rent - extra charge for generator use

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colibri

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Sep 15, 2004
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Hi,

I have been living in a apart-hotel for more 1 1/2 year now. My rent was 360 dollars at the beginning, and they increased to 380 USD after a year. So nothing wrong about it. But 3 or 4 months ago, they started asking all tenants to pay an extra charge for the generator, 1600 pesos per month. And now, they are increasing this extra charge to 40% more. I want to know if it's legal?

When I arrived, the 340 dollars included everything (power, generator, water, etc.). So is it normal to ask an extra charge, just because the fuel price are going up????

Thanks for your help!
 
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colibri

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Sep 15, 2004
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No, there is no contract. And I've never had any contract here in the DR... it's always been oral. But I've kept all the receipts.
 
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Ken

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Then what is to prevent management from raising rent when their operating costs increase? They are not operating a charity.
 
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colibri

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So you're saying since there are no written contract they can do whatever they want???
It was an agreement anyway, and the rent was supposed to cover all costs!!! If they want to increase it the legal amount after a year, I understand, but start changing the rules and make tenants pay for the fuel, I don't think it's correct. You choose your apartment according to the rent and your income, it one keeps increasing and the other not, what are we supposed to do, stop eating????
 
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bertgilbert

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holly molly

colibri said:
So you're saying since there are no written contract they can do whatever they want???
It was an agreement anyway, and the rent was supposed to cover all costs!!! If they want to increase it the legal amount after a year, I understand, but start changing the rules and make tenants pay for the fuel, I don't think it's correct. You choose your apartment according to the rent and your income, it one keeps increasing and the other not, what are we supposed to do, stop eating????
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yes they can, no contract, no rules. When is people are going to learn. But I guess, if you have no contract, you are free to move anytime you want, if you don't like the new terms.
 
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Dolores1

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May 3, 2000
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It is normal. The problem is that the number of blackout hours has increased and the cost of diesel, thus to offer you continued power service, they are now asking for a supplement.
 
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Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Well, if you don't want to pay more because their costs have increased, why not tell them to reduce the hours of generator operation.

Another thing, the government very recently imposed a higher tax on electricity charges.
 
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MrMike

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Mar 2, 2003
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In my experience having a contract will not protect you from this kind of thing anyway. Fuel prices have increased dramatically over the last couple of years and no one is going to take that hit for you.

I would never depend on a landlord to keep a generator running, I have never heard of anyone having a good experience with this in the DR long term.

Push always comes to shove eventually and whoever has the keys to the generator wins the argument.
 
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carina

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Mar 13, 2005
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Contract or no contract does not matter.
Without a contract the landlord is still entitled to raise the rent 5% on a yearly basis. You can not be thrown out of the apartment etc.
BUT this is not a raise of rent, as I understand it, but a supplement for a raised cost in an additional service?

Just dont use the service then, and buy an invertor.
 
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Rocky

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carina said:
Just dont use the service then, and buy an invertor.
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That will work if the rentor does not pay the electric bill.
If it is not included, then it may land up costing him/her even more, depending on the length of the daily blackouts.
If electricity is included in the rent, and the rentor decided to buy & install an inverter, he/she might do well to not mention it to the landlord, as his electric bill will definitely rise, and one would have to be careful to wire it in, so that it's not supplying adjacent rooms.
Some buildings that were not conceived to have individual electric meters for every room/apartment, may share circuits, from room to room.
 
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MrMike

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For sure, Rocky.

In an apartment its best not to make a big deal if you have an inverter, some apartment owners may not even "allow" it if they are supplying generator power, afraid you might depend on the generator alone to charge your inverter, etc.
 
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carina

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I agree completely.
I also personally think the best is always to pay those utilities yourself, instead of having it included.
So many come here, and are happy that electricity, gas, phones and everything is included in the rent, and it always ends up in a mess in too many cases.

Pay rent, and pay the rest yourself, and it keeps you out of discussions, if you rent a residencial apartment by someone, is always my advice.
 
