Italian tenant who did a runner owing 3 months rent. Advice requested.

[NigelT]

Hi again to all on BA Expats. After the earlier post regarding a criminal landlady (what a scam), here's one regarding a tenant from hell, and to the owners on this forum, a warning not to rent out any apartment to this man. His full name is Domenico Giuseppe Serafino, an Italian musician on tour in Argentina, who's going to be performing this Sunday in a concert organised by the Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Plaza de Mayo, he appears to be a bit of a minor celebrity. After three months of refusing to pay me rent he finally did a runner yesterday (left keys with porter and fled), owing me US4680 (including his one-month deposit that under the terms of the contract is mine if he does a runner and/or fails to pay the rent on time). The contract was expiring 1st January 2011, so I'm aware things could have been worse as I understand that legally evicting a tenant is a time-consuming process here, at least he's out and the locks are changed.

Question is, do any of you have an idea how I can go about recovering the debt? Are there any debt-collection agencies I could go to, or any legal practices specialising in these type of cases? I have no new address for him, just photocopy of passport, email, and mobile contact (he no longer responds to my calls or mails). Is it worth making a denuncia to the police, and what would be my next step, given I have no fixed address for him? I know he has no DNI so presumably is working illegally. Anyone know of a way of blocking his exit from Argentina until the matter is legally resolved?

Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

Warmest regards

Nigel

 

[Bajo_cero2]

If he is going to be paid for that concert you can embargar his salary but you have to run. The process is fast.
Next time, to evict a teenant is fast if you pay a deposit. They give back the deposit later if your had right to kick him out. This is specially true about temporary rentals. Regards

 

[pauper]

Sorry to hear about that, I can go to his concert and heckle if you want. Lets see if this forum is as eager to chase down this tenant.

 

[sesamosinsal]

I think the police is your best bet.

 

[citygirl]

Hi Nigel
Sorry to hear about the situation. I think your best bet is to speak to a lawyer. Presumably you could serve him legal papers as he is entering or leaving the concert.

I would also speak to the police.

 

[esllou]

Sorry to hear about that, I can go to his concert and heckle if you want. Lets see if this forum is as eager to chase down this tenant.

let's buy the whole of the front row and BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

(thank god it wasn't paul mccartney who did a runner...buying the whole of that front row would cost about a quarter of a million pesos!!!)

 

[earlyretirement]

You could talk to a lawyer but the judicial system is basically broken and very slow here in Argentina. The best solution when renting is to collect the full payment up front or get someone to sign as a guarantor that owns property here. Renters have too many rights here. You read about bad apple landlords but there is plenty of bad seed tenants as well. Best to get them to always pay in advance when you get the keys or have them have someone local co-sign for them if they stop paying.

 

[DwightB]

This is the kind of stuff that makes it difficult for legitimate renters. That said, we've rented in 3 different places now and 2 of them asked for first and last months rent plus deposit. This basically means for anything short of 3 months you are receiving everything up front. Any serious renter should have no problem with this.

If he's that visible then find out where he works and start making constant calls to employers asking to talk to him about "outstanding debt." It's a quick way to get his attention and with Skype not that expensive.

Dwight

 

[JHB1216]

.Question is, do any of you have an idea how I can go about recovering the debt? Are there any debt-collection agencies I could go to, or any legal practices specialising in these type of cases? I have no new address for him, just photocopy of passport, email, and mobile contact (he no longer responds to my calls or mails). Is it worth making a denuncia to the police, and what would be my next step, given I have no fixed address for him? I know he has no DNI so presumably is working illegally. Anyone know of a way of blocking his exit from Argentina until the matter is legally resolved?

Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

Warmest regards

Nigel

I have a friend that had a similar situation where they ran with one month left unpaid but they trashed the rental. Absolutely destroyed the inside of the residence. She got the lawyers from the very start. I would follow this lead on your part so you will know if it is worth it in the future to pursue someone in this situation. It might not be worth your time and effort in the long run. I agree with previous posts that justice is hard to find here.

Regards...

 

[NigelT]

Thanks a million for your posts (concert has been cancelled but thanks for the offer of heckling!). All now in the capable hands of my lawyer, key is to find an address he's living at to start proceedings - if he has no assets in Argentina it will be difficult to recover anything though if he's receiving a salary then yes, it can be embargoed. Going to the police is pointless in this case, since under Argentine law it's a civil, not criminal matter. Wishing you all a great weekend. Nigel