# Property Seizures in Tulum Roils Foreigners



## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

I only know Tulum from before it became chic. i don't move to chic places and though it's stunningly beautiful, would never consider it. Still, I had thought it was relatively well run, nothing like former "paradise" of Acapulco.

So, this NY Times story today surprised me. We've had Tulum residents on the board. I'd love to hear their views.

"Evictions by Armed Men Rattle a Mexican Tourist Paradise"

"TULUM, Mexico — By the time Renaud Jacquet arrived at his compound of rental beach villas, invaders were crawling all over the place.

They were storming through the buildings, emptying out rooms and dumping furnishings and supplies in piles outside. One of the men was wandering around clutching a bottle of Mr. Jacquet’s wine.

Similar scenes unfolded up and down the coveted stretch of Caribbean coastline in Tulum, Mexico, in June. Hundreds of men working for a security firm — carrying sticks, metal pipes and machetes, witnesses said — raided 17 properties, including hotels, private homes, boutiques and a beach club. They evicted everyone on the premises, including tourists, some of whom had been roused from their sleep.

“It was like the mob,” Mr. Jacquet recalled. “It’s the French Revolution!”

...

“American tourists need to really know what’s going on down here,” said Ken Wolf, an American entrepreneur who lost his hotel in Tulum in a similar raid several years ago. “There’s no rule of law.”

Suddenly, Thai's military government, which at its core is anti-Western, would love to throw out Western tourists if they weren't so economically vital, and sometimes makes me nervous, doesn't seem so bad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/w...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

From my reading it sounded like they bought on Ejido land and at least some of them knew that the titles had question marks associated with them, but they decided to risk it. It sounds like that was a bad decision.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> From my reading it sounded like they bought on Ejido land and at least some of them knew that the titles had question marks associated with them, but they decided to risk it. It sounds like that was a bad decision.


That is my read as well. Sounds like it is not a new situation. Many of the people involved had already taken steps to deal with the situation - some chose not to apparently.

We live nowhere near the coast - but we did use a legitimate big name real estate agency when we bought. We also had the title researched (and backed) by a well respected notary. We also bought in a developed fraccianamiento. Don't think we could be mistaken for squatters.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

beware of ejido or indian land.. Foreigner thinks they are smart and have a loophole with trust prestanombre and I do not know what else but they will lose every time.. same deal happened in a lot of places on the coast.. As long as land values do not go straight up, greed is not involve but when greed or seller remorse sets in say good by to your property. Why people buy ejido land on beautiful deserted places is beyond me.. Some are lucky and everything is fine and some lose ..that is life in Mexico.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> From my reading it sounded like they bought on Ejido land and at least some of them knew that the titles had question marks associated with them, but they decided to risk it. It sounds like that was a bad decision.


That's what I think too. The article makes it sound like they were all good people who got screwed over by the evil Mexican authorities, but it's a bit more complicated than that.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> That's what I think too. The article makes it sound like they were all good people who got screwed over by the evil Mexican authorities, but it's a bit more complicated than that.


Agree. A friend of mine, upon learning that I was moving here, advised me to NEVER buy property in Mexico because it could be taken away any time. He "knew" this because a friend of his got into exactly the situation described in the article. It's called "gambling".


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Meritorious-MasoMenos said:


> I only know Tulum from before it became chic. i don't move to chic places and though it's stunningly beautiful, would never consider it. Still, I had thought it was relatively well run, nothing like former "paradise" of Acapulco.
> 
> So, this NY Times story today surprised me. We've had Tulum residents on the board. I'd love to hear their views.
> 
> ...



Negotiations in Tulum could end disputes

There seems to be a conflict in reports of what really happened in June.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

as usual in Mexico nothing is ever clear and there are always a zillion sides to any story..


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