More Trouble Dealing with Ecuadorians

Friday February 6

Richard called me to tell me the latest news. Today he had settlement on a hotel he’s buying in Quito. I don’t know why he wants to buy it as he wants to leave Ecuador, but he thinks that he can fix it up before he leaves and manage it from whatever country he’ll move to. He told me at settlement that the owner didn’t pay his back taxes and they wanted him (Richard) to pay it. He said he didn’t have enough money and they looked at it as his fault!

How stupid to do so!!!

He said he wasn’t told this and he just had enough money to buy the hotel. He told them they would have to wait until he got money from his Panamanian account. They still couldn’t understand this (stupid Ecuadorians). Then he told them some harsh words.

First, I don’t understand Richard. I would say that all the bills should be paid and bring the copies of the receipts at settlement. This would also indicate to me that the owner has a bad accountant. I don’t know if Richard looked at the owners books to see how much he made the previous year but this is the first thing I would do before I even offered a price.

When I was talking to Richard he got a call to go to the notary and she said it was necessary, so we ended the conversation. About 40 minutes later he called back to tell me what happened. He said he would have to sign something and pay the back taxes. He said he would not and told them this earlier in the day. He repeated that he’ll have the money next Tuesday. He told the person (I guess his lawyer and the notary), “Why in the hell did you have me come here? I told you this earlier in the day.” Or words to that affect.

He was really mad at this time. He said, “Give me those damn checks back.” And he grabbed them out of his hand. He added, “In fact, I might not buy the property!”

In Ecuador one way to buy property is buy pay for all that is outstanding THEN you get title. Well, I would never agree to this. I might not know much about property but I knew this before I bought my first one – to have all the bills paid by the owner then get the title to the property. If I was in a situation where the taxes were not paid I’d be sure that this would reflect on a lower price. Maybe Richard had this agreement but what the Ecuadorians did wrong was not telling him how much he would have to bring to the closing.

Richard said, “Maybe this is a sign from God for me to leave.” Well it sure is and it sure isn’t the first sign that he got.

Even if he thinks the property is a good buy he will still have to put with the construction workers and have problems with them. Then he might also have to comply with some stupid law in the remodeling process. If he plans to sell the property later, who’s going to buy in Ecuador? Who will buy when the Depression really sets in? (I predict that in the future this time in history will be known as the “Greatest Depression.” Mark my words as it will be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

A Visit to Our Lawyer’s Office

Wednesday February 4

Jayne and I went to Quito. First I had to change my Euros. I was told the rate is $1.14 for each Euro! I thought that was low so Jayne said that she has $100. Thus, I just changed what I needed. Then we went to Maria’s office. As we entered the building Maria was walking out. She told us she was going to another meeting but to go to her secretary and pay the visa tax and for Jayne to give her passport. The tax, as mentioned previously, is $350!

I thought to myself, this tax is an indication of getting as much money out of the foreigner as the government can. I just paid my property tax on my house, lot and apartment and the total came to $166. This is less than half the price for a damn visa! When I first came there was no visa tax.

After stopping at the lawyer’s office we went to get something to eat at Magic Bean. Then we walked to the English Book Store (one that he hadn’t been to in months). From there we went home.

Gonzalo got the garden started and planted the seeds that I bought a few weeks ago. It looks real nice. This should add a little value to our home.

In the afternoon my neighbor in the back handed me some papers she said was from Maria del Carmen (the woman that I bought the house from). When I saw the papers it was the blueprint for the house. This is what my lawyer asked her over a month ago.

I was surprised to see the architect plans with the date on it which said December 1993. When I bought the house I was told that it’s 25 years old, which makes it 30 years old now. The truth is that the house was only 10 years old when I bought it and now its 15 years old. Since the plans were at the end of 1993 that means that the house was not built and finished until 1994.

I’ll have to change the advertisement as I put in there 1984. I used this date as the construction worker thought it was younger. This is a good selling point now that I found out that the house is really younger.

Jayne had thought that there was an addition to the house. Maybe it was but it didn’t show on the architect plans. Even if it was so, so much was built around it that I can see the whole house was built in 1994.

Richard's Apartment

Tuesday February 3

I called Mathieu to tell him that Richard invited him for lunch today. I told him that Jayne and I will be there. He said he’s on a bus to Columbia. I asked what he was doing going to Columbia and he said he’s taking a tour group there.

I told Gonzalo that we will not be here and gave him money to buy lunch and eat here (as we will not be here to unlock the door).

I got a call from Maria to say that Jayne can come in with her passport as she can start the next step of the visa process. She also told me to bring in $350 for the visa tax. I told her that we will be meeting Richard but we’ll be tomorrow.

About noon we took a taxi to Richard’s home. He lives in a nice part of Quito in a high-rise apartment. When we got there we walked into a beautiful apartment with a view of the valley. He lives on the 9th floor with a view of the mountain and the valley below.

Richard’s two Cuban friends were there. He said they’ll be leaving shortly for the airport as they are going back to Cuba for business for two weeks. One guy I met already, but the other guy, Gabriel, I didn’t. He is the artist from Cuba who does beautiful paintings and also works in sculpture and glassware.

This guy is really a master artist. He took art school in Cuba. When I saw him he looked like he was in his 20s but he told me that he’s 41!

We were shown around his flat, which was made from a two bedroom flat to one bedroom. Richard show the paintings and two sculptures that Gabriel did. Richard’s whole flat was done very tastefully and his kitchen is a chef’s delight with all manner of appliances along with a island counter to prepare food.

After the Cubans left we had lunch which was Louisiana gumbo which was made with chicken and sausage. Since I don’t eat meant, Richard had a salad for me along with an egg sandwich.

Then there was Richard’s cat, which I forgot her name. Richard is really attached to his cat.

We had a nice talk. Of course, Richard talked about his problems and how to resolve them. Later he put on my memory stick the Donald Trump books that he found online, one of which is an audio book. I look forward to reading and listening to them.

I took some pictures there. I took pictures of all the art work that his friend did. I also took pictures of the wood carving done in rectangular and round shapes that he has hanging on his walls. He told me that he got an appraisal from a friend that the woodwork would sell about 10 times the price in cities like New York and Chicago!

The wood carvings that Richard has was made in the town of San Antonio, Ecuador. I had been there years ago with Mathieu, as this is where he gets his religious carving. Well, this would be a good business to sell in the U.S. (and Europe). They can be sold via e-Bay or imported and sold in a store and also through the Internet.

After talking awhile we had a banana pie, which was good.

We left about 4.15pm. While we are on the street right near Richard’s apartment we were approached by some guy who speaks English telling us that he would some money to buy a ticket back to Cuienta. He gave us – what sounded like – his whole life story. Well, it was full of holes. I asked him why he was giving us his whole life story to get some money for a bus ticket! This guy claims that he lived most of his life in the U.S. he used the name of God and Jesus.

He said that “I swear that it will not be for something to drink.”

I gave the guy $2. Of course, what he said could be the truth (which probably not) but I thought, anyone of us could be in a situation where we were robbed and needs money to get home.

Jayne thinks that he just wants money to get something to drink.

I never thought I’d be approached by someone begging in a nice neighborhood where Richard lives.