Green Season Scams

Green Season Rental Scams Targeting Landlords in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s green season (May to November) is a time when rental demand drops off. This time of year can attract digital nomads, long-term travelers, and expats looking for lower rates. While this can be a great opportunity for property owners to generate income through the low season, it’s also a prime time for rental scams targeting landlords. If you own a rental property in Costa Rica, here are the most common scams to watch out for—and how to protect yourself. It may seem like an attractive option to lower your rent for the green season and put some renters in place but be very careful because there are predatory renters that look for well-meaning landlords to take advantage of.

Common Green Season Rental Scams Targeting Landlords

1. Fake Tenants & Chargeback Scams

Some scammers pose as potential tenants, book a property, and pay the deposit using a stolen credit card or fraudulent payment method. After staying for a few days or weeks, the payment gets reversed by the merchant account or processor, leaving the landlord with an unpaid rental and potential damages.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Only accept payments through secure, verifiable platforms like bank transfers, Airbnb, or PayPal (with seller protection).

• Be cautious of tenants who offer overpayments or request to send money via wire transfer or cryptocurrency.

• Wait for payments to fully clear before handing over keys.

2. Long-Term Tenants Who Never Pay

A common scam involves tenants signing a longer short-term 3-6 month “green season” lease, moving in, and never paying rent after the first month. Because Costa Rica has strict tenant protection laws, evicting a non-paying tenant can take months or even years.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Require proof of income and references before signing a lease.

• Use a formal rental contract drafted by a lawyer to protect your rights.

• Request a security deposit and first and last month’s rent upfront before moving in.

• Consider only renting through platforms like Airbnb, where payments are collected in advance.

3. Subletting & Illegal Rentals

Some renters will sign a green season lease with off-season pricing and then secretly sublet your property to multiple tenants—often at higher rates—without your knowledge. In worse cases, your property could be used for illegal activities.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Include a no-subletting clause in your lease agreement. Always have a lawyer draft and go over the lease.

• Conduct regular inspections or have a property manager check in on the unit every month. You have a right to monthly inspections.

• Set up security measures like requiring all tenants to be registered, and include this clause in your lease.

4. False Damage Claims & Deposit Refund Scams

Some tenants intentionally damage a property and then claim it was pre-existing damage. Others will demand their deposit back before departure, only to leave unpaid bills or hidden property damage behind. This is a common scam, in which tenant will demand their deposit in exchange for keys. The CR law states that deposits should be returned after inspections and the bills are settled, which is usually within 30 days. However, many rent scammers will demand their deposit back in cash or they refuse to leave.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Take photos and videos of the property before move-in and after move-out to document its condition.

• Keep detailed records of all repairs and maintenance. Do not allow a tenant to do maintenance themselves.

• Clearly outline in the lease what is covered by the security deposit. Despite this, some scammer tenants will try to leverage vacating the property for their deposit. Know your rights!

5. Bogus Rental Agents & Property Managers

Some scammers pose as "rental agents" or "property managers", claiming they have good tenants lined up to rent your property, only to collect fees or deposits upfront and disappear with the money. Others may impersonate legitimate agencies, using fake contracts and stolen property photos.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Work only with reputable real estate agencies with a strong presence in Costa Rica. Ask around, and get references.

• Never pay upfront fees to agents unless you verify their legitimacy. Do your research!

• Personally verify tenants before handing over property keys. Always have an in-person interview with a potential tenant, even if it is a Zoom, you need to assess their vibes for yourself. Someone can look good on paper, then in real life, they give you the creeps.

6. Squatters & Unwanted Occupants

Some “tenants” move in and then refuse to leave, using Costa Rica’s tenant protection laws to delay eviction. This is especially common with verbal rental agreements where there’s no official lease. If you have a vacant property or land, make sure you have a property manager, private property signage, and fencing up. You need to make it difficult for someone to get possession of your land and if a squatter is found, you need to remove them promptly so they cannot claim squatter rights.

💡 How to Avoid It:

• Never rent without a formal contract drafted by a lawyer that complies with Costa Rican tenancy laws. Do not make a verbal agreement.

