{"id":16886,"date":"2026-09-16T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=16886"},"modified":"2026-09-16T11:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T16:09:22","slug":"with-22-7m-in-claims-real-estate-dominates-panamas-most-distrusted-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/panama-real-estate\/with-22-7m-in-claims-real-estate-dominates-panamas-most-distrusted-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"With $22.7M in Claims, Real Estate Dominates Panama’s Most Distrusted Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Panama’s consumer protection authority<\/strong> logged 2,234 formal complaints<\/a> nationwide between January and August 2026, with real estate companies<\/a> drawing the highest number of grievances as total claimed amounts reached $22,736,733.81. The Authority for Consumer Protection<\/a> and Defense of Competition (Acodeco<\/a>) confirmed that warranty breaches<\/a> accounted for nearly four in ten cases filed during the eight-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Property developers and real estate firms generated 280 complaints, outpacing department stores with 263 and auto dealerships with 222. Electronics and appliance retailers followed with 194 cases, while used car sales rounded out the top five with 107 complaints, according to data from the agency’s Conciliation Department, Complaint Resolution Department, and Motor Vehicle Section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lomas
Property developers in Panama and real estate firms generated 280 complaints, outpacing department stores with 263 and auto dealerships with 222. by miviot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warranty Violations Dominate Consumer Protection Authority<\/a> Claims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Failure to honor warranties emerged as the single largest grievance category, representing 871 cases or 39 percent of all filings, with disputed amounts totaling $7,763,749.66. Lack of accurate information ranked second with 438 complaints worth $3,054,718.27, while requests for refunds accounted for 211 cases valued at $3,305,972.97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other significant complaint categories included failure to deliver contracted services with 183 cases, contract termination disputes with 152 filings, abusive contract clauses with 114 complaints, and hidden defects cited in 62 cases. The agency also recorded complaints against cable television providers, mobile phone companies, auto repair shops, hotels, vacation plan sellers, and recreational activity operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although 280 complaints have been recorded in the real estate market through September, projecting the current rate of about 31 cases per month to the end of the year indicates that the total will exceed the 334 complaints reported for the entirety of 2025. This upward trend highlights the need to reinforce quality standards and customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"acodeco<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Monthly Surge Adds $3.5M to Disputed Amounts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

August alone brought 265 new complaints, pushing the cumulative figure from 1,969 cases at the end of July to 2,234 by month’s end. The monetary value of active claims jumped by $3,573,469.18 during the same period, rising from $19,163,264.63 to $22,736,733.81, a 13.5 percent increase in just 31 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency resolved 1,444 complaints during the first eight months of 2026, recovering $12,721,359.61 for consumers. Those resolutions included cases filed in previous years that closed during the current period, as well as complaints from regional offices finalized at headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"acodeco\"
Since 2005, the consumer watchdog has resolved 46,002 complaints in favor of Panamanian consumers. By Acodeco.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two Decades of Consumer Protection Authority Enforcement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since 2005, the consumer watchdog has resolved 46,002 complaints in favor of Panamanian consumers, with cumulative recoveries reaching $480,056,805.89. That long-term record underscores the agency’s role in mediating disputes between buyers and sellers across the country’s retail, automotive, housing, and services sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concentration of complaints in the real estate sector reflects ongoing tensions in Panama’s property market<\/a>, where buyers frequently report construction delays, unfinished projects, and disagreements over contract terms. Department stores and auto dealerships, both high-volume consumer sectors, continue to generate steady streams of warranty and refund disputes that keep Acodeco’s conciliation teams active throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n