I own an apt here and I STILL don't have a garantia?!?!

[Heather G]

it is a crazy situation here, but i think it has more to do with the law than any lack of trust between argentines. honestly, we americans wouldn't have a lot of trust of each other in a similar legal atmosphere. in most places in the states, if you don't pay rent the landlord tacks a 72hr eviction notice to your door and if you don't pay up then they show up with the police and a locksmith. that kind of protection makes it a lot easier for them to not be so fearful. and even then, the last time i rented an apt in the states i (and about 7 others) had to pay 50 dollars so that they could run a credit check... and that was with no assurance that i would get the place.

i'm now faced with the same problem from the other side, i'm renting out my place, and i have to admit that when i was made an offer by an argentine family without a garantia i balked. i don't really understand the law here and it frightens me that everyone else is so scared. there must be a reason, right?

 

[citygirl]

Yes - there is a reason that people are scared. Basically they are SOL if a renter decides to squat on the premise and not pay rent.

I had a friend rent out a farm to an acquaintance of hers. The woman stopped paying rent. It took my friend 2 YEARS to get her evicted. My friend - the owner - needed a judge's permission to go onto her own property while the squatter was there. During this time, the tentant did 10s of thousands of dollars of damage to her property and there was nothing she could do. She sued after she finally got the person out and has a lien but has never seen a penny of the monies lost.

And that's not the first story I've heard like that.

Renting is always risky but renting to a local without a guarantia is very, very risky. I have friends here (porteños) who won't rent their apts out to other porteños for this reason.

 

[tangobob]

I would hope that one would get vacated should one die! :-O

I imagine though that any family that lives with you might stay? Could that be it? It does seem a bit strange.

Ah I died and have not vacated. http://tangogales.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/reports-of-my-death/

This proves the point. HA!

 

[brocolliandtea]

This country is too difficult for words! The legal system is pathetic and laws offer no protection. Fear and insecurity are omnipresent here, ranging from the average woman on the street gripping her bag with all her strength in an unnatural cowardly position to growing up faithless that the laws will protect you should your renter be in arrears. People here cant realize how much easier life is back home. Oh, so easy compared to here.

 

[blackburn]

In my experience of renting,La Plata,the landlords have you by the short and curlies..
and the inmobilarias are often lawyers..one I had was a complete bitch....compared to UK the tenant here is pissed on by the terms of the tenancy agreement and if you don't comply they threaten the guarantor....

 

[maggiengrace]

Hi all. I´m having a garantia problem on a place I want to rent. I thought an escrow account might be a good solution, but don´t know if they exist here. What I mean is that I would deposit the entire rent for the 2 years in a holding account that I could not access but from which the monthly rent would be paid to the owner. Has anybody ever heard of / done that? Would it be administered by a bank or an escribano? Do you think it would be safe to have such an account here? Reading through the posts above, I see that someone offered the entire contract up front and that was refused. How can that be?

I´ll continue to search the forums for info on garantias, escrow, escribanos, habilitaciones (to make the property into a small B&B eventually), etc, but if anyone is one / knows one or can comment on any of this, I would welcome your guidance.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Hi all. I´m having a garantia problem on a place I want to rent. I thought an escrow account might be a good solution, but don´t know if they exist here. What I mean is that I would deposit the entire rent for the 2 years in a holding account that I could not access but from which the monthly rent would be paid to the owner. Has anybody ever heard of / done that? Would it be administered by a bank or an escribano? Do you think it would be safe to have such an account here? Reading through the posts above, I see that someone offered the entire contract up front and that was refused. How can that be?

I´ll continue to search the forums for info on garantias, escrow, escribanos, habilitaciones (to make the property into a small B&B eventually), etc, but if anyone is one / knows one or can comment on any of this, I would welcome your guidance.

Okay, well, first thing I want to say is that relationships are everything and if you want to rent from someone in your circle or are recommended to the property owner by someone in your circle then many, many times (but not every time) the difficulties will just melt away.

Then, the escrow thing sounds complicated to me and I feel it will make people nervous. There are lots of issues around banks in particular and people in and around the property business in general. People never know what overnight changes in legislation might make their deposits or relationships with banks worthless and while there are many good honest lawyers and agents - including people who post on this board - everybody knows at least one horror story that happened to their aunt/cousin/friend or themselves. The two-year deposit adds its own complications: not only does it make it more difficult for you to exercise the usual break clause in these two-year rental agreements, it makes it more awkward for the landlord to exercise their right to revise the rent in the second year. But offering to pay a year in advance has possibilities. True, there's a documented case in this thread where it was rejected but there are also cases where it's been just the right thing to cement the deal. You just don't know until you try - relationships again.

Finally, you don't say why you are here and what you do and while that's none of anybody's business, if you work for a big company or a firm with a local reputation or a hospital or something like that, a property owner will often be more than happy to accept that organisation's offer to stand as your guarantor. I hope you reach a satisfactory solution soon. Good luck!

 

[mini]

Also, sometimes just offering to pay six months at a time often works. I don't think there is any need to get in to this complicated escrow thing. Your best bet is just to talk to the owner. As has been said many time personal relationships are the key.