Martha Armenta - 24 Mar 2003

New Fees for Old Trusts

If any of our foreign Mazinfo members own a property under a Fideicomiso. There is an issue regarding fideicomisos. It affects the ones who purchased a property and kept the fideicomiso in the same bank. Since the property remained under trust with the same bank, there were no taxes to be paid for recording the Deed in the local property public records office. The former Head of the Public records office said that since it was the same bank acting as the owner and that the only information that changed was the trustees, there was no need to record the deed, therefore, no taxes were paid. Surprise, surprise. The current head of the Public records office says that the properties must record all previous owners and that taxes must be paid.

In this particular case of a friend of mine, we are talking about an additional $ 4000 pesos. It doesn't affect all fideicomisos. it is mainly for cases where there was an assignment of rights. Which means, a foreigner, selling to a foreigner, for transactions that took place when Mr. Blanco was the Head of the Office of Public records.

If anyone falls in that category, consult it with your notary. I would be very happy to share our information after next week.

adios

Roger Culbertson - 29 Oct 2003 Burton asked I am wondering if the Bank Trust fees are based on the price of the home or are they fixed? They are fixed by the banks and the Federal Government and if a home costs $10,000.00 or $1,000,000.00 the set up fee (A one time fee including the first years administration fee) is always the same. This fee does vary a bit from bank to bank, however the all charge a very similar amount. ALL banks in Mexico have trust departments, and as a buyer YOU have the exclusive right to decide which bank you wish to use, no one can dictate that to you. Most people here in Mazatlan use Bancomer because their Trust office is located here in Mazatlan. That make life somewhat easier. The current charge for setting up a Trust at Bancomer is $2,700.00 USD . The yearly administration fee (Remember, the first years fee is included in the set up fee) varies a little bit depending on the value of the home, but is normally $402.50 The fees to the Notario Publico also vary somewhat, but I have found that on comparable priced homes, they are within a few hundred dollars. I tell my clients to use a rule of thumb of 5% of the purchase price. (That hold true from about 50 to 80 thousand) Below 50 thousand the fee as a percentage of the purchase price can go up to 6, 7, and perhaps 10% on very inexpensive properties. Over 80 thousand it falls as a percentage of the price. (We just did one for $110,000.00 and the fee was 4.2% of the price).

It is vital you use a good Notario. I have seen people save money by using a cheaper Notario, only to have to spend much more to change to a more effective Notario. I have seen people waiting 4 years to clear their papers when 95% of ours are done in about 30 days. It's not that WE are that good, it is because the Notarios we use are that good.

Up Dated March 2005 by Roger Culbertson