Fleeing Buenos Aires

fdsa7531

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Your reaction when you read this will probably be "this guy is an idiot" and "what a bad person." I am well aware of the former, though I'm sure most of you made a mistake or two when you were 24 years old, and as for the latter, perhaps. So if you wish to admonish my behavior, feel free, though you may be wasting my time, as you won't be telling me anything I don't know.

I'll start with some background information. After working for a year in the US I got a job in BA (through a friend, it's a long story). I was saving tons of money living with my parents (needed to pay off mountains of college debt) but I desperately needed a change of scenery, so I took the chance. I moved into an apartment in BA and was excited at the prospect of living in a new country.

The pay was good and the way it worked was I had dollars transferred to my American account. Periodically I would go to Uruguay to take them out and then exchange them with my money guy and (I'd keep the leftover dollars under my mattress). I was always friendly with the doorman and when he saw me leave with my suitcase and asked where I was going I told him I was visiting a friend in Uruguay.

I didn't end up liking Argentina as much as I thought, but I did meet a girl my age and got engaged. You guys are too young, my parents told me, but I didn't listen. I knew I didn't want to live in BA forever so the plan was to stay there a couple years and then move back to the states, where we'd have kids.

I got laid off from my job (with a severance package). A friend lined me up a good job at another company and nothing I found in the states was comparable (in terms of the responsibilities entailed). The office is far from my apartment though so I decided to buy a car and I went to Uruguay and took out a bunch of money (the severance).

I had a funny feeling about my fiancee's recent behavior, and when I called her from Uruguay (at a different time than I told her), something seemed wrong. It felt like there was someone there with her. I came back to Buenos Aires a day early and when I entered my apartment (she lives with her parents and wanted to stay there), I found her with another man.

The next couple nights I went out and drank and blabbed my story to anyone who'd listen. One of those nights I was approached by a very beautiful Argentine woman. It was the first bar I'd been to and I had just started drinking, but the next thing I knew I woke up in bed to find everything valuable in my apartment gone, including all of the money I had under my mattress. I must've been roofied.

I think the doorman set it up. He knew about my trips to Uruguay, that I was going to buy a car, that I had broken up with my fiancee (there was a big scene when she left), and that I was going out drinking every night afterwards. But I have no evidence and the police were able to come up with nothing.

Then I find out my mom has breast cancer. It's been a rough couple of weeks. My dad was laid off during the recession, couldn't find work, and decided to retire, and my mom had recently retired as well. My parents are going to really struggle through this financially and they need my financial and emotional support. I need to move back in with them and look for a job in the states to help with the medical bills.

The thing is though the minimum contract on the apartment is two years. I will have to make 14 more rent payments, and that is money I don't have. I want to leave this country forever and never come back. What if I just leave? Can they track me down in the states and ask for that rent money? I'm aware that most of you will consider this to be a morally repugnant act, and if you wish to chastise me, be my guest, but I doubt you'll change my mind. I am just curious about an important bit of information, namely how they pursue people who leave and don't pay rent. Anything would be appreciated.
 
That's what your deposit is for.

Sorry about your bad luck with women. It's time for you to go home. Luckily for your mother, ACA is going to make things a million times more bearable than they would have been.

Good luck. But hop on the next plane back. You're done here.

PS- Nations and bankers can't get their money from the Argentine government. A real estate company isn't going to track you to the corner for rent when they have your deposit, much less across the border.
 
Just go...if they didn't have you put a guarantia in place or no downpayment, I would bounce. Be sure to at least leave a postit note saying you're out.
 
No moral judgement. Trying to get a court order to recover rent is not easy in most places. Like with most things in Argentina even more so. And then trying to enforce in a foreign country? Seems unlikely. Time to go.
 
Sorry to hear your story.
Tell the landlord you are leaving and why (your mom, not the robbery or girlfriend), they will understand if they have a soul. You should pay any money you owe up to now and you will loose your deposit, but they won´t come after you--never heard of that happening.

