Want to buy some real estate in Haiti? Think twice.

Saw a slide show the other day of photos taken by a recent visitor to Haiti while on a humanitarian mission. By all accounts, the Haitians are the nicest people one could hope to meet. But the buildings, even the ones that survived the quake, are in sad shape, and the infrastructure is a mess.

It's no secret that the Haitian government is not the greatest in the world, but the legal rights to real property ownership are inadequate to provide a land owner the sense that he/she could build a house or building and not worry about it being taken away. Consequently, many of the houses are homemade from any available material.

Oh sure, the Haitian Constitution says, "No one may be deprived of his legitimate right of ownership other than by a final judgment by a court of ordinary law, except under an agrarian reform." But there's way too much wiggle room for a greedy government. And sure enough, a bungled land redistribution program has left the Haitian people with little of what we would think of as real property rights. In fact, one source gives Haiti a "10", along side Cuba, on a 1 to 100 real property rights index. For perspective, the U.S. and Canada both score 90.

It's something we in the U.S. take for granted. We buy some land, and although federal, state, and local governments have gigabytes of laws, rules, restrictions, and taxes, and some high profile eminent domain cases have put fear in home owners across the nation, at least we have some faith that it probably won't be taken away from us. Compared to Haiti, we've got it pretty good.

Unfortunately, it's the ordinary Haitians who suffer under the system. They are poor and uneducated -- anyone lucky enough to have gotten an education has left. So they really don't have an understanding of what the country needs to steady itself. And when an earthquake hits, the houses come tumbling down.

Comments

[Maggy Gousse]

Obviously your not Haitian ! Why you come in our business! To criticize it! Stay in your home do not come and bother people!Shut! To top it all mind your own business. We do not need you nor your uncivilized comments! You want to discourage someone well, look in the mirror and discourage yourself. Your input is not needed.

[Maggy Gousse]

By the way i'm on my way to purchase property in Haiti (Ayiti) my home. Were rebuilding!!!!

[Janet]

Most likely this comment came from a white American which I tend not to believe as I do not trust them.

[Karen]

Racism NEVER wins, Janet.

[Ray Hadeed]

I'm white and have visited Haiti recently. Could I live there?

[jean edouard romel]

I am Haitian,it's sad to see how emotional we are,we simply can handle the truth,houses in Haiti are overpriced and after the earthquake unsafe,there is no home inspection system,you have no idea if you are buying from a legitimate home owner.

and with the rampant corruption you can't verify the title , for the right price you can get any official paper ,birth certificate,marriage licence,death certificate(even you are still alive),ETC..

yes I love my country and I hope one day thing will change,but

I wan to invest in my country but the legal system is either weak or

[Ann Eds]

I believe. And yes it is only my opinion, but I believe the post by jean edouard romel was made by a white man. White people don't like when another white person is called a liar.

[Tunie]

The government is making it harder for foreigners, specifically whites from owning land. There is a reason for this. If you know history, than you know why. The USA and France have done horrible things to Haiti. Also, whites aren't above using ignorant Hatians as proxies for real estate "colonialism".

[MD]

Many thanks to the autor! As a citizen of an ex-comunistic country, where in our recent past overnight the government took away the land of all private owners and declared it as state property, i completely understand what he means. This is the difference between the so-called "white" countries, where the law is strong and the others. Just to clarify, that by "white" i don't mean with white race, because i myself am white and the population of my country is 99% of pale :) people, but i don't consider the country "white" in the meaning of what i said above. So, how can i come to Haiti, to invest money and start to develop something, to open work places etc. if nobody can guarantee me that the government won't come after 1 or 2 years and take the land away and i'm forced to move everything to another place?

[jumbihunter]

id love to own land in haiti, but i'm white and concerned i'd get killed or voodoo'd

[jumbihunter]

I've read that if you've squatted on a parcel for at least three years you can claim squatters rights in Haiti so, every Haitian has access to land in theory.

[J J]

Most governments are corrupt and have self interest at heart and not the people of the land. It does not matter what nationality you are: black, white, red, yellow, we have all sinned in the eyes of God and we stand as equals. The past is in the past. We need to look beyond that and educate our selves. Open up the possibilities of co-existing. Work together as a whole. Together we can end hunger and we can serve God who has created us.

[lbf]

It has nothing to do with the color of the person, but the color of the law. A corrupt legal system allows the connected and rich to stay rich, the poor will always be poor, and no one will invest their money in an honest transaction when the rules of law can be changed with a bribe. This is true in Haiti, Uzbekistan, Kosovo, Detroit and Chicago.

[Maria]

Well said !

[Donald]

I have read some of the comments posted - i have never been to haiti but have scheduled to visit and try and do my part to educate and try to bring the people of this area forward - if more people would give something back to society by helping and not taking all you can feom society for self serving interests the world would be a better place