Rental Quandry

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KoKi9290

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Dec 8, 2007
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I've been renting an apartment in Santo Domingo Este for a number of years. At this point, my rental contract is long expired and I believe I'm on a month to month. Two years ago, the owner, while living in the US, passed away. Since then, I have continued to pay the rent to his lawyer, on behalf of his mother. Just last month, another lawyer showed up and gave me (and my three neighbors) an apostille from the US and a Dominican document that said he was to be paid the rent on behalf of the deceased owner's girlfriend and his minor child. The apostille mentions only one of the four apartments (not mine). I know there is an open probate case and an open guardianship case in Miami where the girlfriend is the personal representative and the minor child is the sole beneficiary. But neither lawyer will give me any documentation showing a probate case in the DR or any documentation showing the successor legal owner of the property.
Should I put the rental money in Bank Agricola in the deceased owner's name or just save up the rental money and pay when one of them finally provides some legal documentation?
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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josh2203

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SKY said:
Option 2 sounds good to me. Pay nobody now................Good to have a lawyer you know available also...........
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I agree. There was an owner change in a rental property in POP we rented years ago, and due to the ridiculous, inexistent communication from the old and new landlord, there was a time we had no idea to whom and to where to pay rent. So we stopped paying and we were rather quickly provided with the correct info where the rent should go.
 
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johne

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The probate laws in the US are extremely complicated. And nobody, and I mean nobody ,can alter what the law says.You are correct in trying to stay ahead of what could be a giant problem in the future.
Agree, put the money in an escrow type of account that you will have access to in the future.That may be a very long time.
 
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melphis

melphis

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My suggestion would also be move ASAP. At least one of the greedy klingons is going to figure out you haven't had a contract for 2 years and were paying a lawyer.
They are gonna want that money and make your life miserable until they see some cash. Run and do not leave a forwarding address.
 
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El Hijo de Manolo

El Hijo de Manolo

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KoKi9290 said:
Any advice would be appreciated
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Don't take any of the influencers' advice on this site unless it's a cultural experience like a decent AI and the best Popeye's chicken place. These people have folks taking black box pharmaceuticals for diseases they don't have.

Go to a trusted attorney (if you have one).
 
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josh2203

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melphis said:
My suggestion would also be move ASAP. At least one of the greedy klingons is going to figure out you haven't had a contract for 2 years and were paying a lawyer.
They are gonna want that money and make your life miserable until they see some cash. Run and do not leave a forwarding address.
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KoKi9290 said:
At this point, my rental contract is long expired and I believe I'm on a month to month.
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So as far as I know, and this is obviously stated in writing on your rental contract, but as I have seen the contract texts, the contract is certainly not expired nor would it be correct to say that the OP has not had a contract for 2 years and is "paying month to month". If the contract says the same as our last contract, it would state that it's fixed term for the first year or so and then continues month to month. That, as far as I understand, does not mean that "there is no contract" or that "the contract is expired". The same contract is valid with all the terms, just that either party is able to get out of the contract on a monthly basis as well, which would not be the case during the fixed time period.

So unless either party indicates that they want to get from the contract, only then would it not be valid anymore, otherwise the contract just continues running an indefinite time.

Now, if the case really is that the OP does not have a valid contract, then it's another case. Then I would also flee and quick...
 
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johne

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josh2203 said:
So as far as I know, and this is obviously stated in writing on your rental contract, but as I have seen the contract texts, the contract is certainly not expired nor would it be correct to say that the OP has not had a contract for 2 years and is "paying month to month". If the contract says the same as our last contract, it would state that it's fixed term for the first year or so and then continues month to month. That, as far as I understand, does not mean that "there is no contract" or that "the contract is expired". The same contract is valid with all the terms, just that either party is able to get out of the contract on a monthly basis as well, which would not be the case during the fixed time period.

So unless either party indicates that they want to get from the contract, only then would it not be valid anymore, otherwise the contract just continues running an indefinite time.

Now, if the case really is that the OP does not have a valid contract, then it's another case. Then I would also flee and quick...
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Furthermore, if the opposition has recently changed lawyers, they might not have a copy of your lease. Want to gamble a bit?? How can they evict if they don't have a copy of the lease? Walk carefully but play hardball... if you really don't want to move.
 
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KoKi9290

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Thanks for all the input. The new lawyer doesn't have a copy of the lease because he asked me for one. And I'm not providing anything to anyone until I have legal clarification as to who is the owner. And it is a valid contract continuing month to month if I'm reading it correctly.
I'm either going to guardar the rent or explore putting it in an Agricola account in the name of the deceased owner and let them figure a legal way to access it.
 
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XTraveller

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KoKi9290 said:
Thanks for all the input. The new lawyer doesn't have a copy of the lease because he asked me for one. And I'm not providing anything to anyone until I have legal clarification as to who is the owner. And it is a valid contract continuing month to month if I'm reading it correctly.
I'm either going to guardar the rent or explore putting it in an Agricola account in the name of the deceased owner and let them figure a legal way to access it.
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Had a similar situation, Decease landlord a Spaniard. 2 lawyers came on separate occasion one representing Landlord Sister in Spain and another representing the Mother of landlord child (minor) threating eviction. Told both Lawyers that I would put rent in an separate bank account and wait for the settlement of inheritance. After 2 weeks both Lawyers showed up together with a written contract between both Sister and Mother stating I should give rent money to a third party (friend of landlord Sister and Mother) and she would send half to Landlord sister in Spain and half to Mother child in Dominican Republic.

Both Lawyers did not want to go to court as neither had proper documentation. Rent contract expire after a year or so and I moved out. Both lawyers had tried to intimidate me.
 
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KoKi9290

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Dec 8, 2007
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XTraveller said:
Had a similar situation, Decease landlord a Spaniard. 2 lawyers came on separate occasion one representing Landlord Sister in Spain and another representing the Mother of landlord child (minor) threating eviction. Told both Lawyers that I would put rent in an separate bank account and wait for the settlement of inheritance. After 2 weeks both Lawyers showed up together with a written contract between both Sister and Mother stating I should give rent money to a third party (friend of landlord Sister and Mother) and she would send half to Landlord sister in Spain and half to Mother child in Dominican Republic.

Both Lawyers did not want to go to court as neither had proper documentation. Rent contract expire after a year or so and I moved out. Both lawyers had tried to intimidate me.
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Almost exactly my situation. Sounds like a plan. Thanks.
 
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