The Caretaker Liability Nobody Mentions

What is owed to a long-serving worker

A Costa Rican employee accrues severance (cesantía), notice (preaviso), vacation, and the thirteenth-month payment (aguinaldo). They must also be registered with the CCSS, and separately covered by an INS workers' compensation policy.

Where an informal arrangement has run for years without those registrations, the accumulated exposure can be substantial relative to the price of a small property.

Employer substitution

If the worker continues working at the property under the new owner, employer substitution applies: seniority continues, and the obligation travels with the employment. The previous owner remains jointly liable for six months after the sale, after which the liability sits entirely with the buyer.

So there are really only two clean positions. Either the seller terminates and fully liquidates every worker before closing, with documentation, or the buyer knowingly retains them and accepts the accumulated seniority as part of the deal.

Whichever route is chosen should be written into the purchase agreement, not left to be discovered afterwards.

What to ask for

Ask for each worker's start date, their CCSS registration, the INS policy, and documentary proof of what has been paid. Ask explicitly whether the seller intends to terminate and liquidate before closing.

The seller disclosure on every listing here asks these questions directly, and a disclosed worker requires a written explanation before the disclosure can be submitted.