FYI Owners annual financial responsibilities:
 
Owners the HOA manager was recently contacted by the City of Penasco, regarding delinquent Property Tax Payments.  I would like to provide you with some information to assist all owners with payments pertinent to owning a condo/villa in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
 
The following are a list of annual payments that owners might be required to pay depending on how their condo/villa is being purchased/owned right now.  There are some owners that rent their property and there are some owners that do not rent.  There are some owners that are involved in LLC's and others that have established their ownership in different ways.  This is not meant to be a legal catch all for all of the individual particular situations you might have.  This is only going to be a general guide line to hopefully keep you out of trouble with your financial requirements of owning in Mexico.  There are several things that need to be paid each year to own your property in Mexico.
 
1.  Property Tax on your Condo/Villa.  If you do not have a lawyer, rental company, or some other legal representative paying your annual property taxes then you will need to pay them.  They are due each year in January.  I know that speaking for a two bedroom condo the annual tax is about $90.00 depending on the exchange rate and when you pay.  If you pay early/on-time you can get a discount.  If you pay late you will have a penaltyattached to your bill.  I do not know the fees for one bedroom or Villas but it is of course based on size and value like anything.  To pay your annual property tax you can do the following:
 
Contact Monica Castro at 638-108-2200, or
 
Puerto Penasco City Hall
PO Box 217
Lukeville, AZ 85341
 
or www.puertopenasco.gob.mx (make email attention Monica Castro)
 
You will have to provide her with your Clave Catastral Number which is the large Blue Folder you received when you purchased your property.  These are your owners documents/contract information.  Find the Clave Catastral and keep this number handy because it will help identify your property quickly when ever you need it.
 
( They do not mail this Property Tax Bill out to you as many of you are now finding out.  You have to just know you owe it and make sure it is paid each year)
 
2.  You have to make sure you pay your Electric Bill.  This Bill is a 60 day bill and copies are usually in the box just outside the HOA managers office.  There are several owners that have numerous months of their past electric bills in the box and they have not collected them.  If you rent you probably have an agreement with your rental company to make sure your electric bill gets paid.  If you don't rent you can always go down town to the electric company and pay the bill yourself or I elected to open a local bank account and I have my bank pay my electric bill automatically every two months when it is due by computer.  There are also people in town like Patricia Perez that have a bill paying service and will handle your electric bill payments for you for a fee.
 
3.  You need to consider if you want to buy condo insurance.  I pay about $66.00 a year and use an insurance company in town.  They bill me annually through the mail and have been reliable.
 
4.  You need to keep your FM3 or FM2 immigration documents current annually.  You need to find someone locally that has the knowledge to complete the annual application if you don't speak/write Spanish.  The costs can very on this depending on who is doing it for you.  Usually the labor is $100.00 and the FM2 or FM3 costs about $250.00 (that's a guess, I can't remember for sure).
 
5.  You will have to pay for an annual fee called Bank Trust (Fideicomiso).  This fee is $333.00 currently that I pay.  This is a fee you must pay to the bank each year and is usually due in December of  each year.  This fee is paid to the bank to basically certify and keep current your rights to own your spot on the Mexican Sand.  In Mexico as I understand it as an American you can own your Condo and it is yours but to have your condo on Mexican soil you must pay each year the Bank Trust so the Bank can annually certify your existence on the soil and this is supposed to be a contractual promise from the Mexican Government for 25 years with a automatic renewable 25 years.  This promise will only continue to renew however if you Pay Your Bank Trust Each Year, so don't forget this one!  You will need to know your contract number for the purchase of your condo/villa.  My contract number for example is F/60355-5.  I pay my Bank Trust each year to Bancomer.  I'm not sure but I think all of the condos/villas had their Bank Trust established with Bancomer.
 
** Remember, I'm not a Lawyer and I don't know all of the ins and outs of Mexican Law and Fees.  The above however from my research are the fees that need to be paid in Mexico to keep you up to date and current on all the fees related to owning your property in Mexico.  I want to also express to you that you are the owner of the property.  You are responsible to the Mexican government to pay these above fees.  If you have someone else making these payments for you, you had better be sure they are in fact making these payments for you.  The responsibility falls on you if they don't make them from what I have been told.
 
One last thing.  I have been asked questions about Hacienda Tax.  My understanding of Hacienda Tax is this is the Tax which is required to be collected when you rent your property.  If you rent your property and have a rental company they should be collecting and paying this tax.  Remember if this tax is not paid from rentals and the Hacienda Tax representative comes collecting the responsible party will be the Owner of the property.  You need to keep this in mind and verify that your Hacienda Tax is being paid as required.  I can tell you from personal experience that several years ago I rented my condo for a short time and when I went in to renew my FM3 I was asked to provide my proof of payment for the Hacienda Tax.  I went to the company I was having rent for me and discovered the Tax has never been paid.  I could not renew my FM3 until it had been paid.
 
Again I would like to reiterate I am not an attorney and knowledgeable of all Mexican Laws but I wanted to get this information out to our website and hopefully help some of our owners that are not sure of their requirements or how to make these payments.  If there is anyone out there with better or more specific legal knowledge then please chime in and provide us with your knowledge.  The more we all know the better we will all be.  Thanks for reviewing this information.  Bruce Turner, HOA Board member
Bruce L. TURNER
304 E Palo Verde Dr.
Yuma, AZ 85364-7315