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Land grabbing in Jamaica refers to the use of political connections, business influence, or corrupt relationships with public officials to acquire land at below-market rates, to dispossess legitimate owners through administrative pressure, or to frustrate the enforcement of ownership rights. The phenomenon affects rural agricultural land, urban residential plots, and commercial real estate.

Natural disasters can create ambiguity around property ownership, particularly where physical boundaries have been disturbed, records have been damaged, or owners have been displaced for extended periods. Jamaican property owners who are affected by flooding, landslides, or other natural events need to understand how such events affect their rights and what steps can be taken to protect them.

When a buyer pays a deposit in connection with a Jamaican property purchase, those funds are typically held in an attorney’s client account pending completion. Misappropriation of client funds by attorneys is a serious professional offence and a criminal act, but it continues to occur, leaving buyers without their deposits and facing substantial difficulty in recovery.

St. Ann’s Bay Fort, located just west of the town of St. Ann’s Bay in Jamaica’s parish of St. Ann,…

Property owners and landlords in Jamaica who subdivide single-family dwellings into multiple rental units without planning permission or building approval create risks not only for themselves — in the form of enforcement action — but also for tenants who occupy units that may be structurally unsafe, improperly serviced, and without legal standing as residential premises.

Licensed land surveyors in Jamaica play a critical role in establishing and recording property boundaries. A surveyor who prepares a fraudulent or negligently inaccurate diagram — one that shifts a boundary to favour one party, misrepresents the area of a parcel, or omits significant features — can cause title defects that are extremely difficult and expensive to correct.

Rental deposits in Jamaica serve as financial protection for landlords against tenant default and damage to the property. When agents or landlords collect deposits and then fail to account for them — either by disappearing with the funds, refusing to refund at the end of a lawful tenancy, or applying them without justification — tenants suffer a financial loss with limited immediate recourse.

Kingston, Jamaica, 10 May 2020. A property owner writes with a situation that begins simply: she bought a property jointly…

Politically connected individuals and institutional insiders in Jamaica have exploited public land allocation systems, informal settlement schemes, and government contracts to acquire land irregularly. This report examines documented patterns and the anti-corruption mechanisms designed to address them.

Commercial landlords in Jamaica have employed harassment, intimidation, and unlawful interference with utilities and access to force out long-standing business tenants from valuable commercial properties. This report examines the unlawful eviction tactics used and the legal remedies available to affected commercial tenants.

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Allegations of politically connected land grabs and corrupt land allocation decisions have surfaced repeatedly in Jamaica. This report examines documented patterns of improper land transfers, the role of the Integrity Commission and MOCA in investigating such conduct, and the legal remedies available to legitimate landowners whose claims are overridden through corrupt processes.

Property tax arrears in Jamaica attach to the land, not to the owner, which means a buyer who purchases a property with outstanding tax liabilities inherits those liabilities. This report examines how tax arrears create hidden encumbrances, what the Tax Administration Jamaica process is for recovering unpaid property tax, and how buyers can protect themselves.