Think I’ll build a House II

[Cap'n Jib]

In a conversation a week or so ago, with a fellow Ex-Pat, the subject turned to WHY I was going to build again even though our house is among the best in the area. Good question! I had also answered this question on a call from a fellow gringo board member. Thought the explanation MIGHT be of some use to others with respect to ‘how things are often done in Latin America’.

We really like our house HOWEVER it could have been so much more. Both of us have construction experience in commercial and residential. One of us is an engineer….nope ‘taint me. One is extremely intelligent….nope ‘taint me. One of us is Colombian…nope ‘taint me. One of us speaks Spanish fluently…. come on fella, let’s get real here.

You would think that we would have an understanding of how things are done here in LA and should be able to avoid the pitfalls and minefields of Latin America. And that is where you would be wrong! For the most part of course this is actually true, but from time to time, ‘a change up pitch’ is thrown at you and you have to decide what to do. To mix metaphors ‘when we came to a fork in the road…we took it!’

We had not been contacted with respect to choice of lighting and plumbing fixtures. So I went out and bought what we wanted. We were then told they would NOT install the items we purchased even though they failed to notify us as to possible selections available.

The contract has the following clause: “Any modifications and/or upgrades required by THE COMMITTED BUYER, can be added later to this Contract as an addendum with its corresponding descriptions, and additional cost. Payment arrangements for these upgrades or costs adjustments would be made in the respective addenda.”

For anyone that thinks I have a clue as to how things worked down here, this should demonstrate how clueless I really am. I appealed to LOGIC!

They did not offer us the choices they were required to.
The contract gave us specific rights.
We did not care about financial credits. All we wanted was the installation of what we had bought out of pocket.
Other houses in the development already had similar changes made and installed, so what is the problem?

First, our requests were ignored for two weeks. Then, we were told that theses changes would delay delivery of the house (which was already 4 months late). Later, we were told that they did not have the know how to install the stuff we bought.

I countered with I would bring in my own crew to handle these items but was told that no other crews were allowed UNTIL they finished their work first. If I still wanted these items installed, I could do so AFTER I took delivery. The construction is all block, concrete, rock and rebar. At this point I must confess that I was stupid enough to go along with this IF the construction was preformed properly and there were NO further delays. A BIG mistake here guys. The wife and I were making plans on getting the remodeling crews in and keeping destruction to a minimum. Dumb…very dumb! The problem is that they are EXPERTS at wearing people down! A person finally gets tired of the BS and just gives in. And yes, I did KNOW better.

Now I understand cultural differences to an extent. I also have a rudimentary idea of nuances, vagaries and bull ****. It was at this point when they tried to have me thrown out of my own house for painting ceilings…I lost it. Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with being AN UGLY AMERICAN!

God I love this place!

[LastLion]

I would have kicked them off the origianl job and done it myself!

[Cap'n Jib]

That was my origional intention. However, the way the contracts are written here (they are nested clauses within another clause), we would have been required to go to court. AT LEAST a year, most likely two or three years, before the case could be heard...providing both parties are willing to push the date of the court hearing as fast as possible. Oh the stories I could tell of unsuspecting gringos down here. Please keep in mind, IF you build in a development, getting out is not THAT easy.

That is why developers form an alliance with a builder because they CAN stall a person out. Oh and by the way, "It is not over, until it's over."

Arbitration here has a number of different twists. My personal favorite is if I bring an action I MUST pay $45,000 up front for the entire court action. This covers the expenses for both parties. If I win, the other side MUST pay their half with a 'possibility' of them paying the whoe thing....it just depends. If I lose, I lose it all. This isn't Kansas!

[Micky10]

Cn'J -

You KNOW that you are one of the "great" ones here. The Colombian mindset (remember Panama IS Colombia, only a matter of time before I take it back) is at times, a challange for the gringo mindset to deal with (major understatement). Your stories are so very good describing "the way things are". One of, if not the "main pain", of dealing with the Latino way of life, is the ability to accept it as it is. You have to be one that LOVES all of those "other" things of the culture and the people, that far outweight the downsides. Those things that happen and are the cause for super frustration, those things that make you want to throw yourself under a mango cart, are really NOTHING: as there is no place that I would rather be, I do LOVE the place that much.

Love - Micky