• Register all caretakers of your land, and have a property manager oversee the property.

• Fence in your property to protect from encroachment, mark with signage, and contact for property manager.

How to Protect Your Rental Property in Costa Rica

✅ Screen Tenants Carefully – Ask for references, proof of employment, and previous rental history before accepting a tenant.
✅ Get Everything in Writing – Always use a legally binding rental agreement that outlines rent, deposits, and eviction terms.
✅ Use Secure Payment Methods – Avoid cash payments and untraceable transactions like Western Union or cryptocurrency.
✅ Hire a Property Manager – If you don’t live in Costa Rica full-time, working with a trusted local property manager can help prevent fraud.
✅ Monitor Your Property – Schedule routine inspections or install security cameras (where legal) to ensure no unauthorized activity occurs, like subletting or illegal activities.

Final Thoughts

While Costa Rica is a wonderful place to own rental property, green season scam artists are a real risk for landlords. Scammers take advantage of lower rental demand and looser tenant screening during this time. By staying vigilant, using proper legal contracts, and verifying tenants, you can protect your investment and avoid costly headaches. Consider solely using platforms like Airbnb to rent your home and make sure to register it with the ICT to protect yourself from any potential scams.

Have you experienced rental scams in Costa Rica as a landlord? Share your story in the comments!

Common Mistakes that Landlords Make

As unbiased as we think we are…we still are subject to our subconscious biases. This is a scientific fact that we hold biases about people whether we believe we do or not. When landlords look over prospective applicants for their rental properties, they are bound by those same biases. Often a landlord will choose a tenant based on how like they are to themselves, or how they can see themselves in that prospective tenant. For example, if the landlord was a young professional who had worked hard to acquire their assets, they may look favorably at an applicant who presents as a young professional. Or if the landlord has a family, they may look at an applicant who is raising a family in a more favorable light. When in fact these characteristics say nothing about whether this potential renter will be responsible, ethical, or reliable. Rather, a landlord will project their own values on someone who seems to have similar attributes to themselves. This is called implicit bias in psychology and this applies to everyone, it is a mental shortcut and is prone to errors. This bias develops in all of us as our brain seeks out patterns in an overwhelming world, and unfortunately, we feel like we just “know” things about a person when we really don’t at all. We all are subject to implicit attitudes and stereotypes and this affects all aspects of our lives.

It is for this reason that perhaps when interviewing potential tenants it is wise to hand that over to a property manager or at least get a second or third set of eyes on the applicants. That way you reduce the odds of your personal biases clouding or informing your decisions about something as important as who you will let live on your property. As we have discovered, making a poor choice in tenants can be time-consuming and costly. Unlike when you hire the wrong person for a job, you cannot just fire your tenant. Tenants have rights and the law in Costa Rica tends to favor tenants due to their inherent perceived (legitimate or not) vulnerability.

We often attribute certain characteristics to someone based on their gender, age, nationality, or cultural/religious orientation. When in actuality those details do not pertain to a person’s character or integrity at all. Perhaps you assume that an older person would tend to be more responsible than a younger person, when in reality age does not account for character. I will give the case of a landlord who lowered their rent to accommodate a single senior man under the assumption that a single tenant of advanced age would likely be more reliable and do less damage than say for example a large family of 5 with pets. It turns out that this senior gentleman not only damaged the property significantly but was extremely difficult to rehome. Those implicit biases were at play when the landlord had made the choice to rent to them. They had projected what their experience was with the elderly in their own family. They may have projected that this senior would take early bedtime, be routine or fastidious, reliable, harmless, or similar elder stereotypes based on the patterns they had seen. Perhaps if they had based their decision solely on credit history, references, and the ability to pay the full rent asked, they likely would have chosen differently.

