Hi all,
I have a question about the landlord / tenant's laws in Puerto Rico. I have searched on the internet and am unable to find info pertaining to my specific situation.
I am currently in the middle of a year lease. Unfortunately I had a home invasion while I wasn't home. There was no forced entry but items moved around and food half-eaten in the fridge that I hadn't eaten. I have reason to believe that it is the maintenance man of the building (multiple reasons but the main one being that the main office has a copy of each unit's key and when my landlord called to talk to the office after the incident, my key was missing. Upon already having suspicion of the maintenance man, this confirmed it in my eyes, or at least somebody with access to the building/office).
When I called my landlord the night it happened, she said she would get the locks changed the next day and get a chain installed. When the locksmith was here to change the lock, he told her the chain would cost extra because of the way the door frame is, so she decided not to do it.
I also feel uncomfortable because the office lady told the maintenance guy what happened (which upsets me because I suspect it was him and I would prefer that he not know that I noticed someone was in my house, if it was him). I have to see him every day and he always talks to me, and when he asked me about this he told me that I need to have the landlord install a chain on the door-- he didn't ASK if there was a chain, he simply told me that I need to have one installed.
Anyways, because of this situation I am now very uncomfortable living here. I feel that my key was mishandled by the office and that whoever did this has access to the building. This means that even if I have a new lock, to me I am unsafe just walking in the building at night, in the parking garage, taking my dog out to walk at night, etc). I also feel that I should have been made aware that my key was available to anybody in the office, because this maintenance guy has always made me uncomfortable and knowing he had access to my key would have really upset me.
Anyway, my lease states that if I terminate the rental before the end of the rental period for any reason I will forfeit the security deposit.
Does anybody know if I have any recourse here due to my concerns, the way the situation was handled (there are more details but I don't want to make this too long), or my safety that I am able to leave the rental early without paying a penalty? In some states, there is a law that a victim of a stalking (which I feel I am) is allowed to terminate the lease with no loss of deposit. However as far as I can tell that is not a law here.
Any advice offered would be very much appreciated. Thank you
Tenant's rights in PR
How much is your deposit? Whether or not you can retrieve your deposit, if it was me I'd get out post haste and take the hit. I would not want to continue living in a place where someone could enter my apartment at will. Optionally (optionally for me because it is the way my mind works) you could change the lock yourself and only you would have the key and the heck with them. And if they find out and object then I think it takes a while to force someone to move out. I guess if the maintenance guy is the intruder he would find out pretty quick.
Thanks for the reply. The landlord did have the locks changed and I didn't allow her to give one to the office. However one reason that I am upset about the office lady telling the maintenance man about what happened is that I did secretly install a camera outside my door the day after it happened, and I wanted to catch him, or whoever it was, on tape attempting to enter again. The maintenance man does not know that I had the lock changed, however now that he (or whoever else) knows that I noticed somebody had entered, I believe they will be less likely to return, at least not right away. This limits my chance to catch whoever it was with the camera.
My deposit was $2400. I will almost certainly move either way, but wanted to know what everyone thought about whether I could expect to have my deposit returned or not.
Thanks again
Check the contract language about breaking the contract, you could be held responsible for the entire year rental.
I highly recommend you speak with a lawyer if the language holds you responsible
See this http://real-estate.laws.com/puerto-rico-tenant-rights
Like any other intrusion go to the police..that will give you leverage if you need to go to court..get a lawyer!..and probably because is a safety concern get out..that kind of contract might be ilegal but if any case..a contract is too harsh dont sign it or have a lawyer review as many things in life you can say no or negotiate it to fair terms
Please make safety your #1 concern. I know this is easier said than done, but if you truly feel that you are in danger, then move now and worry about the consequences later! At the very least, insist that the chain be installed on your door, or hire someone to do it at your own expense if necessary.
I'm no lawyer, but without police reports or evidence of complaints to your building manager to back up your claim of stalking, I don't think it would hold up as a reason to break the contract. So make sure every incident is documented by an authority.
I'm very sorry that you are going through this. I've lived in the countryside and now in a suburban development, and in each home it has been my experience that neighbors and the community in general are friendly and honest, safety has never been a concern. I hope you find this with your next home! Keep us posted.
We broke our lease and we had several issues with our landlord and finally got her to agree to half the security deposit back. The laws here are pretty vague. What town do you live in?
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