Casas de cambio for US dollars

[davonz]

You could say you went to purchase US$ from the bank and there was an AFIP officer there who wanted to know why you want US$, and when you told them its to pay your rent, they wanted the owners details.. That will give them something to think about !!!

 

[dennisr]

You could say you went to purchase US$ from the bank and there was an AFIP officer there who wanted to know why you want US$, and when you told them its to pay your rent, they wanted the owners details.. That will give them something to think about !!!

This is not a stretch, "entity is obliged to provide a ticket" for a debt payment in dollars. You have to demonstrate the source of the funds and purpose for the exchange.

 

[Davidglen77]

I know this won't be popular here, and I know I will get attacked for this, but people have to realize that the dollar/peso game has to end if 1) Argentina will ever have the opportunity to have it's own real live currency and 2) in other countries you can't do things like real estate transactions, collect rents, and charge for services in a foreign currency. As much as people would like to think otherwise, the US dollar is NOT the national currency in Argentina.

I personally think the whole game of charging rents in US dollars should come to an end. Whether Argentina's currency is stable or not, if the property is located in Argentina and rental payments should only be allowed in national currency. The demands put on renters to have to buy dollars are ridiculous. If an Argentine property owner does not have confidence in the national currency he should put the responsibility on themselves to get dollars if they want them, not on the renter. Rents should be in fixed terms in pesos ONLY and if it's risky to the owner well then welcome to the world of investing.

 

[Damiancho]

David.
I'm agree in almost everything you said. But you should consider that we arrived to current situation after many changes.

If you put very strong rules (ie: not enabling contract in foreign currencies) you can led to:

* do it under the table
* doing another business (not renting)...and remove from the supply. (so the prices go higher)

Just an example: we, the locals does not accept contract in dollars and is prohibited to make contracts with adjustable values (ie, subjected to inflation or other index) so...what our creative lawyer/attorney did?

"The full price for the contract is "X" FIXED for 2 years but you have a 'discount' of 20% the first year!

 

[katti]

Tried to exchange dollars this morning. Impossible. Casas de cambia (official and unofficial) all being closed, banks were not allowed to do any exchanges. Now everything should be open again.

Now there seems to be new rule. Every exchange passes through AFIP. Does that count for us, foreigners (with our without DNI, without our without CUIL/CUIT) too? Anyone tried to exchange today?

 

[starlucia]

Tried to exchange dollars this morning. Impossible. Casas de cambia (official and unofficial) all being closed, banks were not allowed to do any exchanges. Now everything should be open again.

Now there seems to be new rule. Every exchange passes through AFIP. Does that count for us, foreigners (with our without DNI, without our without CUIL/CUIT) too? Anyone tried to exchange today?

I read about that new rule in Clarin this weekend. From what I understand, anyone trying to buy dollars has his personal and financial info. (including reason for wanting to buy dollars) entered into a computer that's connected to AFIP headquarters. The info gets sent over, and almost instantly, AFIP sends back a response, either granting or denying permission for the transaction. Will be interested to hear people's actual experiences in the next few weeks.

 

[sinagua980]

Definitely keeping an eye on this. Here's a quick English read on it:
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/83284/afips-new-controls-on-dollar-purchases-begin-today

 

[Matt84]

I know this won't be popular here, and I know I will get attacked for this, but people have to realize that the dollar/peso game has to end if 1) Argentina will ever have the opportunity to have it's own real live currency and 2) in other countries you can't do things like real estate transactions, collect rents, and charge for services in a foreign currency. As much as people would like to think otherwise, the US dollar is NOT the national currency in Argentina.

I personally think the whole game of charging rents in US dollars should come to an end. Whether Argentina's currency is stable or not, if the property is located in Argentina and rental payments should only be allowed in national currency. The demands put on renters to have to buy dollars are ridiculous. If an Argentine property owner does not have confidence in the national currency he should put the responsibility on themselves to get dollars if they want them, not on the renter. Rents should be in fixed terms in pesos ONLY and if it's risky to the owner well then welcome to the world of investing.

Do you have anything to back up your claims?

Uruguay has 4 automatically accepted foreign currencies, the US dollar, Brazilian Real, Euro, and yes Arg Peso. When you ask for the check at a restaurant you receive it in at least three currencies from which you can chose.

There is a very reasonable limit, but under a couple thousand dollars anyone can change currencies freely without any legal requirement, no ID, nothing. Some people have been making a living in small beach towns just by trading forex, not online, but just walking around every day from casa de cambio to casa de cambio. rather pleasant compared to staring at the sreen, in my opinion. Even the dirt poor illiterate can (and do!) earn money that way as the symbol of the currency is displayed everywhere with the exchange rate. So many casas de cambio makes for an extremely competitive environment and you can actually make a enough to eat just by walking a couple of streets comparing numbers.


Property is moved, or rented, in just about any currency, but Euro and US dollar is standard.

All of this has not prevented the Uruguayan Peso to remain strong with 20Uy pess to the dollar stable for some 3 years now with very little variation.

The extremely poor have begun asking for tips in Uruguayan Pesos rather than Dollars as it's steadily becoming stronger. But again, that's what happens in a country with lax financial controls and lots of tourism; the general population becomes educated about things middle class Argentines wouldn't even consider. Middle class Americans? Try people from the Bahamas or Panama rather

 

[AlfajorEfi]

So weird! Today I went to exchange USD for PESOS and where I always go for more than 2 years has been closed! Never have I seen it closed before!
My situation is the opposite- I have USD and sell it for pesos so I can pay salaries to the locals, pay for school for my daughter, etc.
I ended up going to the ATM to withdraw pesos since I couldnt exchange my USD.
If anyone needs to buy USD I would be happy to exchange for pesos, given a good rate for both sides. I am in Pilar but often in Capital, next week will be in Capital 3 times..send a PM if you want to work something out for next week..

 

[starlucia]

So weird! Today I went to exchange USD for PESOS and where I always go for more than 2 years has been closed! Never have I seen it closed before!
My situation is the opposite- I have USD and sell it for pesos so I can pay salaries to the locals, pay for school for my daughter, etc.
I ended up going to the ATM to withdraw pesos since I couldnt exchange my USD.
If anyone needs to buy USD I would be happy to exchange for pesos, given a good rate for both sides. I am in Pilar but often in Capital, next week will be in Capital 3 times..send a PM if you want to work something out for next week..

This is probably excessively cautious, but you might not want to advertise the fact that you keep USD in your house -- especially right next to an offer to meet up with strangers (generous though your offer is ) Like I said, I'm probably a bit paranoid, but you never know who might be reading.