Insane Landlords

[citygirl]

THe pictures are huge - you should probably resize them or just put the link in.

It's tough to tell from the pictures what the state of the apt is in. Did you know they were coming by to show it? If you did, I would have expected you to fix all of those things before a prospective tenant came to see it. If not, and the landlord had no idea the apt needed to be painted, curtains replaced or rehung, etc - I can understand him/her freaking out about it. Had you notified the owner prior about the issues?

I would speak to the owner and assure him/her that the damage you did will be repaired. And I would echo the landlord's question - if you're leaving in 2 weeks - when are you planning on fixing it? Nothing gets down overnight and I'm sure the owner was hoping to rent it immediately. So it needs to be in perfect condition when you leave.

Re the garage - if you haven't used the parking spot, that should be easy to prove. Either a portero or a neighbor even will clearly be able to vouch for the fact that no one has been parking there.

 

[littleba8073]

Okay, here's the thing. We aren't claiming that things are 100% perfect. But we've done these repairs before. It took about a week and no more than 1,000 pesos. It's pretty darn clean, and we don't have a car. The landlord thinks that the place is so trashed 1,000 pesos won't even clean it and that we have been stealing a parking space, and that we are going t leave without a trace and not fix a darn thing. It's not anywhere near the truth. Once somebody has gone this irate on you, there's no chance to negotiate. He feels helpless, we feel helpless. There is no bad or good guy in this. There's just poor communication.

 

[CarverFan]

Can't you email some pics to the owner and explain this?

 

[steveinbsas]

If I still lived in ciudad BA I would start a rental business. I would only represent foreign owners who speak English fluently and I would only rent to foreigners who speak English fluently.

 

[cbphoto]

Before you laugh.. since we are talking about Buenos Aires. Don't they have rules about "normal wear and tear" of rental units? In the States/Europe.. I don't expect the tenants to repaint the place.. thats my job before I rent. It sounds like you have been living there for years..and you had been painting and repairing plumbing problems yourself?(also the landlords job ..no?)

 

[TheBlackHand]

from your description of the damages it sounds like you didn't take very good care of the property. If I was the owner, i'd be pretty upset as well. And if the apartment needs painting, that alone costs more than 1000 pesos. This is why it's important as an owner to protect your investment and always get a complete damage deposit. If anything else it will hopefully keep the tenant honest.

Instead of " telling " the owner you are going to fix the damages you caused, just go ahead and fix them and then send them pictures of the apartment to show that you are leaving it in the exact same state you received it.

 

[TheBlackHand]

First of all, In the US it's pretty customary for a landlord to keep the damage deposit if the property hasn't been taken care of. And as far as Buenos Aires goes, most owners expect that you leave the property in the same state you received it. I've rented a few apartments in my life and this requirement isn't too hard to accomplish if you are a clean and conscientious tenant.

If people have such a problem with taking care of rental properties, and dealing with angry property owners when they don't, they should just buy their own property or just stay in a hotel.

Before you laugh.. since we are talking about Buenos Aires. Don't they have rules about "normal wear and tear" of rental units? In the States/Europe.. I don't expect the tenants to repaint the place.. thats my job before I rent. It sounds like you have been living there for years..and you had been painting and repairing plumbing problems yourself?(also the landlords job ..no?)

 

[YanquiGallego]

I disagree. First of all, landlords who are already making a killing leasing their apartment to foreigners in USD at prices that are 3-4 times the cost of what locals would pay, shouldnt try to nickel and dime you on ¨normal wear and tear¨---things that occur over time to any and all places after having been lived in like a home and not like a museum. I am not saying if you cause obvious damage or trash the place that you shouldn´t have to pay for it.

But for many landlords here, the deposit is another source of income. When they dont just keep it for the sport of keeping it, the creative ones toward the end of peoples leases go out of their way to look for a reason to justify why you are not entitled to getting back all or some of your security depost. I dont know if it´s because they have already spent the money or if because they assume that since one is foreign they will not know any better. Maybe it´s because you left a small mark where you hung a nail on the wall to hang a photo of your child and that paint was a very rare and expensive paint they brought back from Italy, and that´s going to cost them $300 USD to repaint and fix that small nail mark. Petty and exaggerated? You bet. You would think you were leasing the Ritz-Carlton.

You cant compare the renting practices in BA to anywhere else, let alone the States. In the States, as CVphoto said, most apartment rentals cover standard wear and tear, and it is fairly common for an apartment to be freshly painted each time it changes hands. Most places in the States, depending on the market and situation, dont even charge a deposit anymore because of the Equal Housing law.

Realistically, in most other markets, most of the common day-to-day rental practices that go on in BA would be deemed unacceptable.

 

[va2ba]

If I still lived in ciudad BA I would start a rental business. I would only represent foreign owners who speak English fluently and I would only rent to foreigners who speak English fluently.

Thats a great idea, but I know through a friend who is trying to do just that, that the foreign owners can be just as crazy. Perhaps even more so because they may be overseas more often and get even more paranoid from not being able to assess anything in the apartment for themselves.

Its impossible for us to know what is going on. It could be poor communication, but it could also be extortion. I've experienced both and there can be a VERY fine line between the two. I will say, that it just seems to be the way that people here do business to go crazy and yell and kick and scream. And they only ever respect you if you yell and kick and scream right back at them. Part of this is probably a cultural difference in the way that these things are handled.

I would respond with a polite, but forceful email explaining what you are going to do. It has to be forceful, otherwise, the message won't get through don't be afraid to even be a little bit mean, that seems to be the culturally acceptable thing in this situation. You can be negotiating something here, and be polite for hours and hours, and then only makes progress for the 5 minutes that you yell at them.

In all honesty, if he is still being belligerent after you try to sort things out with him, I would just fix everything and leave, or don't fix everything and leave. If you fix everything you might get the deposit back...but its hardly a guarantee.

Best of luck.

 

[Davidglen77]

If you really feel you didn´t damage the apartment in any severe way, and that the things the landlord has decided to make a federal case out of are minimal, well then just leave, don't fix anything and let them keep the deposit. Last year I rented a property to an Argentine "friend of a friend", he broke several items purposely (cut a matress into pieces and severely dented a refrigerator door) and then when it was time for him to leave, well he threatened not to leave if I didn't give him a free month's rent. So unfortunately, knowing how rules work here (in favor of the tenant) and knowing I wouldn't get access to my property for years if I didn't give in, I just let the things go and learned my lesson to NEVER trust another Argentine with my property ever again. Never rent without double garante, 2 months deposit, and make it very hard for them to complain about anything. Sorry I used to be VERY trusting, but the Argentines showed me that doesn't work here, you have to be "garca" like the rest or you lose out.