It is a fairly common practice in Panama for a real estate brokerage firm to provide free corporations for the buyers of newly built condos. Usually they have an in-house attorney or a law firm that is an in house attorney in disguise, doing the corporations.

Well the problem is the real estate is being titled into the name of the corporation. The corporation has nominee directors, and a resident agent who is tied to the real estate company that sold you the development through their lawyer. The lawyer forming the corporation does not have an arms length relationship with the realtor and you. There is a conflict of interest not in your favor in that the realtor is the one who is paying the lawyer not you. How many condos are in that building 150-200. That is a lot of corporations for the lawyer. All the lawyer cares about is seeing that the real estate deal closes and the developer gets paid.

What if you need to start a lawsuit concerning the real estate because something was not done correctly? Now having his lawyer do the work on the corporation that owns the real estate that your hard earned money paid for does not seem like such a good idea, does it?

Second Year Fees - A decent price for second year fee is $695.00 including three nominees, resident agent, resident address and the $300 tax. Some of these law firms charge $1200 or more for the second year fees and that is how they make their money. So the free corporation may not be that free.

Free Immigration Work from Broker - Again be careful if there is a dispute over the real estate why do you want your broker or their lawyer to have involvement with your immigration case. What if a lawsuit is necessary regarding the real estate?

Always go out and get an independent lawyer that represents you without any conflicts of interest.