Insane Landlords

[TheBlackHand]

Sounds like you really messed this guys apartment up pretty bad. No respect for someone else's property, pretty shameful. From what the owner describes and what you admit to, as an owner, i'd be pretty pissed off too. Lessen to all property owners, Always ask for a damage deposit, you never know when you'll come across a tenant who will mess your place up and then accuse you of over reacting as if it was their hard work and money that purchased the property ".

realmente estoy INDIGNADO!!!! hoy estuvieron mis suegros y una persona interesada en alquilar el depto.
Realmente lo que vieron es DEPLORABLE!!! YO NO SE QUE VISTE VOS EN AGOSTO CUANDO LO FUISTE A VER PERO AHORA ESTA HECHO UN DESASTRE.
EJEMPLOS, LA CORTINA RAYADA Y RIEL CAIDO ARRANCADO, EL PISO DE MADERA RAYADO POR UNA CORRIDA DE MUEBLE, LAS PAREDES ESCRITAS, LA MANIJA DE HORNO LE SACARON EL INOXIDABLE, TODO SUCIO!!! QUE PASO CON LA PERSONA TAN IMPECABLE QUE VOS DECIAS QUE ERA ****?? COMO VA A HACER AHORA PARA ARREGLAR TODO?? O NOS VA A DEJAR CON LOS 1300 PESOS DEL DEPOSITO!!
DICE QUE EL LO VA A ARREGLAR, HOY ES 9 LE FALTAN 18 DIAS PARA IRSE. QUIERO QUE PASES TODOS LOS DIAS A VER QUE HIZO POR QUE SE VA A IR A LA MIERDA Y NOS LO VA A DEJAR ASI, Y NO LO ENCONTRAMOS NUNCA MAS. NO TENIA GARANTIA Y PAGO POR ADELANTADO, CLARO AHORA NO TENES FORMA DE AGARRARLO CON NADA.
Y VOS ***** PENSE QUE HABIAS IDO A VERLO, CONFIE EN VOS COMO LA ADMINISTRADORA DEL DEPTO Y ME DIJISTE QUE ESTABA PERFECTO. AHORA QUE PASO, NO LO ENTIENDO!?!?TE PIDO POR FAVOR EXPLICAMELO. SIEMPRE ME DIJISTE QUE NO TIENE AUTO Y AHORA EL DICE QUE LA COCHERA ES MUY INCOMODA PARA ENTRAR??? ENTONCES SE QUERIA TIRAR EL LANCE PARA BAJARLE EL PRECIO Y USAR IGUAL LA COCHERA???
ENCIMA TIRO MIERDA CONTRA TODO DESDE LA CONSTRUCCION DEL EDIFiCIO EN ADELANTE!!! AL FINAL PAGO CHAUCHAS Y PALITOS, Y NOS QUEDAMOS CON UN DEPTO A ESTRENAR, IMPECABLE, AHORA DESTRUIDO Y SIN NADIE QUE SE HAGA CARGO DE ESTO, PORQUE CON $1300 NO LE PAGAMOS NI A L DE LA LIMPIEZA, LA UGRE QUE HAY ES IMPRESIONANTE......
ESPERO TU RESPUESTA URGENTE....Y QUIERO SABER QUE VAS A AHACER A RESPECTO

 

[Amargo]

Landlords being crazy has surely a reason. I know a few who can tell exactly as many horror stories as most here claim to have had. And yes, also with foreigners who destroyed apartments and left the country for good.
Without having seen the apartment of the OP, I can understand the landlord. He's far away and can only rely on what other people tell him. And even the OP is admiting the apt. does not look very bright anymore...I would also be keen in seeing pictures.

 

[surfing]

If I received such a crass, hysterical (in all CAPS to boot!) and rude letter from anyone --- my response would be absolute silence.

If they want to communicate with you then you should at least demand common courtesy and respect.

If you feel that it is necessary to reply then I would reply saying just that: "if you want to communicate with me please do so in a respectful manner; I will not respond to rude and profane messages."

And yes I do believe they are trying to be sure to keep the deposit (the favorite trampa of Capital landlords).

 

[Jcyordenana]

I think it's worth writing a calm reply, explaining exactly what you plan to fix and your timeline for doing it, and offer to send pics when the work is done, if this is damage you are responsible for. Say you are sorry they have been unnecessarily alarmed and that your partner's remark about the garage was misunderstood, but you have no car. Is there anyone who could Confirm this for the owner, a portero or person in another apartment in Your building?
Im not defending the in laws or the owner, but as an absentee landlord myself, whose ability to survive economically depends on stable renters in our apartment in SF, I know what it's like to feel powerless and at the mercy of people a continent away. We had to fly home in november and find new renters and we were only able to manage this thanks to our very responsible, kind and conscientious tenants, who took great care of our place.

We will also have to paint our apartment here and fix the curtains in the living room, and if i put myself in the landlord's shoes, I couldnt really argue the current state of things ( I have a five year old and the walls are untreated gesso, what can i say?)

I'm not denying there have been a lot of people who have been taken advantage of as renters here, but i'm coming from San Francisco where landlords routinely pay out enormous sums to get absolute nightmare tenants out of their property, Im talking thousands of dollars in moving and relocation costs, not to mention damage to their apartments. Of course there are unscrupulous landlords and Im not saying the laws should be less renter friendly, but there are plenty of bad tenants who abuse this system.

