Hello all,
I have a concerning situation and I hope I can get some advice from someone here about how to proceed.
I've been living in an apartment in Santiago for about 16 months now. I have paid my rent on time every month since I moved in. The original contract was for one year. When it came time for me to renew the contract in September, I was told to add another 500 pesos a month to what I was paying and that a new contract was not needed. I actually didn't like that scenario but being busy I just said okay thinking I would get around to forcing the issue later down the road.
Here's my problem. I have been receiving notices from the bank that the owner has his loan from. As of December 1st these notices indicate that he is two months behind on his mortgage. So though I'm paying my rent on time the owner is not paying his mortgage on time.
I don't know anything about Dominican law in these cases. I know in the U.S. I could be forced out of the apartment and my belongings seized depending on the local law. I would like to know what are my rights if any in this situation.
Oh and the obvious approach of contacting the owner is not easy. I don't have his contact information directly and his representative here on the island had changed his original number which I did have on a cell phone that has since been stolen (what luck ;-). I pay direct to the representative's BancoPopular account which has been the case for the past 16 months without incident. I suppose if I don't pay in January when it's due he might call me ;-)
The bank, Asociacion de Cibao, who has the loan only has the address of the apartment I live in as the contact address for the owner. And none of my neighbors know how to contact him either.
Please let me know if should I be concerned and if so what options do I have. Thanks for taking time out to read my posting.
knotworx
I have a concerning situation and I hope I can get some advice from someone here about how to proceed.
I've been living in an apartment in Santiago for about 16 months now. I have paid my rent on time every month since I moved in. The original contract was for one year. When it came time for me to renew the contract in September, I was told to add another 500 pesos a month to what I was paying and that a new contract was not needed. I actually didn't like that scenario but being busy I just said okay thinking I would get around to forcing the issue later down the road.
Here's my problem. I have been receiving notices from the bank that the owner has his loan from. As of December 1st these notices indicate that he is two months behind on his mortgage. So though I'm paying my rent on time the owner is not paying his mortgage on time.
I don't know anything about Dominican law in these cases. I know in the U.S. I could be forced out of the apartment and my belongings seized depending on the local law. I would like to know what are my rights if any in this situation.
Oh and the obvious approach of contacting the owner is not easy. I don't have his contact information directly and his representative here on the island had changed his original number which I did have on a cell phone that has since been stolen (what luck ;-). I pay direct to the representative's BancoPopular account which has been the case for the past 16 months without incident. I suppose if I don't pay in January when it's due he might call me ;-)
The bank, Asociacion de Cibao, who has the loan only has the address of the apartment I live in as the contact address for the owner. And none of my neighbors know how to contact him either.
Please let me know if should I be concerned and if so what options do I have. Thanks for taking time out to read my posting.
knotworx
