"Now the lawyer wants $350US to review the contract. I only pay 5000 pesos per month so not worth getting the contract reviewed."
god damn. you really seems like a person that always looks for the troubles. I guess that even if someone would show you the easiest way from A to B you would chose way through C that would be 3 times more expensive, 3 times more time consuming and 5 times riskier.
I rented apartment in condominium, some other cheap apartment, some rooms, some long term motels... and nobody ever asked me for a) deposit b) contract
i just spoke with the owner, payed for the first month upfront, later payed for the next month (if I wanted)...and that's it.
and basically I never ever have problem with any Dominican landlords (except one time when I was living in the rented big room in Dominican big house. They were basically making too much noise, so I moved out before the date and the owner gave me my money back for the days that were left)