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Fabio J. Guzman

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Jan 1, 2002
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Under Dominican law, a rental contract can be verbal or in writing. The existence of a verbal contract is usually proven with the rent receipts.

A verbal contract has certain advantages for the tenant. In any case, the owner cannot just raise the rent at will. If the tenant does not consent to the raise, 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.
 
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colibri

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Sep 15, 2004
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I don't understand what you mean by "If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola." What are the options in my case???

The problem is they are not really raising the rent. They are asking for a supplement for the generator because they say they have to use it too much and that the rent is not enough to cover it all. I can understand that running the generator so much is expensive, but when you rent an apartment in the DR, you know there are electricity problems, so when you rent an apartment with 24 hours electricity included, you know that it's possible that power is out for hours everyday. It's been like that for years now!!!!

I accepted to pay the supplement for fuel for the last 3 or 4 months, but I just don't accept the fact that now they are increasing this supplement. If the rent includes everything, it should mean everything. At the end, I'm almost paying twice what I was paying last year in pesos (with the dollar going up again)!!!

I don't think you can pay your utilities here, it's a hotel that rents apartments short and long term. Verizon didn't even want to install a phone in my apartment, so individual electricity and water, it would be too complicated. And I don't want to start investing money in an inverter, since I am probably leaving the country in 2 or 3 months. That is also why I don't want to move.

You choose your apartment according to your budget, so I don't think it's fair to the tenants to ask more money. Some might have very tight budget and probably can't afford it.
 
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Rocky

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colibri said:
I don't understand what you mean by "If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola." What are the options in my case???
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I won't speak for Fabio, but I believe that, if you cannot agree on your monthly payment, you & your landlord, you can deposit the amount you feel it should in the aforementioned bank, in escrow, so that if & when there is a court decision made on the matter, the landlord could collect those moneys, and any other that he is legally entitled to.
In the meantime, he would not have grounds to evict you.
Of course, I'm not a lawyer.
 
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Ken

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That is right, Rocky. There was a renter at Neptuno who refused to pay the increased rent the owner asked for the new year. He deposited the amount each month that he had been paying in the Banco Agricola and stayed for a few years doing that. He would still be there, probably, except the owner finally sold the apartment cheap to be done with the problem and he had to leave because the new owner wanted to occupy the apartment he just bought.
 
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MrMike

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colibri said:
I don't understand what you mean by "If the owner refuses to accept the rent, the tenant can deposit it at the nearest Banco Agricola." What are the options in my case???

The problem is they are not really raising the rent. They are asking for a supplement for the generator because they say they have to use it too much and that the rent is not enough to cover it all. I can understand that running the generator so much is expensive, but when you rent an apartment in the DR, you know there are electricity problems, so when you rent an apartment with 24 hours electricity included, you know that it's possible that power is out for hours everyday. It's been like that for years now!!!!

I accepted to pay the supplement for fuel for the last 3 or 4 months, but I just don't accept the fact that now they are increasing this supplement. If the rent includes everything, it should mean everything. At the end, I'm almost paying twice what I was paying last year in pesos (with the dollar going up again)!!!

I don't think you can pay your utilities here, it's a hotel that rents apartments short and long term. Verizon didn't even want to install a phone in my apartment, so individual electricity and water, it would be too complicated. And I don't want to start investing money in an inverter, since I am probably leaving the country in 2 or 3 months. That is also why I don't want to move.

You choose your apartment according to your budget, so I don't think it's fair to the tenants to ask more money. Some might have very tight budget and probably can't afford it.
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Hey I understand how you feel about the situation, I've been through it twice myself, once in a commercial rental and the other time in an apartment.

Simple fact is that a "planta full" agreement for a rental is almost guaranteed to break down. Especially a verbal agreement, but contractual agreements are not exempt from this tendency.

For one thing providing 24 hour power is no small feat in this country and so the landlords will do it long enough to get their spaces rented and may make a moderate effort to maintain it after that but in the end you are on your own regardless of any promises that have been made.
 
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