Rental agreement

Hi,

Traditionally rental contracts in Brazil have a 30 month duration. During the first year (12 months) should you break the lease and wish to move out there is a contractual fine equal to the balance of the first 12 months of rent. From the 13th month onward that contractual fine no longer applies. You simply give notice of your intention to vacate equal to the number of months of deposit that you paid upon renting the apartment/house (usually 2 months) the landlord uses the deposit as the rent for those months. At the end of that time you can move out, but you have to return the apartment to the condition which it was in when you took occupancy. So if it was freshly painted when you moved in, you must paint it. If you have damaged anything in the apartment it must also be repaired. Normal wear and tear is excluded so if something has just worn out that's not your responsibility.

Rental laws prohibit such an abusive rent increase, but I would suspect that your landlord doesn't care one little bit about that. In fact, I would guess that the rent hike was put that high with the express intention of forcing you to move out so they can rent it out for a fortune during the World Cup. I really can't see any other valid reason for such an excessive increase. The root of the problem is that Brazilians have the idea that ALL foreigners are rich, money grows on trees where they come from so they're just going to try and take advantage. The other problem is that they think we're all stupid, don't know our legal rights and they can do pretty much as they please in THEIR country. Both these ideas are dead wrong.

I'd really recommend that you give your notice of intent to vacate and that you use that time to look for a new apartment. Fighting the rent increase is probably going to be useless anyway since you'd probably have to retain a lawyer and fight the case in court. Better to cut your losses and find another apartment you can afford. You'll at least have the pleasure of telling your landlord to shove it and the comforting knowledge that he/she is going to have a tough time finding some fool to rent the place at the new price.

Interested in living in Brazil.

amazing forum. I am interested in living in Brazil just as a new experience. is it safe for a small family, I have two little kids. we are looking for a new experience.

Well it's not as safe as some places in the USA, but if you follow the safety tips in my posting "A Gringo's Survival Guide to Brazil" it is no worse than some US cities.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

ricklingard wrote:

My landlady has requested a increase of around 120% ( 400rs to 900rs )

The Locador on the rental agreement is not ( as i am aware ) the owner of the house ,

We have been making payments for the last year into another persons bank account

the equivalent council tax bill come in another name ( the deceased owner )

And the water and electricity come s in the name of the Locador.

Any advice ?

She can't increase the rent with more than the price index, usually IPCA, which should be around 7.5% over the last 12 months.

If she insists, instead of paying directly to her, go to Banco do Brasil and do a "consignação em pagamento", in which case she has 2 options, she either gets the cash and accepts payment, or she gets a lawyer herself and goes to court. Which is when you either get a lawyer, or give notice.

Many contracts have a penalty clause for the 1st 12 months, stating that you may leave without penaly after 12 months, however many do not, in which case you'll have to pay 2 months rent to leave.

Rcklingard. Possibly a good opportunity to hunt for a new flat. Location market is now very low in Nordeste. They are a lot of unoccupied flats everywhere.