Urgent legal advice

usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:48:

bmp

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:50:

Man, when you need urgent legal advice do NOT ask the internet.

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:51:

Thanks for the advice...

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Mr. Hollywood says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:52:

It's worth every penny you paid for it.

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dwr says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:53:

Is there a rental contract with this person? How long has he lived there? Are there receipts for monthly rent payments?

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 15:55:

There is no contract... not even a verbal agreement other than the monthly rent he has to pay. There are no receipts. He has been here about 5 months.

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:04:

So?????

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LilaM says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:04:

Well just when the guy leaves..... change the door locks and leave his belongings at the front desk, for sure he is going to leave the day you want!!! and if he comes back just call the police...

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don´t try" B. Sills

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robi666 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:05:

I'll have someone kick the guy out of it. No problem.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:06:

Is that a promise Robi??? This is serious!

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robi666 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:07:

Yes, we go to talk to someone tomorrow. Is he the Argentinian scumbag?
Next time, just call, do not post this kind of stuff here.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:08:

yes...

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LilaM says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:10:

And to make the moment sweeter leave a note with his bags saying...

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don´t try" B. Sills

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:11:

So, physically kicking him out is easy... but I dont want to be taken to court... even though he has basically said he's not going to pay me

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dwr says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:11:

He has no legal position to stay in your house. If you go down to the local police precinct and tell them he is physically threatening you, they might come back to the apartment and remove him or not. Legally, he has no position to stay there though time is on his side if he decides to hunker down. Getting him out is the problem really. LilaM has the solution for the short term.

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robi666 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:13:

Court? For what? Here in Colombia?

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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LilaM says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:18:

Usher court in Colombia takes a lot of time, better try to change the door locks and then if he makes a threat to you, just go to the police and make a "Caución" so that is an order that says he is not allowed to be near you...

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don´t try" B. Sills

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usher127 says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:27:

ok... thanks all

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papiChulo says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:40:

is the Argentinian a fat POS... ugly and stupid as well? just wondering

I'm not greedy I just want a lot.

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fecherklyn says on Jun 2, 2008, 16:41:

Ummh,

What about the "I know powerful people in Medellin"?

Do you simply discard it as bluff?

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Wastelandlive says on Jun 2, 2008, 17:01:

Pretty much.

Some loser who can't pay his rent and is squatting in a home where he's not wanted probably knows lots of bobos in Medellin, nothing more.

Seriously. Give the narcos some credit... they've got better things to do than nanny some punk.

Wasteland

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Medellin Traveler says on Jun 2, 2008, 17:38:

Usher127,

Sorry, I wish I was in Medellin to help out.

My parent's always warned me about people like me. I'm a nice guy, until..............

"Huevos Rancheros en Medellin, No Quiero Taco Bell." - www.medellintraveler.com

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Gator says on Jun 2, 2008, 18:56:

FIRST YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY. ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FAST, FAST, FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Landlord and tenant can freely agree on the duration of the lease. If no specific duration is mentioned, the contract is understood to be for one year. Unless a notice of termination is duly sent (3 months before the lease ends), the contract will be renewed for successive equal terms if both parties have complied with their contractual obligations and the tenant accepts the increases in the rent authorized by law.

If you want to evict a tenant you have to go through a Proceso de Restitución de Inmueble Arrendado which, due to the back log in civil courts, can take several years. Law 820 of 2003 created a uniform code regulate leasing for housing purposes. Prior leases are regulated by Law 56 of 1985

Under the law of 2003 the landlord can terminate the lease if it has lasted not less than 4 years, by paying an indemnification equivalent to 1.5 months of rent to the tenant.

Lease agreements can be made orally or in writing and rents can be set freely by agreement between landlord and tenant, though the monthly rent cannot exceed 1% of the commercial value of the dwelling or of the part of the dwelling subject to the lease. Such commercial value cannot exceed two times the cadastre value of the dwelling at the time of the contract.

The rent can be fixed in any currency but, if fixed in a foreign currency, it has to be paid in Colombian pesos at the market exchange rate in force at the time of the contract, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

There can be increases in the rent every 12 months of execution of the lease agreement. The increase cannot exceed 100% of the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding calendar year. In any case, the new rent has to conform to the parameters set forth above as to the limits of the initial rent.

