What are my rights as a renter!!!

So sorry to hear about your ordeal, planner has a good bilingual attorney by the name of Wilson Rood, I don't know if he deals with real estate law, but he comes highly recommended, I'm sure she will chime in soon. Bob is another person who has former real estate experience on the North Coast, the will both be probably writing to you pretty soon.

          Is this the 1st time you are renting in the DR? One piece of advice in the future: Leave no stone unturned in this country, make sure you get everything on paper, and ask as many questions as you can before signing anything, because once you have signed, the curve ball comes out of nowhere! What do you mean by...... He is bringing by men to have sex??? Is he renting out the casita as a Motel to various men, for bringing their dates? If this is the case, this does not sound good at all. It sounds like you are a single woman renting by yourself and I do not know how much of a good idea it is to have strange men entering and leaving your property at odd times, especially afterhours.

          This sounds like something which will have to be handled by an attorney, but if you did sign that contract and it said nothing about the casita being off limits, then the best you could hope for is trying to come to some amicable solution with the landlord or forfeit the contract. How long is the contract for? Once again, here in the DR, get everything and I mean everything in writing no matter of trivial it might seem.  Welcome to the forum and best of luck.

Massagewiz may be correct in that there will not be a lot you can do about the situation.  Now if he is bringing in underage men or women then you can report that to the police but that will open another can of worms.

Here in the Sosua area there are two lawyers I can recommend.
1.  Julio Brea at Guzman assoc.  He is in Sosua and his firm is a bit expensive a but VERY good
2.  Jenny  Familia in Cabarete.  Her office is above Caribe express across from Ocean Dream.  Also very good.

Bob K

Sorry forgot to add:

Welcome to the forum. Where is this house you are renting? How long are you here for?

We live between Sosua nd Cabarete


Bob K

Welcome to the forums!!!  I recommend you use a lawyer THERE not my lawyer here.   

First -  you do not have to pay the utilities for a piece of the property that you do not have the right to.  Talk to the lawyer about disconnecting the  electricity water etc.

Second,  ask about the access,  does it say in your contract he has unlimited access?  AND renting out by the day to men having sex..... he told you it was storage..... talk to the lawyer!!!! 

Lesson - everything in WRITING here, clarity is everything. And I would not be looking to forfeit the contract either after you just spent that much money!

Please keep us posted!

Thank you Massagewiz and everyone else. Let me clear up a few things. The landlord is a Dominican guy who is married to ( or living with) an elderly Swiss woman that is ill and apparently he has some control of her finances. The woman lived in the house I'm renting with her husband before he passed away and my new Landlord I believe was the gardener or something to that effect. I have never met the wife because she was not feeling well enough to come to the attorney's office to sign the contract. My contract still is not signed by her but both of their names are listed. This guy is gay or bi or whatever and apparently he can not bring his male companions to the house that he shares with his wife. I have been in the house for one month and the contract is for one year. He does not come and spend the night in the casita, he usually pops in during the day and stays for 30 mins to an hour. He originally told me that he would only need to retrieve items stored in the casita once in awhile and I had no idea that it would turn into this. I have never had a landlord disrupt my privacy and piece of mind nor have I ever done anything this crazy to any of my tenants. The contract that I have doesn't even mention the third casita at all. There is only one entrance to the property and the house and the casitas all flank the pool. I feel that I should have the right to my privacy. I live here with my boyfriend and two kids and this is not something that we want in our lives. The house is in Lomas Mironas and I would be so happy here if he would just take his companions elsewhere. Honestly I believe this is the first time that he has ever handled any type of business. He is not the brightest person and he definitely lacks common sense and good judgement. I don't know how or why he would think that anybody would be ok with this situation. When I talked to the Lawyer that drew up the contract she said that she fully understood the way I feel and she said that this definitely was out of the norm but he still has the right to access the casita.

I have lived in Puerto Plata for the last year and I thought that Sosua would be a great move for us. I'm not so sure now.

time to get to the lawyer,  clearly  stuff going on behind this ladies back.  If you have no signed  contract you have NOTHING. Get yourself to a lawyer now.  Not later.  Now.  You need to know if the contract is valid without both signatures. Do you have a notarized copy of the filed contract? 

Be very careful what you say on public forums as well.  Here the "slander" laws are very powerful.   Just be careful.

Wow! This is some story! Planner is correct, get to a lawyer ASAP, Pronto! This guy sounds like a young man, I would like to think an older gentleman would be more discreet and conscientious. I will not generalize, but I have notice that some of the natives have no regards for neighbors. They will play music loud at any time of day or night regardless of what you think or need amongst other infractions. Sounds like you have a live one on your hands.  Be careful what you say upon reporting this situation while being on the ground, but hopefully you can come to some resolution. I agree with planner, sounds like this widow is being either duped, or is so starved for company that she is willing to put up with this character, please keep us posted as to the resolution.

What ever happened with your crazy landlord? I am quite interested since I soon will be signing a lease myself!

I kept up with the original poster......she went and spoke directly to the Lady of the house and she nipped that whole scenario in the butt! Women Rule!

Ahhh  yes,  nice to know..............LOL

Glad it all worked out

Bob K

That's awesome! Thanks for filling us in.