An investigation by the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) found more than 20 lawsuits filed in the last six years in which people allege they were deceived or misled in Puerto Rico property sales. Some seek to annul deeds signed by people who were already dead, others allege deeds not authorized by the true owners or all heirs, and others describe trouble recovering money from sales that never closed.
In at least two cases, the notaries who certified the identities of the sellers and verified title are named as codefendants. In one case, a deed dated May 2024 shows Bartola Hernández Jaca (died 1994) and her daughter Luz Esther Ávila Hernández (died 2021) authorizing the $60,000 sale of a house in the Hillside neighborhood in Caimito Bajo, San Juan, to a stranger to the family.
Surviving son Atanasio Ávila Hernández saw repairs underway in June 2024. The house passed to Tribeca Capital Group, LLC and Ritocco Investment, companies of Rafael Arnaldo Nadal Palmer and José A. Pagán Cruz. The Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly (OPPEA) sued to annul the sale, and the Court of Appeals reversed a dismissal by the Court of First Instance.
The appeals court said the allegations involve an older adult and raise possible acts of identity theft and fraud. The cases reviewed involve Tribeca Capital, Central Park Group, Venture Urban Group, Park Avenue Investment Group and Capital Urban Recovery Group, all now dissolved or canceled. Nadal Palmer represented all of them and was convicted in 2010 of illegal appropriation of a $12,394 diamond.
He told CPI his earlier claims stemmed from a financial situation he addressed without bankruptcy. Property Registry administrative director Joaquín del Río Rodríguez did not answer CPI’s questions.