Another trap landlords fall into the trusted information bias trap. This is the phenomenon where if a stranger tells you a piece of information you receive it with reasonable skepticism but if a friend or “trusted source” tells you the same piece of information you are far more likely to take it as a fact. When it comes to potential renters, we have seen endless scenarios where tenants were vouched for by a landlord’s friends or family, only to find out that those opinions were incorrect or unfounded. Often a landlord won’t even do their diligence about a potential tenant if they are vouched for by a trusted source. Nothing gets ugly faster than when you trust the judgment of someone close to you simply on their word and it turns out they misled you or were misinformed themselves about a tenant’s character.

Do yourself a favor, and hire a property management company to process potential rental applicants. They act as a more unbiased filter for your business and they are more accountable for the results as that is their job to audit potential renters and protect their clients. If you are reading this and saying, “Ahh, I wish I had done this before I was in the position I am now with these bad tenants!” remember this is all a learning experience and there are laws to protect you and your property too.

How to protect your property

If you have a piece of land or vacant property in Costa Rica you will need to protect it from squatters and fraud. Vacant and empty land or homes present an easy opportunity for thieves and white-collar criminals. When buying, selling, and maintaining your property you must do your diligence to protect your investment.

You can do this by not leaving it unattended and having regular groundskeeping and cleaning. Make sure you have a fence and proper clear signage so that there is no dispute on the land. Always have an alarm system on your house and have it serviced regularly. You may want to have a backup generator for frequent power outages or “blackouts”.

When renting your home:

1. Prepare a lease using a lawyer and make sure it is iron clad, there are system abusers everywhere, so do your diligence

2. Be aware of the landlord-tenant laws in Costa Rica-know your rights and responsibilities

3. Do a thorough inventory and inspection before and after renting.

4. Do a background check on potential renters. Hire a PI or run their ID in the system, trust us, it may save you a headache in the future.

Protecting your home from fraud:

1. You can take a Property Alert service, where they will monitor your property title and alert you if anything has changed in your title given by the National Register. Do your own due diligence on this because the registry takes no responsibility.

2. Check the title of your property online once a month. It takes only a few minutes.

3. Register a Cédula Hipotecaria on your property. This is much like a mortgage you own, to protect the property from being sold or mortgaged by anyone else. Ask your attorney about the Cédula Hipotecaria. If you don’t have an attorney, check the list of legal counsel we recommend.

Unfortunate Corruption

Costa Rica is a breathtaking country, renowned for its stunning landscapes, warm and friendly people, and an exceptional lifestyle. It’s no wonder that few visitors leave without dreaming of how they might return—or even relocate—before their flight home.

My first trip to Costa Rica in 2001 was nothing short of mind-blowing and eye-opening. I vividly remember that first morning: sitting in smooth, sturdy Guanacaste wooden chairs, the gentle Pacific breeze brushing against my face as a symphony of birds filled the air. Breakfast was an unforgettable experience—fresh starfruit, melon, and the sweetest papaya I had ever tasted, all enjoyed from a shaded table overlooking a volcanic rock beach. This felt like paradise, a version of life I hadn’t imagined possible.

From that moment on, the dream of returning to Costa Rica was born. The thought of spending every day surrounded by this climate, sunshine, and vibrant energy became an intoxicating vision. Years of persistent dreaming and countless return trips eventually culminated in building a life in Costa Rica—a true testament to what dreams are made of.

Living the dream is exactly that—a dream—but it doesn’t always account for the realities of life. Reality has a way of reminding you that you’re not just dreaming; you’re living in a world filled with other people, each with their own agendas and perspectives, often different from your own.

In my experience, most people I’ve encountered in Costa Rica are incredible—fun, friendly, talented, hospitable, and generous. However, as with anywhere in the world, you’re bound to come across individuals who are less than honorable—morally bankrupt opportunists who challenge the idyllic vision.

You may encounter individuals in Costa Rica who are on the run from the law in their home countries or even hardened criminals. Some locals, known as Ticos, might resent foreigners and wish them ill, while others may see expats as easy targets—a cash cow or a naïve "gringo" to exploit. Likewise, you might come across other expats taking advantage of loopholes in Costa Rica’s legal system, disregarding the country's laws or acting as though those laws don’t apply to them.

