hire them as an employee, or have a ‘gentleman’s’ agreement, or have a ‘legal’ ‘agency’ agreement /contract, or  have a casual co-tenancy, or are great neighbors, or have a security-services agreement /contract. Ditto.

9. They “need title to assure you don’t lose the property.” Yes, believe it or not.

10. There is a “chaos, conflict, incident, event, or emergency.”  This occurs ideally while you are  (1) not there, or (2) unavailable. It includes date-specific response requirements which you cannot meet because (a) you cannot get there in time and must authorize another to sign for you, or (b) you cannot raise the funds necessary to save the investment option otherwise.  Ditto.

As one commentator recently observed in a BBC special that touched on the topic, ‘Investors overseas have an amazing ability to say, “This is not happening to us” when it is.’

What to do. We do love the rest of the world, and we want to make things work for all. We do love to travel, and we wish to help others as well as ourselves.  Let me conclude with four tips: 

1. Think Strategically – We are talking about personal situations and relationships, here.  Who was present when certain things were said or promised?  What was the order of the events in your situation?  Put together the facts as you have experienced them, with all of their prospectively undesirable details, and with as much of a ‘devil’s advocate’ perspective as possible.  Go ahead: write them down:  are you afraid you might save yourself?  You may by travelling on the ‘high’ way, but being right on principle won’t necessarily prevent others from taking you to the cleaners, nor get your paradise back for you.  Remember, you don’t have to establish that someone is trying to take advantage of you:  you need only come to the conclusion that it is more likely than not.  That is, to make a decision which you will work to carry out.

2. Think Rationally – Admittedly, this is hard (I’m not joking), and involves looking at both your own known facts and figures, as well as statistics for economic development and democratization across countries and cultures involved.  Yes, we love all cultures and all peoples, but look at the numbers, and look at what you know of the desires of the country’s and region’s residents and economic and education options and opportunities.  Is what is happening to you both good and safe?  If not, why is this happening to you?  Got any ideas? How can you make the difference for yourself and others in your overseas location without losing your safety or security.

3. Think Humbly -  Don’t be such a saint:  Does your missionary zeal, selfless project activity, or pure presence hold any potential to be as disruptive to the economic development of an individual companion, company, farm, or enterprise as foreign aid has been, historically, to developing democracies in small and helpless nations?  What role are you or your contribution making to reinforcing corruption channels in the government … or crime-ridden professions of your paradise land?  If you can’t answer these questions clearly, you might be happier searching your soul than foreign lands. 

4. Think Protectively -  Don’t underestimate the emotional power of the reality you may be experiencing as a result of your own dreams for fulfilment and success in your foreign territory.  Feelings engulf you – the feelings that you are doing the right thing, of course.  And those with designs will be dancing effortlessly around your desires for your own fulfilment, albeit self-realization, self-sufficiency and sincere charity.  Compare the ambitions of those you hire, know, visit or work with to those of someone who would like to leapfrog their own economic position off your back..  Cross-check another’s personal integrity with others.  Do your own or hired background checks.  Don’t lend out your car.  Is there clear envy in the air? If so, what systems (not individuals) balance your efforts and assure their success? Have you bought them?  If yes, at what cost to you, and to the dispossessed in this culture?

If, in writing this, I end up saving even one person from even one year of desperate efforts to reclaim property overseas – not to mention the money, the tears and the emotional trauma, this article will have accomplished its purpose. 

In a follow-up article, I hope to discuss investment treaties, transparency in transactions, and some of the legal approaches used to secure internal and external control over the greatest number of variables in cross-border real estate transactions, and invite the comments and suggestions of those who believe they’ve succeeded in doing this.
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