Oh, of course they do! I just meant that some of them only charge the renter, while the rentee pays relatively low administrative fees. I also meant to mention in the first post that real estate companies are called "inmobilarios" for those planning to search on foot.Finally, I found out the hard way that a contract and even a deposit provide you relatively little legal protection. The landlady came to her senses about the price of the apartment I rented and asked for $600 - via the inmobilario - after I'd signed a contract and put down a deposit. I offered $550, which really is MORE than fair for the space (but still!) and luckily she accepted; otherwise, I would have had to pay the $600 or gone in and collected my deposit and continued the search.Any lawyers who can offer hope on the contract front? I won't believe it's really mine until I'm physically there on Tuesday...