Nezter

HSBC have outsourced the collection of the annual fees to Nezter (not Netzer), who have offices in various locations in Mexico, as well as Phoenix, Arizona. There is no extra charge for paying the fideicomiso fee (only) through them.

You can find out the status of your annual fees from Nezter, and make payment to their US office in US dollars.

Note: in 2010 your payment will be (at least) 1% higher than 2009, this is because the IVA/VAT tax rate has changed from 10% to 11%.

Balance

To get a balance, there is was a form at http://www.nezter.com/hsbc/ - click on "your balance". Enter the details of your property or lot and they will reply by email in a few days (allow a week). You should check the fideicomiso number they quote matches what you have on your own paperwork.

(update Sept 2011: Nezter are currently "upgrading" their web site which means that it now has less features, when it works at all. Until they finish it, you can find out your fideicomiso balance and new payment instructions by emailing enrique_villalobos (at) nezter.com with details of your fideicomiso. HSBC are applying inflation adjustments now, so the amount will be different from last year.)

On request, they will send you the printout from the HSBC system that shows the exact status of the account.

Payments

Nezter have a postal address that you can send payments to. Note that the payee of the check (they'll quote this, and the address, to you) is specific to your fideicomiso so it should end up crediting the right account.

It's difficult to pay it with online banking, as the payee they require (which includes your fideicomiso number) is longer than the 32 character limit allowed by most online bill pay systems. Despite being a new system, it's still based around 20th-century paper checks, without any online payment options.

Nezter sometimes send confirmation of receipt of the payment, and sometimes do not. So you may need to chase them up to make sure it has been applied correctly. In general they are very slow at responding to emails and some emails are never answered, so you need patience in dealing with them.

They also offer a service for paying impuesto predial (property tax) but it appears they charge a high $65 fee for that. Might be useful to some absentee owners but even then it's possible to pay the property tax directly on the Mexicali municipal website, or at the office in San Felipe.

Overdue Bills

Over the past few years, many properties in El Dorado have changed hands and received a new HSBC fideicomiso. As part of the closing process, El Dorado Ranch were paid the first year's fideicomiso fee, to pass on to HSBC.

In a number of cases El Dorado have taken a very long time to pay that money to HSBC.

So if you have a fideicomiso from HSBC at El Dorado (or any other development really), do get in touch with Nezter and see what the status of your account is.