How to Vet Any Service Provider in Costa Rica Before You Trust Them
Updated: Jul 6
Somebody gives you a number. A name. "This guy is great, totally reliable, very honest." And maybe he is. Or maybe he is the fourth person this year to disappear after receiving a deposit.
This happens more than most people admit, and it happens to people who are not naive. It happens to people who have lived in Costa Rica for years, who speak Spanish reasonably well, who have been careful. The problem is not that Costa Rica is full of dishonest people — it is not. The problem is that vetting someone here requires a different process than what most North Americans and Europeans are used to, and most people find that out only after something goes wrong.
Whether you are looking for a doctor, a contractor, a housekeeper, a caregiver, or a lawyer, the questions to ask and the red flags to watch for are largely the same. This is a practical guide to that process.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
Online fraud in Costa Rica has grown sharply in recent years. According to the Tico Times, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial — Costa Rica's judicial police — recorded 10,027 cases of online fraud in 2025 alone, a 41% increase from the previous year. Cases nearly doubled between 2023 and 2024. In just the first half of 2025, losses from bank fraud exceeded ₡2.6 billion — roughly $4.8 million USD.
The pattern behind much of this fraud is consistent: a provider appears professional, credible, and well-reviewed. They offer exactly what you need. They ask for payment or information upfront. And then something goes wrong.
This is not unique to Costa Rica. But the combination of language barriers, unfamiliarity with local credentials, and the tendency of expat communities to rely heavily on informal word-of-mouth creates conditions where shortcuts in vetting are common — and where the cost of those shortcuts can be significant.
Start With More Than a Recommendation
A recommendation from a friend or neighbor is a starting point, not a conclusion. The question is not whether someone has been recommended — it is whether the person recommending them has actually used them for the specific service you need, recently, and with results you can verify.
"He fixed my neighbor's gate" is not the same as "she managed my mother's healthcare appointments for six months and I can show you the records." The specificity matters.
Before you commit to any provider — medical, legal, domestic, or technical — ask for:
Full legal name and cedula number (national ID). Every resident in Costa Rica has one.
Proof of professional registration where applicable. Doctors are registered with the Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos. Lawyers with the Colegio de Abogados. Engineers and architects with CFIA. These are public registries and anyone can verify registration.
At least two references from clients who used this specific service, not general character references.
An example of their reporting or communication. How do they document their work? What does a completed job look like on their end?
If any of these are missing or difficult to produce, that is information.
Vetting a Doctor or Medical Professional
Costa Rica's private healthcare system is genuinely good. Private consultations typically cost between $50 and $80, and specialist appointments range from $100 to $150. English-speaking doctors exist, particularly in Guanacaste, Liberia, and San José. Many received part of their training in North America or Europe.
But "good system" and "right doctor for you" are two different things. Finding the second one takes specific steps.
Verify registration. The Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos maintains a public registry of licensed physicians. A doctor who hesitates to share their cedula profesional number — the registration number — is worth questioning.
Ask about specialty training specifically. A general practitioner who is excellent may not be the right person for a complex cardiac or neurological situation. Ask where specialty training happened, and whether they maintain active certifications.
Find out their communication style before you need it. Will they explain diagnosis and treatment options in plain English? Will they send written summaries after appointments? This matters more when you are managing a chronic condition or when a family member abroad needs to understand what is happening.
Ask who covers emergencies. Every doctor has off hours. Who do you call on a Sunday night? Does this clinic have an emergency protocol, or are you on your own?
Our Healthcare Navigation service is built specifically around this kind of vetting — finding providers who meet a real standard, not just the first available option.
Vetting a Contractor or Home Service Provider
This is where most expats have their most expensive lessons.
The core issue is that Costa Rica has no equivalent to a Better Business Bureau or a centralized contractor licensing database that is publicly searchable in a practical way. CFIA registers engineers and architects, and that is verifiable. But for general contractors, plumbers, electricians, and maintenance workers, the vetting has to happen through direct investigation.
The questions that actually reveal something:
Ask for three itemized quotes for the same job. Not to find the cheapest option — to understand the range and to see who is specific enough about materials and labor to give you a real number. A contractor who cannot break down a quote is a contractor who cannot account for your money.
