Looking for advice on tentant rights

not much you can do if she has it written in the contract... she is no fool and probably anticipated these issues.....that's why it's good to have a re agent or Relo agent help... speak to a local lawyer... they might be able to negotiate something...

We had a rental agent

I would think taking almost 3 months to fix a septic tank would be a breech of contract

Welcome to Puerto Rico. These are the kinds of things that you will run into especially if you are Gringo. I had a verbal altercation once with a festival manager because someone else (a Puerto Rican) stole my source of electricity leaving me unplugged. Got no sympathy.We had words and almost came to blows and he finally said, "we do things differently here". And that was it and he walked away. So get used to it. Not everyone in PR is nice. Just like anywhere else. When it comes to business, trust no one. Don't ever sign a contract or any type of agreement until everything is in place and to your satisfaction. It's like I tell everyone else, "you're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy." Don't expect anything to work like it does in the states and don't expect most things to make any sense. And don't expect common sense, rationality and fair play to rule the day when you are doing business there. Taking 3 months to fix a septic tank is not unusual in the land of "Manana". It will only be by accident if somebody shows up on time for an appointment or to start or finish a job.Getting it done right is a different story. Good luck. I don't see a solution to your problem.

But legally she supposed to make sure we have access to working plumbing and electric. If the septic isn't working that apart of plumbing. Which would be a breech of contract. Wouldn't a judge side with us on this matter and allow us to break our contract due to her breeching it?

won't he or she help you???  at least try to get you a lawyer... everything here is lawyer crazy.... you can report them to DACO  ( kind of the better business burea) but they are also pretty much with out "teeth" to get anything done.   Go to your agent... see if they are willing to talk to her and use some tactics... like he won't show her place any more.    I had a guy leave all kinds of  broken furniture, broke the closet door and the toaster and then he got pissed - at the agent - when I deducted the cost of the removal, door and toaster from his secutiry deposit.  he actually took the agent to DACO... this is why i don't rent direct....

not necessarily  here.... she made an effort to fix the issue... I don't suggest you negotiate with her directly,  especially if she is local.. really... ask for help from your RE agent...

I would think it would be a breech of contract, too.  Keep track of all communication and take photos.  Keep us posted as to how this turns out and if you contact your agent.  Was there a reason for such a huge deposit?  Best of luck to you!

She isn't local. She lives in Florida and we have never meet her. The deposit was large because the realtor wanted to do a credit check. We told him it would be bad because I got a head injury in Jan 2013. Had to go from working full time with the faa due to my situation and all my doctors appointment. Stopped paying our credit cards in May 2013 because my income was now 1/2 it's was when I was working. We also tried to lower our interest rate with our mortgage company but they wouldn't do it because the house was worth what we owed.  We bought our place 2007 for $317000. Paid it on time no late payments. We stopped paying our mortgage may 2014 because they wouldn't work with us and I had to quit my job due to my head injury.  Our house was foreclosed and sold for about $188000.    So the realtor said they we don't need a credit check if we paid 3 months security deposit

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles, Sandra.  I hope you are doing better with your head injury.  Bless!

I own a 4-plex in CA. Simple idea is a contract has 2 sides.  You promise to pay.  She (landlord) promises to perform.  She was in breech of contract the day you moved in.  You have the legal right to win in court.  I real life, sometimes a win costs more than its worth.  Talk to people who know the patterns of what PR courts actually do in your area.  Morally right, legally right, and what really happens are 3 different things.  IMHO.  Karl  Oh, and poor-ish place (PR, Dom Rep, etc) where owner is absentee American and prop mngt is a local realtor, common for a lack of motivation.

I highly recommend you take your contract to a lawyer, have it review, explain what happened from the moment you arrived at the property. At least get advice, and maybe take legal action if worth it.

The place should have been in moving conditions on the day agreed upon by the contract or a day or two later at worst and you could have stayed at an AirBNB apartment for a couple of days at most.

The rental laws are different in PR than in the States it may appear to be the same but it is not...you definitely need a lawyer.

Rental laws here are different and favor the tenant in most cases. Speak to a lawyer...you may have a case and be able to re-coup your losses but at the least not have to pay further to the landlord under the circumstances you describe of house conditions.

We moved in the month of March and the work wasn't completed until the end of June. But we tried to talked to her about the lease and won't budget.   So we started to save money and finally saved enough to pay a deposit on another place. The things left to be fixed are the screens to be replaced and one of the air conditioning units. Theses were supposed to be done before we moved in. But I got so tired of waiting and already tried to get her to allow up to break the lease.  I told her to forget fixing the ac and screens she could do that when we move out.  We even have videos of the septic person pumping the tank and them pumping it on to the property. We aren't paying her anymore money then our Oct rent because we mailed her checks in March for months up to Oct. We aren't trying to screw her but she has screwed us from March 1 until June 28. We hope a judge will side with us if not we will be liable. We will have to wait to see how things workout

Hoping the best for you, Sandra!