If the tenant believes that the increase made by the landlord exceeds market prices, he has 6 months to request a revision before the Mayor’s Office of the city where the dwelling is located.

Deposits
Deposits for lease agreements are prohibited in Colombia. The law also forbids landlords from requesting liens to secure payment of tenant’s contractual obligations.

What rights do landlords and tenants have in Colombia, especially as to duration of contract, and eviction?
Landlord and tenant can freely agree on the duration of the lease. If no specific duration is mentioned, the contract is understood to be for one year. Unless a notice of termination is duly sent, the contract will be renewed for successive equal terms if both parties have complied with their contractual obligations and the tenant accepts the increases in the rent authorized by law.

At any time, the parties can mutually agree to terminate the contract.

The landlord can unilaterally terminate the contract:

If the tenant is not complying with his obligations, e.g., if he defaults in rent payments or public utilities payments.
If the tenant is not in default, the landlord can terminate the contract during the renewal terms (not during the initial term) by sending him written notice of termination to the tenant 3 months prior to the effective date of termination, informing him that the indemnification ordered by law will be paid. Such indemnification, equivalent to 3 months of rent, has to be deposited before the entities authorized by the government, which will then forward it to the tenant.
Likewise, the landlord can terminate the contract at the end of the initial term or of any of the renewal terms by sending written notice to the tenant 3 months prior to the date of termination of the contract, if: (1) the landlord will need the dwelling for his own habitation for not less than 1 year; (2) the dwelling has to be demolished to undertake a new construction; (3) the dwelling has to be emptied to be repaired; or (4) the dwelling has been sold and it has to be passed to the buyer (in this case the landlord does not have to indemnify the tenant so long as he complies with the three months notice period). The landlord can also terminate the contract if it has lasted not less than 4 years, by paying an indemnification equivalent to 1.5 months of rent.


Similar provisions apply to termination of the contract by the tenant.

The tenant can unilaterally terminate the contract at any time if the landlord breaches his contractual and legal duties, e.g., when he interferes with the quiet enjoyment of the dwelling by the tenant.
The tenant can also unilaterally terminate the contract during the initial term or any of the renewal terms by sending written notice of termination to the landlord 3 months prior to the effective date of termination, informing him that the indemnification ordered by law will be paid. Such indemnification, equivalent to 3 months of rent, has to be deposited before the entities authorized by the government, which will then forward it to the landlord.
Finally, the tenant can terminate the contract at the end of the initial term or of any of the renewal terms by sending written notice to the tenant 3 months prior to the date of termination of the contract. No indemnification is required in this case.


It should be noted that the tenant will be deemed to have breached the contract if he sublets or assigns the contract without the landlord’s express authorization.

Both landlord and tenant are entitled to a right of retention if the other party is in breach of his duties. Therefore, the tenant can refuse to leave the dwelling if he has not received the indemnification ordered by law. Similarly, the landlord is entitled to keep possession of any goods left by the tenant if and as long as the tenant is in default in paying the rent.

These rules for the renewal and termination of the lease tend to favour landlords in practice.

How effective is the Colombian legal system?

Tenancy law is enforced before the civil courts. Procedures are long and the courts are saturated with a huge backlog of cases. To complete an eviction of a tenant might take perhaps three years, including 45 days for service, two years for trial duration, and a year for enforcement. But the eviction proceedings, though long, protect landlords because tenants are obliged to pay rent while the proceeding is being heard in court.

The eviction process is regulated by Law 820 of 2003 and procedural rules are found in the Colombian Code of Civil Procedure. The proceeding, called “Proceso de restitución de inmueble arrendado" is carried out through a summary procedure with the intervention of the tenant. However, if the complaint is based on failure to pay the rent, the tenant will not be heard unless he deposits the outstanding rents before the court. The tenant is entitled to reimbursement for the improvements and repairs made by him to the dwelling. The landlord can request the practice of precautionary measures, including seizure of tenant’s assets, to ensure payment of the rent or of any other economic obligation under the contract. Judgments in eviction proceedings based on failure to pay the rent cannot be appealed.

EVICTION FOR NON-PAYMENT OF RENT (in days)
Duration until completion of service of process 139
Duration of trial 279
Duration of enforcement 82
Total Days to Evict Tenant 500
Courts: The Lex Mundi Project
It is not necessary to exhaust a conciliation hearing before initiating an eviction process, which is required for most other civil actions.

