Red Flags & Warning Signs 🇳🇮 Nicaragua

Until you move to and live in Nicaragua for a while, what should be seen as a red flag or warning on services being offered or investments being proposed or homes being sold are often obscured or impossible to detect because what is normal in much of the world is completely unusual here. Without becoming family with how business is done, how skilled experts are found, how to get reliable references and more. What should you look out for?
#nicaragua #lawyer #realestate
4 May 2024
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[@1stLukecifer]

Was happy to hear an echo of your guidance from, “my Juan guy” in Managua. Told me the horror story of an attempted expat filling residency after he “started the process in the states for $1K; and had to repeat it in-country for an additional $1k”. Moral of the story in the deprogramming from other western culture: stop, breathe, & spend locally.

[@RedOctober2011]

Interesting, thanks.

[@DughoffDynamics]

Great episode on what not to do! Maybe you could do a follow up on how to develop the criteria and tools to learn to evaluate finding the right resources once you are in the country and are looking for a place to rent, a good lawyer, a good accountant, bookeeper, etc? There is a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma to it - how do you start if you don't know anyone?

[@kevinadams9468]

Great and very useful info. Interestingly enough, when I was a 'babe in the woods' many, many moons ago - and before I had the luck of finding your channel! - I contacted one the more 'famous' Real Estate agents who has been mentioned and alluded to in your videos. Wanna guess who he recommended right out of the gate as a 'good attorney top talk to' regarding immigration?? Indeed, it was the abogado recommended by Mr. Jon Fuzzy Picture Smith! What are the chances? Well, when you are running a racket on unsuspecting foreigners, the chances ARE good. This is why this and other videos you have made are so valuable! Keep it up!

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

We actually tracked down who it was, turns out it is someone we know and a real person - except he was NOT happy and the attorney in question screwed up his paperwork and he doesn't recommend him, lol.

[@1stLukecifer]

“I’m a soldier, and you mean to tell me there is no manual, SOP, or written guidance to instruct me on how to get from point A & point B? How am I supposed to find the chow hall?

[@RedOctober2011]

When building software I had to stop using "John Smith" as the test account for testing new features. Reason is because that name is "too real" for the customer I was working for. Instead I now use "Johnny Cab" from the movie Total Recall where Awwny is riding around in an automated cab with a robotic driver with that name. Testers now instantly know if this is a fake user account or not.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

jajaja... weird.

[@user-tz3pr9de1x]

Those two videos caused quite a stir on the Facebook expat groups. My state has Nevada Revised Statues, which are the laws. However, individual state agencies write Nevada Administrative Code. And those NAC (rules) can and are made without legislative action. My guess is the same occurs here in Nicaragua.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Yes, my UNDERSTANDING of the situation is that the law sends people to MINSA for health certification. Then MINSA independently creates a policy for that. So people are making up that they want a law to tell them something that isn't a law, but is a policy. But they act like they didn't care before so they ignore the long standing policy and demand something unique for this one particular piece of the puzzle that makes no sense. Having spoken to a great number of people about this, I think that very few real humans are upset, all of the "upset" seems to be coming from some law firms or people posing as lawyers (yes, found some of that already) and falsifying health records. At least one fake lawyer has already been caught doing something that appears to be akin to forging records and charging a hefty amount whilst lying to their clients that that is the process and hiding that the whole thing should be free. So I think this might have touched on a detail of residency that has been being kept hidden and predators have been leveraging that. So now they are angry as they get exposed.

[@user-tz3pr9de1x]

What most people will find hard to understand is that Lawyers here have no website. Even the best ones may not have an office, secretary, or staff. There are no Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Angies List or state bar association to check out a person's credentials. It is all boots on the ground person to person referrals.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Exactly. Most WILL have an office, but here professionals normally have a formal office in their house. Only a few big ones have them stand alone. Doctors, dentist, lawyers, notaries... all work from home typically.

[@jamietennyson8529]

Hi Scott, love all your videos coming to Nicaragua in a week. I have mentioned before to Leon down by the ocean while I am there how do I go about looking for long-term rentals in area? Thanks. Have a great day.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

There's no great tool for that. Although in the next few days one long term rental option is going to be on the show as I just happened to learn about one and film it. But mostly like anything in Nicaragua, it's figure out where you want to be and drive around. Look for "for rent" signs, but then try to reach the owner. Avoid the real estate agents as often the signs are fake, and even if they aren't, getting scammed by the agents is the norm, not the exception.

[@jamietennyson8529]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog thanks again for all the amazing advice. my wife and I will take some time while we are there to look around your show is a great help to everyone and puts our mind at ease. Thanks again. Sorry again to bother one last quick question while I think of it how much should we be paying American from airport to Leon Ocean for #TAXI thanks once again.

[@jamesmcgowan5933]

Where is the rain. By your videos lately rainy season is becoming a sort of dud. Trying to be better at questions since noticed that your a very literal person . How far back should go to see Laborito walk about . Thanks

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

rain is at night. we had a few hours last night.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Laborio walks were all over the 2022 videos after about Jan 23

[@jamesmcgowan5933]

@@ScottAlanMillerVlog thanks.

[@dallasbarkman1261]

But what if i want to.put $100,000 down on a home to be built w/ a future proposed golf course on the beach where ground hasn't been broken , but the website looks so good ! ( jk)

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

lol. go 4 it!!

[@dallasbarkman1261]

Thats the spirit ! Lol.​@ScottAlanMillerVlog

[@jillianfreyman6325]

I think i actually know what "lawyer" you're talking about. Do i win a prize? Lol

[@mariegardiner7034]

Can you tell me????

[@hectoradonisbaltodanogarci1108]

why do you call yourself expats?, it does not make sense for me, you're a legal immigrant in the country

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Exactly, as a legal immigrant I must be an expat. The term immigrant is a reference to my status in Nicaragua. To Nicaragua I am an immigrant. Expat is my status as a person, an emigrant with no plans to return to my source country. I have been an expat long before I was an immigrant and while my immigration status is, in theory, at the temporary discretion of whatever host country I am in, my expat status is my own and permanent. What I "am" is an expat, that's my place in the world. To Nicaragua, I'm an immigrant. So the expat status is far more relevant. The reason that so many (but not all) immigrants to the US don't call themselves expats is because they often are not - they are temporary immigrants there for a purpose but ultimately looking forward to returning "home" to their home country. That makes them non-expat immigrants. I am not returning home. Even if Nicaragua decided not to allow me to stay, which would be sad, I would not be returning to my home country but moving on to be an immigrant in another host country. So that's why I use both terms all the time, but expat is the more important one because it explains my entire situation in one word rather than needing to provide an explanation like this, that would be needed if I only said immigrant.

[@ScottAlanMillerVlog]

Which part of calling myself an expat doesn't make sense to you? It's the correct term, why is using it confusing?