Advice on renting house in PR

WarnerW wrote:

I'm a landlord, though not in PR.  A written lease protects the interests of both landlord and tenant.  My strongest advice is to get everything in writing.

There is no specific Landlord-Tenant Law in Puerto Rico, so the relationship is governed under contract law.  Note that PR is a Civil Law system (Napoleonic Code) rather than a Common Law system (most of the US, precedents matter).  For the most part this distinction won't make a difference, so long as the lease is specific.

Here's a brief description of the state of the law regarding Landlord-Tenant relations. 

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Cari … and-Tenant

Since PR has no Landlord-Tenant Law, there is no model lease written by the PR government.  Virginia, where I am, has such a law and a model lease, which I use with only slight modification.  Nevertheless, some sample lease agreements for PR can be found here.

http://legalforms.org/rental-lease/pr/

Those lease forms are in English, a lot of landlords won't use them but they are a good starting point. Likely leases will be in Spanish.

MnMExplorers wrote:

Hey Ray any advice on how the Spanish Challenged get their lease translated / ensure that it contains your recommendations?

Most will be in spanish a few will be in english. Get a local to translate it or even better get a lawyer. You can discuss your needs first with the owner and if he is willing to allow you to modify the contract then go to the lawyer to change it.
You can always try to use google translate service for a first pass.

Be aware that not all owners will be willing to accept changes to the contract. In that case you can walk or accept it as is. A six month contract that does not protect you properly is better than a year one.

MnMExplorers wrote:

Thanks Rey!  My Wife and I are planning a move to Puerto Rico in the next 6 to 10 months, so you may see more questiosn from me.

Welcome to the site and to Puerto Rico. We are here to help, so ask away. Do searches on the site, a lot of general information has already been covered, this way we can answer those questions that are specific to your needs the soonest.
Rey

Sitka wrote:

isabela is nice, also check out Camuy and Hatillo.

Thanks, I'll add them to our list! Appreciate all the advice.🤗

Islandman wrote:

I live in Isabela and I lucked out with having great neighbors.

While some have had great buying experiences here, my suggestion is to rent and learn the area; even Isabela has different "boroughs" that can completely change your quality of life.

The first year should be usedd to explore the island and build your network (lawyer, doc, mechanic, etc.) while adjusting to the culture. And trust me, it takes some getting used to even as a Puerto Rican.

Hi Islandman,

Adjusting to the culture isn't an issue for me because I grew up visiting my family there so it's familiar to me. My husband (also Boricua) used to visit when he was child but hadn't been back until a few years ago. Puerto Rico is similar to how it is here in NYC in terms of there being great, good, mediocre and "the hood" areas of the boroughs. Us New Yorkers kind of have that mentality that if we can make it here we can make it anywhere! lol

I agree that before buying we definetly need to learn the areas that we are interested in exploring to live. As far as renting, I think that is pretty much out the window now for us. If things work out for us moving to Puerto Rico we will have the fortunate opportunity not to rush into buying. I want to make sure we decide and agree on the town we want to lay down our roots. You're also right about networking with lawyers, doctors, mechanics, etc.  Worse case scenario we would use my family's in the Manati area until we find one closer.