Rent in Dollars

[jblaze5779]

My landlord is insisting I send rent dollars direct from my USA account to their USA account in Miami. Is this even legal? I feel like I'm getting gringo'd... They made me pay the sellado also but that doesn't make any sense if I'm paying direct USA to USA account.

 

[camel]

What does the contract say?

 

[jblaze5779]

They wrote the contract and sent it to me for review and it had the local account and the Banco national conversion rate for pesos payment. I approved it. We show up to sign the contract and all of a sudden they have a Miami account and it's written for dollars. It's the not the same contract we negotiated. I say I have an issue and that I won't sign it. They tell me that I can pay in either account and that they will give me the local account info later. I sign the contract. I make the first month payment in dollars from my USA account to theirs. A month later I get the local account info from my expat advisor (my company's assistance company). I tell my advisor /realtor that I am going to start making peso payments and that they should give a heads up to the landlord. They tell me they contacted the landlord to set expectations and the landlord will be aware of the change. This month I made a payment to their AR account from my AR account. Now it's a big quilumbo with the landlord. The landlord said the handlers never talked to them.

It's funny because I predicted this exact scenario last week when the handler said everything was fine.

I can never count on anyone to actually do their job here.

 

[camel]

You have the local account info - you could just continue to send it in pesos and let them deal with it. I hear it's hard to evict people here. Be an okupa.

 

[bdk1]

Indeed, just continue to send the amount in pesos to their local account and you’ll be 100% covered and compliant. Even if the rent is stated in USD on the contract, they cannot force you to pay the rent in USD or to accept any exchange rate other than the official one. In fact, by getting your rent in the US there is a 99% chance they are dodging AFIP, so in the event of a conflict it’s not something they would go to the authorities about. And like camel says above, it’s almost impossible to evict someone here, especially if you’re paying rent and utilities.

 

[jblaze5779]

I asked them to provide receipts to me for my rent payment in the states and they yet to. I also paid my garuntee in usd as well and they've yet to send me receipts.

 

[sts7049]

what a mess.

my company at least requires that rent payments are made by transfers, so that weeds out any sketchy landlords who want to work beneath the table like that. and it's only in pesos, company pays me every month and i make the transfers accordingly.

 

[garryl]

Paying in dollars makes sense. Your rent is constant, it can be the same for years, and you can find a nicer place with dollars.
With the inflation at 30% and great uncertainty, why landlords have to be exploited by tenants. (I am not a landlord in Argentina).
If the landlords are screwed, tenants will not last long. it has to be win win scenario. It is not easy for landlords in Argentina,
low return, expensive/difficult repairs, high taxes, weak market, high ,monthly expense. If you are a gringo, have dollars, why not help your landlord and yourself, with a reasonable rate in dollars. It's a good thing.

 

[Iznogud]

garryl nailed it!

You must consider not only your position but also the landlord`s BEFORE entering the deal.

When your rent is payed abroad you can be certain it is undeclared and the landlord is dodging local taxes. They must have a foreign account and be able to maintain the property trying not to access those funds and using local funds.

Inflation is a killer with pesos and in a two-three year lease as a landlord you might end up losing money or eventually having to pay the tenant to leave. It does so happen often with local tenants.

Foreign tenants have the advantage of leaving by themselves, eventually, and having foreign currency. On the minus side, they lack a proper Garantìa and once they are gone, they simply vanish. Nobody is going to go after them even if they leave the place like a Khmer Rouge after party. The landlord (eventually) only has the Garantìa to put the place in shape for the next tenant.
The foreign currency usually provides BOTH PARTIES peace of mind.

Otherwise they would fewer places to rent at the locations preferred by foreigners.

You were free NOT to sign the contract in dollars. Likely, you wouldn`t have a place now.

Your middleman is looking after himself, not you or the landlord. Be careful and try to have him removed from the equation ASAP.

You pay, you get a receipt. Period. Who is signing those receipts, landlord or realtor?

Iz

 

[jblaze5779]

My rent is stated in dollars but says if I pay in pesos I must transfer the amount at the Banco national rate of the day so they are protected from inflation... They just want the dollars so they can avoid the taxes. If I would have known they wanted only dollars I would have negotiated a better rate with them. We negotiated a rate in dollars with the option to pay in pesos so I didn't make a fuss about the higher rent. Essentially if I pay in dollars direct to Miami I am over paying my rent by 30%.