I'm coming down in two weeks to rent a house (then I have to go home and pack, and come back with my dogs). I was offered a casita by the family I stayed with while I attended Spanish school last spring and it seems like a good deal. She wants a 1-year lease, first & last month's rent, and the services of an abogado. Seems reasonable, but I'm concerned about signing a legal document in Spanish - it's hard enough to understand legalese in English!

I know there are others on Yolisto who rent - how have you handled this? Do I need to get an abogado of my own? How much do they charge? I guess I'm expected to pay for the landlady's abogado already. What should I expect and/or watch out for in this process?

Jo

Maybe you could ask the landlady if you guys could go with a mutually agreed upon abogado, so that he would be neutral and just representing the document, not representing either party specifically. Also, you should request the document be both in Spanish and English, many abogado's can do this.

Jo, our lawyer is fantastic, and speaks perfect English. I think he has an ad here on the YoPages. His name is Alonso Hernandez. He could explain the contract to you and I think that would set your mind at ease.



Good luck!



Joanne

The notario charges one month's rent (if I remember correctly) and his job is to record the contract, that is what makes it legally binding. You sign three copies (or is it four?) and get one, the notario keeps one, and the owner gets one. We had someone to read the contract for us (an attorney not a notario) to make sure it was all done correctly. One thing we had in our contract was the right to get out of it by providing 30 days notice in writing and no penalty for ending early. This was almost five years ago but I bet that sort of thing hasn't changed. Also our contract spelled out who was responsible for what.

Remember the bills go to the residence not the occupant, so if the previous tenant left owing money to the phone company you may have to pay it to get service, our landlady was willing to reduce our rent by a set amount if we paid the past due $4000 pesos but we got cell phones instead.

regards,

Theresa

Sounds complicated to me..We have been renting at the beach for the last 12 years...no contracts, just a handshake. Definitely no "first and last month" stuff.



Just our experience.



edited to add..I guess dealing with a good landlord over many years helps?

We have two apartments that we rent out to guests at the beach and we don't do this either. We do have a contract if someone asks for one, but its pretty informal. We do advertise on http://www.vacationrentals.com and http://www.homeaway.com. Both websites offer a guarantee, so our guests appear to be happy with that.



But for long term (yearly) rental, it makes sense that both the landlord and the tenant would want to have everything spelled out and themselves protected.



Joanne

Thank you so much for everyone's insights on this! Theresa, that sounds like a good idea, having the provision that you can get out of the contract with 30 days written notice - and I'll watch out for unpaid bills! I think I'll probably get a cell phone, but I do want hi-speed internet - maybe by cable?

Joanne, thank you for the lawyer referral - I'll certainly look him up!

Terry and Mike - now why didn't I think of simply asking for the document in English and Spanish?! Sometimes it takes another person to point out the obvious - thanks!

Dave, all I can say is, you're so lucky! Wish my landlady was comfortable with such informality - otoh, I guess that's a lot to ask on a year-long rental.

I can hardly believe I'll be there in just a couple of weeks - excited, nervous, ecstatic -



Jo