I would be surprised if she bothers to proceed to court process and if she does it surely sounds like you are in the right. She may have just been trying to scare you into paying her further since she knows you are stateside-ears recently moved here and not aware of how different things can be here for tenants. Hang tight and contact a housing authority in your town if you want to inquire further for suggestions on how to know your rights...I believe the conditions you described would be considered unsanitary etc.

I Think from a practical standpoint Kayakerpr is probably correct that your stateside owner is likely more bluster than not in using threats to intimidate, but doesn't want the trouble of legal proceedings.  I would recommend you take the time to compose a closing letter to her at the time of leaving. Keep it strictly factual as to what is a fair view of a total monies owed/paid her and then listing out each non-performance item on her part.  Keep the emotions out, but be clear and chronological and concise.  Been down this road before.  The letter becomes what the judge would use in court as a starting point of "What's this all about?".  Doesn't take an expert to get that pumping a septic tank sewage onto a different part of the property is not what any reasonable person should have to put up with.  If you compose it carefully as I state and send it to the owner directly with a copy to the PR manager she likely will just not want any further trouble, realize it isn't worth the fight, and let it go.  Of course in life one can always run into Pit Bull types but typically American property owners tend to be more pragmatic as to what they actually do (not say with bluster).  Again, offered IMHO as a property manager in CA.  Wish you the best.

Rentals laws in the island are more favorable to the tenants, in the island it takes a long fight and time to get someone out of your property even if they are not paying. Specially if they have kids, different than in the states. Most judges will side towards the tenant, specially if you have documentation of all the issues. My best advise is to talk to a lawyer, as others had express, a good record of all the issues will come a long way if she ever decide to take you to court. I do not think that will be the case since the property owner will be the one that have to file the case not the management company. They may want to intimidate you since you are not from the island and do not want to loose the income money. Most likely, the house is over price and hard to get new tenant into it.

We don't have money for a lawyer. We just saved enough money for a deposit on another place. My husband is 100% disable veteran and unable to work and I take care of him and our son. I speak no Spanish which almost can't get any jobs. I worked for the faa in the states and here in Puerto Rico they want all government employees to be bilingual.

Plus I took photos when we first moved in. Videos. Of the grossness I had to cleaned the first weeks we moved in. I sent photos to the landlord as well.  As well as a list of things needing to be fixed. I have a video tape of the guy pumping the septic in the yard. Also 90% of my conversation with the landlord is via text.  I have all my text with the landlord as well as the realtor and my husband found away to load the text so it is now a document on my computer just in case something happens to my phone. The other 10% is me on the phone with the landlord

Another thing is that the landlord had written in the contract that we aren't collecting interest on a deposit. Is this legal?  Am I allowed to ask for copies of the deposit and make sure its in an escrow account and no money has been taken out at anytime out of the account?  We had to pay the $2900 in cash to the realtor so I am not sure how the landlord actually has our deposit in an account from March 1 of the $2175.  I am not sure if any of this applies to Puerto Rico law.

sandrarduncan wrote:

We don't have money for a lawyer. We just saved enough money for a deposit on another place. My husband is 100% disable veteran and unable to work and I take care of him and our son. I speak no Spanish which almost can't get any jobs. I worked for the faa in the states and here in Puerto Rico they want all government employees to be bilingual.

OUCH!
A lawyer may take your case for free and maybe force them to sell the house to compensate you for your loses and all the heartache. In the US mainland there are outfits like that that will take cases for free, I do not remember the organisation name but maybe somebody else will know and they probably have a branch in PR. There is also some free legal council for Veterants, see site at: http://www.va.gov/OGC/LegalServices.asp
You have the same federal rights in PR and in the mainland, while state laws are different, the federal parts are the same.

Also see this:
How do I obtain legal representation in Puerto Rico ?

All lawyers in Puerto Rico are currently required to be members of the Puerto Rico Bar Association.  To contact the Bar Association, call at (787) 721-3358 or visit http://www.capr.org/
Free legal representation is available for individuals who cannot afford a lawyer.  To obtain information, call the  Central office of Legal Services of Puerto Rico at (787) 728-8686 or visit http://www.tribunalpr.org/servicios/ser … egales.htm

I found it at web site: http://prfaa.pr.gov/services_legalfaqnd … eSupport=1

Even lawyers that charge will give you an initial free consultation.
Don't let them stomp on your rights!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps

I will keep all documentation, redact a document to the property owner and management company. It sounds to me as they did breach contract. Since your husband is a disable vet, he may be able to get help from vet services if it comes to that. I will think the owner will rather let you go than get into a legal battle he may loose.

I agree, that the landlord may not want to pursue this any further.

Here is a little more: http://real-estate.laws.com/puerto-rico-tenant-rights
Basically it depends on your contract, but the property needs to be in liveable condition. If the toilet does not work, if the windows do not work, if the stove does not work, then it is not liveable.

Yes. I have read every thing I could find online and most is vague or states what a landlord can do. What what tenants can do

Initial lawyer consultation is free, talk to a lawyer and bring your materials, ask what can you do.