Request references from jobs of similar scope, completed in the last twelve months. Then call those references. Ask not just whether the work was done, but whether it was done on schedule, whether the final cost matched the quote, and whether there were problems that had to be corrected afterward.
Ask about CFIA affiliation for any structural work. Projects involving construction, renovation, or electrical systems in Costa Rica should involve a licensed professional. Municipal permits are required for most structural work. A contractor who dismisses this is either cutting corners or does not know the rules — neither is good.
Get everything in writing before work begins. Scope, timeline, payment schedule, what happens if materials cost more than quoted, what the correction policy is if something is done incorrectly. An honest contractor will not resist this. One who does is telling you something.
Vetting a Housekeeper, Caregiver, or Domestic Staff
This category deserves its own attention because the relationship is closer, the access is greater, and the stakes — particularly for senior expats living alone — are personal in ways that contractor relationships are not.
Costa Rican labor law is strong and specific. Anyone hired on a consistent schedule has employment rights regardless of whether a formal contract exists. This is not a risk to avoid — it is a reality to understand and manage properly from the beginning.
Before hiring domestic staff:
Request a copy of their cedula and two personal references with contact information you can verify. Call the references. Ask specific questions: How long did they work for you? What were their responsibilities? Would you hire them again?
Be specific about expectations in writing from day one. Not as a bureaucratic exercise — as a foundation for the relationship. Clear expectations reduce misunderstandings and protect both parties.
Understand your obligations under Costa Rican law. Workers hired more than a certain number of hours per week have rights to social security contributions (CCSS), vacation pay, and aguinaldo (a mandatory year-end bonus). These are not optional. A trusted legal advisor can walk you through what applies to your situation.
Go slowly with access. Give someone time to demonstrate trustworthiness before granting keys, alarm codes, or access to sensitive areas of your home. This is not about distrust — it is about building a relationship in a structured way that protects everyone.
Vetting a Legal or Financial Professional
Immigration attorneys, accountants, notaries — this category has its own layer of complexity because the consequences of a poor choice can affect your residency status, your taxes, or your assets.
Costa Rica's immigration system has attracted its share of people who present themselves as experts and are not. According to immigration specialists, scammers have become increasingly sophisticated, using professional-looking websites and official-sounding titles to appear legitimate.
Practical steps:
Verify bar registration for attorneys. The Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Costa Rica is the official registry. A licensed attorney's registration is verifiable and any attorney practicing legally will provide their registration number without hesitation.
Ask for a written engagement letter before paying anything. This should specify services, fees, timelines, and what happens if the matter takes longer than expected. Any professional who resists a written agreement is not someone you should be paying.
Be wary of guaranteed outcomes. Legitimate professionals in any jurisdiction do not guarantee specific outcomes in legal or government processes. Anyone who promises fast-tracked residency approval or guaranteed results is misrepresenting what they can control.
The One Thing That Protects You More Than Anything Else
Vetting takes time. That is the honest answer. There is no shortcut that works consistently.
What protects you most is having a local contact — someone fluent in Spanish, familiar with local systems and norms, and whose interest is aligned with yours — who can do this investigation on your behalf before you are in the middle of a problem.
In Guanacaste especially, where expat communities are significant but local systems can be opaque to newcomers, having that kind of trusted local navigator changes everything. Not because the country is unsafe — it is not — but because knowing how to find the right people here is a skill, and it takes time to develop.
If you are new to Costa Rica, or if you are managing life here from abroad, the investment in getting that local support right at the beginning is almost always worth more than the time you spend trying to figure it out on your own.
You can learn more about how we support senior expats navigating these decisions through our Senior Living in Costa Rica page, or explore the full range of what we offer through Our Services.
Teresita Alfaro — Founder, Expat Senior Concierge
Teresita is a bilingual life manager and personal advocate for expat seniors in Costa Rica. For over a decade she has been "the person in the room" — navigating healthcare and the CCSS, coordinating trusted local providers, handling paperwork, and caring for private homes — so seniors can live here safely and independently, and their families abroad can finally stop worrying.
📅 Book a free 30-minute consultation · 📱 WhatsApp: +506 7075-5307
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