I guess it depends on what you want: to make a preemptive strike and not fix anything and not get your deposit back and perpetuate the landlord vs tenant climate, where they will be more likely to treat their next tenants badly, assume they will cause damage they wont fix so they feel justifiednin keeping the deposit on principle, the principle of irreponsible foreigner tenants, or make a good faith effort to fix what you damaged and take it up with AFIP if they dont return you deposit all the same? This forum has also proved a formidable force in bad press for unscrupulous landlords and rental agencies?

Ive been on both sides, and I come down on the side of putting out the energy you want to get back.if your experience is different, you probably have a different take. There are many people who post negative experiences and vents, and rants here. People having good experiences are a little too busy enjoying their lives to post about it.

I do wish you luck and hope it works out. It must have been awful to receive that email.

 

[Napoleon]

It is common in Latin America for landlords to exaggerate wear and tear on an apartment to avoid returning deposit money. The best defense against this is to take ample pictures upon moving in, and to always plan to lose the deposit (if you don't great, but don't plan on getting it back).

This happened to my group of friends in Park City, Utah. (In the mountains outside of Salt Lake City.)

We had to leave to take a group to the airport, so there wasn't anyone in the house when the landlord/rental agent (VRBO- Vacation Rental By Owner) came to check us out. The place was definitely cleaner AFTER we left than when we arrived, yet they made up a whole list of bull$#!+ of things that had been abused, misused, dirty, or left "on" (electronics).

Basically it's all He Said/She Said, so the only thing you can do is to destroy the reputation of the landlord/rental company.

If you haven't paid the final month's rent, I would advise that you NOT pay it.

 

[cbphoto]

I disagree with Napoleon about the last sentence. The moment you don't keep your obligation to your contract..it will only reflect badly on you. I would recommend writing a letter to your landlord giving your side of the story as jcyordenana wrote.
I have been a landlord on 2 continents and while abroad I have had tenants destroy my apartments. Once I had to fly from Buenos Aires to Istanbul because my tenant had not paid his rent, my rental agency and tenant were not responding to emails of phone calls. As I arrived at my furnished apartment there..the door was wide open. Turned out the tenant left..deciding not to pay rent.. because my rental agency had not just stolen his deposit, but also had raised his rent from the price we agreed. They were stealing from both of us. He thought I was part of the scam!! I wish he had just contacted me.. then I would not have had to travel 1/2 way around the world. The rental agency owner (an old friend of mine) responded to my face..and I quote: " our business with your tenant is none of your business" Her husband went on to attempt to get in a physical confrontation with me for "dishonoring me and my wife.." He did not get far..
That is not a common occurrence but time and time again I am amazed at how seemingly completely mature adults can be so respectful in a persons house..yet seemingly the moment the relationship changes to landlord/tenant they treat your house as if they are rock-stars in a hotel room. (no offense to any rock-stars that might be reading this)
I am not saying that this is what you did.. just saying that maybe..just maybe the landlord has had several disrespectful tenants.

 

[YanquiGallego]

This thread should be called Insane Porteños in General, because what is being described has occured to me many times in scenarios not necessarily involving an apartment at stake.

The person who said that these are people who love to shout, wave their arms around theatrically, over-exaggerate to their advantage, be completely irrational, matter-of-factly quote things which are made up to help prove their point, and in general have an ¨amor u odio¨ (love or hate) mentality towards everything, with no middle ground or room for compromising, hit the nail right on the head.

Apartment, or not. Batshit crazy, yes.

 

[littleba8073]

I am trying to upload the pictures. I admit the curtains need to be replaced and the walls need to be replaced. But I don't really think there is any other major issues going on here. Here's to hoping the pictures upload correctly... Thank you for so many responses. I do understand why they would be concerned, but I think the reaction was way over the top. I just wish they would talk to us and see the apartment before making such harsh judgement. I am a calm, rational, mother, wife, sister, normal person. I am not out to trick anyone or not pay rent, or destroy anything I don't care if they want to keep the deposit, keep it, take whatever you want I just was shocked at the response. I've never been accused of such accusations.

 

[littleba8073]

This is the gallery

 

[littleba8073]

Oh, and there is rust on the oven handle, I forgot to add that here, but they know about that. I guess you can only upload 4 pics? Can you see the whole gallery? I don't know, I am just saying, there are a few things to fix, we are going to fix it all, and the apartment isn't a severe disaster. And yes, we have paid our rent and expenses every month on time. We told them we were leaving. We have fixed many problems that we've had in the past, leaking in the bathroom, leaking in the kitchen, we've painted before (thought it's been a year since the last paint job) we've replaced lights, ect. I am not saying it's perfect for rent right now. There are things that need work. What I don't know how to do is respond to such an email. Even if we destroyed everything a response like this is so crazy, I just don't know how to respond, and honestly I haven't responded. After an email like that, how do you say, hey, we are on your side, everything is going to be okay, trust us, we understand you, we loved living here??? Holy Moly, I guess I just need to know where to begin so that they understand and believe us when we say there are some things to be fixed, we didn't destroy everything and we are more than willing to work with them?