help renters rights

bermyboy · #1 12-18-2007, 10:41 PM

im renting a local for a business in caberete my lease was up in august weni got the lease it stated i had to pay rent 3 months at a time my lease is up there jacking the rent up 10% saying its the law and imlike i want to pay month tomonth today i went to pay for 1 month they refused saying i have to pay 3 months im like i dont have it
what are my rights. i want to payrent just cant afford 3 months at time im offereing to pay monthly Also weni first got the local they were over charging me for genorator use last december they sent me a bill for 12500 pesos im like i got inversore and everything i got a meter instaled in my shop my highest genorator bill has benn 1000 pesos since .Ever since that they have treated me very badly i told them about some problems in my shop that they need to fix they said its not there problem
Like i said its not that i dont want to pay rent im just want it monthly wat can i do?
Oh yeah my landlords are a chain hotel here in Cabarete they have 3 hotels here this is ridiculous

The Virginian · #2 12-19-2007, 08:39 AM

Sorry, don't know your rights as a renter but it sounds like its time to find another location.

bermyboy · #3 12-19-2007, 08:53 AM

yes i will be looking 4 a new location but its not feesable right now its not like im not paying rent i went to pay 1 month the refused I know by Dominican law they can not do his also i payed a 2 month deposit 1 year ago

J D Sauser · #4 12-19-2007, 10:24 AM

First, I do not wish to become part of the grammar police but could you use "" (periods) and "," (commas) every so often anyway? If you hope for a busy lawyer to read and re-assemble you paragraph long sentences, you are expecting much more from others than you are apparently prepared to offer as basic courtesy.

I would not be surprised that we will find out that, like in most countries, there is a great difference between residential vs. commercial leases.
In many countries (including the States),when you lease residential, you as a tenant are taking the property over as seen or described in the contract and are responsible for most of the maintenance, in some cases of the whole building because there is a vast liberty of what a commercial contract CAN stipulate.
For the same reason(s), I would suspect that, if it says in your lease contract, that the rent has to be paid in quarterly installments (probably in advance) and you signed off on it, that's what it will be.
Residential leases in Pesos can by law be raised yearly up to 10%. I don't know if the same applies to commercial leases.

Now, these are only my opinions mostly based on my experiences in other countries and you are left to hope that Mr. Guzman wants to take the time to read your question and give you a definitive answer based on local law.

... J-D.

Fabio J. Guzman · #5 12-19-2007, 11:25 AM

I have posted this many times before.

Dominican law is very protective of tenant rights. Eviction of a tenant is only possible on the following grounds: (a) failure to pay rent, (b) misuse of the premises, (c) subletting if prohibited by the lease, (d) the owner will use the property.

Note that expiration of the lease is not listed. If the tenant keeps paying the rent, the landlord cannot evict him just because the lease has "expired". An eviction under (d) is usually a long drawn-out process since the first step is a conciliation hearing at which the tenant is regularly given months if not years to look for an alternative dwelling.

As for raising the rent, the owner cannot just raise it at will. He would have to go through a lengthy administrative procedure. If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola.

The above applies both to home and commercial leases.

bermyboy · #6 12-19-2007, 11:58 AM

Very sorry for the grammar,
Thanks for the replies. Basically when I bought the business i signed a lease to pay every 3 months. I have done that my lease was up in August and i offered to pay monthly but they have refused. Again like I said I literally caught them over charging me on my genorator had my own meter installed in my shop so they couldnt make extra money off the dumb gringo since then they treated me very badly. I guess I basically got to get a laywer and dont pay anything right now I still have the money its just not 3 months rent.I never asked them to give me back the money when the stole from me with the generator. Amazing how my bill went from 12,500 pesos in December to 500 pesos in January after I got my meter installed.
Like I said this is a popular hotel chain here in Cabarete there name is almost slipping out of my tongue I refuse to be bullied by these people.

GringoCArlos · #7 12-19-2007, 12:55 PM

If you originally signed a contract to lease premises and agreed to pay three months at a time, (and the annual 10% increase is probably in there too), why on earth would you think you could get away with changing the rules now??

Stop trying to throw in the secondary issue of problems with your planta and the electric bill, and repairs or improvements that you want to have done in the premises - those are separate issues.

Read your contract. If it ¡s in there, either pay up as you originally promised, or find a new place to rent with terms that fit your needs now. It's that simple.

Good luck.

jaguarbob · #8 12-19-2007, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GringoCArlos

If you originally signed a contract to lease premises and agreed to pay three months at a time, (and the annual 10% increase is probably in there too), why on earth would you think you could get away with changing the rules now??

Good luck.

no 10 percent annual increase....

As for raising the rent, the owner cannot just raise it at will. He would have to go through a lengthy administrative procedure. If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola.

The above applies both to home and commercial leases.

bermyboy · #9 12-19-2007, 03:46 PM

my lease was up in august but anyway thanks for the help I know what i got to do I have learned living here that thinking like a gringo gets you f$#%^k in the end ill just go native thanks everyone have a good xmas

J D Sauser · #10 12-19-2007, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabio J. Guzman

I have posted this many times before.

Dominican law is very protective of tenant rights. Eviction of a tenant is only possible on the following grounds: (a) failure to pay rent, (b) misuse of the premises, (c) subletting if prohibited by the lease, (d) the owner will use the property.

Note that expiration of the lease is not listed. If the tenant keeps paying the rent, the landlord cannot evict him just because the lease has "expired". An eviction under (d) is usually a long drawn-out process since the first step is a conciliation hearing at which the tenant is regularly given months if not years to look for an alternative dwelling.

As for raising the rent, the owner cannot just raise it at will. He would have to go through a lengthy administrative procedure. If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola.

The above applies both to home and commercial leases.

Same laws for commercial as residential leases! Whoaw! I have never seen that before. Interesting. I thought that the protectionist laws were designed to protect the "home" (el hogar) and families.

Thanks Sr. Guzman.

... J-D.