Potential Problems With Argentine Friends House Sitting?

[Risu]

Has anyone noticed that here "acquantances" will ask you for favors that normally you would only do for your best friends?

Yes, I have noticed and quite frankly, am exhausted from it.

Had a Brit married to Argentine, who came pleading with tears in his eyes, saying he needed money to put his mother-in-law in a mental hospital. That the mother-in-law had pulled a knife on his wife. Much urgency, would get the money from his brother-in-law & pay us back. Of course never happened.

Have heard from other Expats about their experiences with loaning money to Argentines and over all it seems a big mistake. Newcomers take heed.

 

[nikad]

3 words: don´t do it. Tell them you are renovating your home or they shut down the gas due to a leak and that you have to stay there.

 

[TomAtAlki]

We let our Realtor use our place while his mother visited and stayed at his place. A few weeks became months, he did move out (thank god) when we came back, things were destroyed, missing and filthy. Welcome home. So I guess I'm saying unless you, know them, trust them I would at least have a contract. With that said, we have let friends stay at our place and returned to gifts and nice notes etc and the same clean home we left.
Nancy

 

[Montauk_Project]

I'm trying to remember the film where the house gets taken over and they set up a chorizo factory inside it, ¿anyone?

Not sure if we are confusing foods: Buena Vida Delivery, from 2002, his house gets taken over and they set up a churro (donut) factory. Great film!

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I would only do this for family members, and not necessarily for all of them.

 

[Splitty]

Concensus : Bad Idea Don't make their problem become your problem! Rent to an Expat for USD.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

I want to be clear here, I wouldn´t hand over the keys to my property to people I don´t know very well anywhere. Like garlic garlic said, only for family and not all of them! I definitely do not subscribe to the 'only rent to an expat' theory although there are financial advantages for dollar income.

No special persecution of people in this city or country. As I have said before we have an Argentine fella renting an apartment from us and he is a complete saint. I don´t go in for stereotyping millions of people based on the bad experiences of a few. Once you´ve been around a bit you realise there are good and bad folks everywhere.

 

[RichardP]

Good advice from all. Don't even think about it!

Once you've been burned a few times here you learn to trust NOBODY.

 

[Davidglen77]

I will tell you plain and simple. DON'T DO IT. I rented a place to a freind once "just for a few months" and it cost me over $10,000 pesos to get him out (I had to pay HIM), plus he destroyed a number of things that cost me another $10,000 plus to replace. It was the worst experience of my life. In Argentina there is a law called "Ley de Alquileres" and even if you decide to rent a place to someone for 1 month, BY LAW they can stay for 2 years even if your contract says less time than that. It's no joke. DON'T rent to ANYONE just because. And you MUST get a garantia or renter's insurance. You will be sorry if you don't. There are NO friends here when it comes to your property and money. Doesn't exist.