Costa Rica is a country on a rapid growth trajectory, perhaps growing faster than the government can effectively manage. This rapid expansion creates opportunities for individuals with bad intentions to exploit the system. At the same time, a widening wealth gap has left many people vulnerable to exploitation or influence, which can, unfortunately, breed corruption and bribery.

I say this with reluctance, as the vast majority of people in Costa Rica are wonderful—kind, generous, and welcoming. However, my personal experiences have shown me that corruption and bribery do exist, often driven by these societal challenges.

Let’s consider, for example, the traffic stops enforced by police in Costa Rica. While they may appear to be routine speed traps or passport checks for illegal migrants, my personal experience has shown a different side. On multiple occasions, I’ve encountered police officers who openly demanded cash or goods to let me pass or avoid a speeding ticket. This isn’t an isolated incident; locals and expats in the know often advise keeping $10 in cash visible in your car. This small sum can be taken discreetly, potentially preventing the police from asking you to open your wallet or belongings for more.

Similarly, corruption extends to utility companies. It's not uncommon for employees to accept off-the-books payments to set up accounts, change ownership details, or bypass the account holder entirely. The theft of utility meters is a frequent issue, particularly in operations like illegal grow houses or informal settlements (shantytowns). In these cases, utility workers may be bribed to overlook infractions or tamper with accounts. Border and airport security are also susceptible, and given the drug trafficking routes running through Costa Rica from Colombia, money often speaks louder than regulations.

Another concern lies with notaries and certain unscrupulous lawyers who exploit the system for financial gain. For instance, some notaries have been known to file false paperwork with the national registry to facilitate the theft of property titles. One notable case involved a couple living in San José, who discovered upon returning from vacation that someone they trusted had conspired with a shady notary to transfer the title of their home. They are now embroiled in a legal battle to reclaim their property.

Additionally, corrupt lawyers can manipulate the judicial process by paying off judges or court staff to misplace documents, delay cases, or obstruct justice. Civil lawsuits are particularly vulnerable, with legitimate cases often tied up in procedural delays or dismissed altogether. It’s not uncommon for cases to drag on for years, sometimes over a decade, before reaching a conclusion.

Real estate transactions in Costa Rica also require extra caution. There is no formal licensing system for realtors and no professional body to regulate them. This lack of oversight makes it essential to conduct thorough research and work with a competent, trustworthy lawyer. A good lawyer can ensure that your title, deed, and contracts are properly registered and in order, safeguarding your investment from potential fraud or mismanagement.

Link to read about issues of corruption in Costa Rica.

Why Courtroom Corruption Has Costa Rica Concerned

Costa Rica Struggles to Curb Perceived Corruption Levels

Costa Rica Real Estate Fraud - Help! They stole my property

Be Mindful of Currency

Make sure your rental leases are in Costa Rican colones currency. If you write your contract in any other currency-USD, Euros, etc, then the rate stands for the entire duration of the contract and no increases may be made. So if you have a tenant for 3-5 years and the contract stipulates the rent being paid in USD, you will not be allowed to adjust it for annual inflation. If you write your contract in CRC colones, then you are entitled to increase the rent annually up to 10%. Concerning housing rentals, in Costa Rica, the agreed rent in colones can only be updated at the end of each year of the contract; In the case of rents agreed to in a foreign currency (ie US dollar or Euro), the agreed amount will be maintained for the entire term of the contract, without the right to readjustment.

In Costa Rica, readjustments in housing rentals is a set of rules that regulate all property rental and lease contracts, contained in Law No. 7527 “General Law of Urban and Suburban Leases” (Ley General de Arrendamientos Urbanos y Suburbanos – 7527), specifically to article 67 of the so-called Tenancy Law (Ley del Inquilinato). As tempting as it may be to draw up a contract in foreign currency due to the instability of the CRC colones, be aware that the economy in Costa Rica is strong and the colones has climbed in value steadily over the years. Get legal advice before drawing up any contract. We want to share the tip that only leases in CRC colones can be adjusted for inflation annually.