Our team eagerly awaits our Tuesday classes, where we invite experts to share their knowledge on various subjects related to our Real Estate practice. This week, we had the privilege of having Mr. Anthony Ruiz as our guest presenter, a Partner at Croes Wever Ruiz: Attorneys at Law and Arulex Corporate Services. Mr. Ruiz illuminated us on several topics related to our profession, and we're excited to share some highlights with our Bold Readers.
The role of Real Estate Agents in transactions
Mr. Ruiz reminded us of important points that Real Estate Agents must always keep in mind, refreshing our knowledge on this topic.
Buying Real Estate: Personal or Company Name?
Afterwards Mr. Ruiz explained all that is essential when purchasing a property. Let's say that you are looking into purchasing a property in Aruba and you are unsure whether you want to purchase the property through personal title (as a natural person) or through a company.
Non-residents are able to incorporate a company in Aruba and have a local legal representative, such as, Arulex Trust and Corporate Service, as the director to represent the company. To which the company can purchase assets, such as a house or a commercial building.
You may be asking yourself "What's the difference in purchasing a home through personal title or through the company?" or "What are the benefits in acquiring a house under a company?" and we have the answers for you. There is multiple other information that we can provide you with so that you can make an informed decision on your dream-home purchase.
Lease agreement
In the case of a rental agreement, more protection is generally provided to the tenant. When terminating a rental agreement, even if entered into for a definite period of time, permission must in principle be obtained from the Rent Commission. Such permission is usually not granted easily. Therefore, as a landlord, it is important to make use of a well-drafted rental agreement that the landlord is authorized to have the eviction take place by force (police) and have the costs be borned by the tenant. Thus, there are many more provisions that should not be missing in a rental agreement and a landlord should keep this in mind to have more legal tools to safeguard his/her position as landlord.
Becoming an Aruban Resident
If you're not a resident of Aruba, you may be wondering what it takes to have a residency permit (Just to reside on the island, note that this is different from a working permit).
For this, you'll need to have:
- An annual income of 60,000$ USD or more.
- A medical insurance certificate (It does not have to be one from Aruba, it can be an International Medical Insurance).
- A 'Good Conduct' / judicial conduct documentation that is certified by a lawyer / notary (certification cannot be older than 6 months) and in some cases together with the apostille.
- Birth Certificate duly apostilled (valid for no less than 6 months)
N.B. If the certificate of good conduct/birth certificate/ marriage certificate has been written in a language other than Dutch, English or Spanish, a translation of this document must be submitted by a sworn translator in Aruba with a validity of no less than 6 months when submitting the request. Certificates issues in one of the countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) do not require a legalization or an apostille.
To learn more about setting up a company in Aruba, we invite you to visit the website of Croes Wever Ruiz Attorneys at law for more information: www.lawyersaruba.com . you can also contact Croes Wever Ruiz Law Firm and Arulex Trust and Corporate Services per email at [email protected].