For anyone else who reads this post: don´t make the same mistake. keep your mouth closed about money, purchases, payments, dollars, etc. Most robberies in Argentina happen because someone is tipped off. Don´t brag and keep on the DL.
 
fdsa, my deepest and most sincere sympathies. I really feel for you. I did some very dumb things when I was young, far worse than you, worse by several orders of magnitude.

On the up side, you were not permanently injured in any physical sense, you have no police problems, and you learned a lesson. Try not to let it make you hate women, most of them are not bad people.

For the rest of us, what lessons can we learn from this young man's misfortune, in order to help keep ourselves out of trouble? Yeah, yeah, the usual clowns will chime in with the usual withering sarcasm, but I ignore them anyhow. Seriously, what can we learn from this?

my contributions -

1) Never let them see how bad you're hurting. Predators are attracted by the weak and injured.
2) Never let anyone "bring you a drink", and if your drink tastes odd, "accidentally" spill it all.
 
This is a bit of an overly dramatized and sensationalist program, but I still think this scene is quite interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v7asEP5ZRQ
 
I'm sure I read somewhere in the past that you can terminate a rental contact after the first 6 months.

just googled and found this...

On this site (http://www.protectora.org.ar/economia-y-finanzas/consejos-fundamentales-para-alquilar-una-vivienda-familiar/6342/) it says:

"Causas de terminación del contrato de locación o alquiler por el Locatario o Inquilino: Resolución anticipada.El locatario (Inquilino) podrá, transcurridos los seis primeros meses de vigencia de la relación locativa, resolver (terminar- irse) la contratación, debiendo notificar en forma fehaciente (Ejem: Carta Documento) su decisión al locador con una antelación mínima de sesenta días de la fecha en que reintegrará lo arrendado (fecha que piensa devolver la vivienda).El locatario (inquilino), de hacer uso de la opción resolutoria (terminación anticiada del alquiler) en el primer año de vigencia de la relación locativa, deberá abonar al locador, en concepto de indemnización, la suma equivalente a un mes y medio de alquiler al momento de desocupar la vivienda y la de un sólo mes si la opción se ejercita transcurrido dicho lapso (de un año que lleva alquilando). El Locador o Propietario deberá mantener en el tiempo del contrato, en buen estado de reparación para ser propia al uso para el cual ha sido contratada y no perturbar al inquilino en el uso de la vivienda."

Translated with google translate
"Grounds for termination of the lease or rent by the Tenant or Tenant : Resolution anticipada.El lessee ( tenant ) may, after the first six months of validity of the locative relation , solving (stop - go ) hiring , must notify as reliable ( EG: Charter Document). decision to landlord with a minimum of sixty days from the date you refunded, leased (the date you plan to return home ) the lessee (tenant) , to make use of the termination option (termination anticiada rent) in the first year of the locative relationship, the landlord must pay , as compensation , a sum equivalent to half a month of rent when you vacate and a month only if the option exercising that period ( one year leading renting ) elapsed. The Landlord or Owner shall keep the time of the contract in good repair for own use for which it has been hired and not disturb the tenant in the use of the dwelling ."

You will need to do some more research to back this up but you can potentially get out of the rental contact in 60 days but have to pay an extra month and half rent in indemnisation ...so pay just 3 and half month more rent to get out of the contract legally....?

Or just send a polite note to the landlord to say you are going , and just skip the county...
 
Very sorry to hear your happening and incident there, however
If and when you are to decide to leave, make sure that the landlord nor the doormen knows of your intentions. If they to know of your next actions, it could get very ugly for you, they or the landlord can start the harassment already to try impede your exit.

AS many here already said, you have your deposit and security taken out in lieu of next rents and I very much doubt that the landlord will have difficulty in finding another gringos to rent the place to. You already has shown to everyone that you do respect the law and tried to fulfill your obigation and promisses but due to your depicting force majeure,you have no recourse. So take the next plane and go help your parents.
 
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