Legislation
Leasing of dwellings is regulated by Law 820 of 2003. This law applies to all lease agreements signed after July 10, 2003. Prior leases will be regulated by Law 56 of 1985. Commercial leases and other types of lease agreements are regulated by other laws, and general provisions are contained in articles 1974 and following of the Colombian Civil Code.

Brief history: Recent changes in Colombian landlord and tenant law
Colombian law is guided by the furtherance of two Constitutional principles: (i) the property must comply with a social purpose, and (ii) every person has the right to a proper dwelling.

The law has recently moved in the direction of reaching a balance between the rights of landlords and tenants. Landlords and real estate brokers have an organized lobby force in Congress and have been very successful in recent years in obtaining stronger protection from the law. Congress enacted Law 820 in 2003 to create a uniform normative body to regulate leasing of houses for residence, as opposed to leasing of houses for commercial uses and leasing of other goods. Law 820 was designed to provide flexibility in lease contracts and to the relation between landlords and tenants, considering that, at the time of its enactment, it was estimated that 15 million people lived in rented dwellings and 90% of them were low income population. The law attempts to offer new possibilities for appropriate dwellings for low income families and to promote the construction of buildings for rent.

Abogados Brigard & Urrutia

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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tejasmarcos says on Jun 2, 2008, 19:00:

robi, usher - let's just invite him out for a beer and talk some sense into him.

- sounds fun ;)

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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pedro says on Jun 2, 2008, 20:36:

Go to the police and register an order against him (it's just formalising with the police that you've been threatened by someone). Wait till he goes out, then tell the guys at the porteria "X person does not live with me anymore and is not allowed to enter under any pretext". Change the locks to your front door. Tell him not to fuck with you, or else your friends will hold him personally responsible for anything that should happen to you. Throw his shit out on the street. Done.

No written receipts -> tell him if he takes any legal action, you just declare he never paid any rent for five months and still owes you rent from the very first day.

que nota!

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Catfish35 says on Jun 2, 2008, 21:17:

I'm with you Robi, TJ..
USHER take this thing off of here......matter of fact ask Peter to just delete this whole thing!

"So many guns, and so few brains". sam spade

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miamimike says on Jun 2, 2008, 22:59:

Reading these posts and Gator's info have reinforced my belief as to why I would never rent or taken in roomates either in Miami or Colombia. Not in this day and age as its clear landlords don't have any rights! Too many headaches and the bad tenents far outweigh the good ones. I was a landlord in the 70s-80s and never again. As a Board or director here in our Condo Bldg., and seeing as we do not permit owners to rent out their units, to get rid of a few people who were renting, I simply changed all the Security Locks and Keys to a new system. That eliminated 90% of the problem and considering the Alternatives, a cheap fix.

Good Luck Usher!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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Robert Jorge says on Jun 2, 2008, 23:52:

You can't do it since you live there: But to get problem tenants out of my friend's rentals, he just pulls the electric meter. No juice and AC.

In your shoes, I would wait until the tenant is gone, throw his shit out on the street, and then call a few friends to hang out for the evening. Warn the security guards too if applicable.

BEWARE of gold diggers.

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lampltr says on Jun 3, 2008, 02:29:

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Latin-America/Colombia/Landlord-and... I agree with Robi, the guy desires to be a dick and not work with you then....

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pilotguy says on Jun 3, 2008, 05:45:

I bought a house, had renters, same problem.Se we used loud construction equipment at their front doors and we made it difficult for them to enjoy life, starting at 6AM. We broke concrete and used power saws, etc. Dirty, dusty. They complained, we continued, then we offered 90 days cash equal to rent, They left. It is very tough to get out renters here. I found out after police and lawyers. Joe

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usher127 says on Jun 3, 2008, 06:27:

Thanks to everyone... mods can we delete this post please?

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lpdiver says on Jun 3, 2008, 08:23:

Why in the world would this post need deleting? It contains a lot of valuable and useful information.

t

"cook some rice!"

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miamimike says on Jun 3, 2008, 08:25:

Another idea,,pipe Classical Muzak into the house with the Volumn way up,,,,

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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lpdiver says on Jun 3, 2008, 08:33:

Is there any kind of Muzak than classical? LMAO.

t

"cook some rice!"

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