This is a followup to the Renting an apartment in Pocitos (below)… Today was the day we were to sign the lease.
I was at the bank at 13:00 to pick up the cash for 6 months rent. The deal was we paid a $6K (first month) deposit at pre-lease signing. Then we pay the first 6 months at lease signing (cash please). At 6 months, we pay the next 6 months. This continues as long as we rent the apartment.
Our lawyer came to the house at 13:15. Our lawyer is a close family friend. She never lets us sign anything unless she is there. She reads it first, slowly…. She always asks questions. She always scowls. Today was no different.
We met the renter at her lawyer’s house, a block away from Punta Carretas shopping. The renter is a she. She’s a German ex-pat. Lives in one of the several Solymars East of the city. Her lawyer was there. Her agent was there. The lawyer’s wife was there. Could be she was also an escribano. Not sure.
While our lawyer read the lease, my wife talked to the other side about small things. Then our lawyer asked questions. Then we signed the lease, every page, 3 copies. We also signed the list of ‘things’ in the apartment. This was 3 pages long. And guess what. This apartment is unfurnished. They list things like wall plugs and switches, door knobs, windows, closet shelves.. you get the idea…
At the end, it was time for me to pay the first 6 months. This is a male dominated society. I was playing the part. My first question is what happens to the $6K deposit. The answer came visually. The lawyer took it out of an envelope and gave it to the real estate agent. Turns out she was our agent… unkown to me. That was her commission. I got one of those ‘I’ve been whizzed’ feelings, and I did what I always do when that happens, smile at the ‘whizzer’…
I say what’s going on here. Their side explains that when we called the agent, it was ‘our’ agent.. She placed the ad. The ‘agent’ for the renter is actually the lawyer. He gets his $6K (one month rent) and she (ours) gets her $6K. I’d love to hear from others out there if they ever heard of this before. My ‘whiz’ detector is still buzzing. Always something new to learn here… Anyway, the choice was to pick up my marbles and go, but upon immediately weighing all the pros and cons, I decided to get even later on. I will.
I gave the lawyer the 6 months rent. He took out $6K and gave the renter the balance.
Then we did some more small talking. I was scowling now. We took the keys and left. Tomorrow we go check it out.
