Chile Forum

Basically, I have heard some horror stories when the landlord turns into a real idiot and decides to boot his tenant out on manufactured grounds. People who have lived in the same house suddenly find themselves on the street after living in the same room or rooms for years because of a falling out with the landlord.

Is it necessary to have a rental contract in cases such as these? Does the law 18.101 protect those without contracts? Does a landlord who rents out the servant quarters (for example, with its own toilet and shower) without a contract have the right to throw out his tenant after several years with less than a month's notice? Doesn't the law obligate him to give two months notice plus a month for each full year the tenant has rented?

I am seeing this happen to a friend of mine, and he doesn't want to stand up for his rights. I say he should!

rust wrote:Is it necessary to have a rental contract in cases such as these? Does the law 18.101 protect those without contracts? Does a landlord who rents out the servant quarters (for example, with its own toilet and shower) without a contract have the right to throw out his tenant after several years with less than a month's notice? Doesn't the law obligate him to give two months notice plus a month for each full year the tenant has rented?

I am seeing this happen to a friend of mine, and he doesn't want to stand up for his rights. I say he should!

Throw rocks at me for even attempting to say something in an area where I freely admit to being out of my depth. I am only repeating hearsay and if I am told I am wrong I will edit this to disappearance.

Here is what I was told and I looked up their website: your friend should either visit an attorney and/or if in the metro area, the "Corporación de Asistencia Judicial RM, "Asistencia Jurídica Gratuita y Acceso a la Justicia" Calle Agustinas 1419 - Santiago Centro / Fono: (2) 782 79 00

Rumor to be confirmed, please - and I will fix if told I am wrong..... if I translated properly, was this: " If someone has lived legally in a house and paid rent or provided valuable services in stead of rent, there is a presumption of a contract, even if the contract is only verbal, and furthermore the lack of a written contact only disadvantages a property owner."

The second part I think I understood is that throwing someone out of a rental can only be done via a judicial order if there is no written contact specifying the terms and conditions.

Also if the property owner has made any sort of threat, even verbal intimidation, the recommendation is to make a report at the Carabineros as soon as possible.

Disclaimer - I am no expert here so don't act on my rumors and faulty translation. The real experts should weigh in and tell me where I am wrong. Get the real scoop from the experts.

What's the website you looked at?

Just a note on the "Corporación de Asistencia Judicial". Assistance from them is needs based. You need to make below a certain amount to have a lawyer assigned to you (my husband works for them, so that is how I know this). You can probably go to one of their information centers in your comuna and get some basic questions answered. To look for the office in the comuna where your friend lives, go to http://www.cajmetro.cl/usuarios_caj.php and choose Busque su Centro to the left.

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I am renting a furnished apartment as well, and I would make sure to sign a contract with landlord. If there is no contract, then how will you agree on items such as wear and tear of furniture, re-painting walls, floor sanding, missing items etc when the lease is terminated? Even though you might have rights without a written contract (I have no idea about that), then it will be a hassle and most likely cost you a lot more than paying for a notarised contract now.
If you have paid 1-2 month's of rent in deposit, then it is very easy for the landlord to keep it (or part of it), stating that he needs it to refurb the apartment.

Here is the basic rule: If you need to ask if you need a contract, chances are you do.

Apart from the obvious it is a rental situation (where in the world would you rent without one for more than a night), there is a minimum level of cash money for a goods or services at which a contract is mandatory. I believe it is 600,000 pesos, but don't quote me on that.

hey, by the way for all you cheapskate gringos ( especially you people with law degrees in other countries, you know who you are ) that see that "free legal services", that free legal help is for low income chileans. Lawyers are cheap in this country, pony up some money before you get yourself in to a mess. It will be a lot cheaper in the long-run.

Besides being designed for low income Chileans that desperately need representation, most of the free government legal services are staffed by new chilean attorneys just out of law school. Much of the time they go unsupervised and untrained, and are just passing through on their way to getting their law degree. New law school grads have to do a 6 month tour of duty as a condition of receiving their law license.

If a gringo walks in (assuming you get that far), with typical gringo complications (yes, gringos are always complicated), chances are no one there is going to have a clue what to do with you, but they might sure try (and not in a good way).

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I'm renting a room in a house without a contract. I think you just need to sort of feel out the situation. I'm a bit of a transient so i don't mind it, but you definitely have a lot less security. My landlord just changed his mind and said my roommates and i have to start paying for some of the gas bill. stuff like that can happen.

Hightower wrote:

admin wrote:Here is the basic rule: If you need to ask if you need a contract, chances are you do.

That does make sense to me, what is puzzling is that my Chilean Colleagues (profs. at UChile) all seemed to agree that NOT having a contract makes sense....

Could it have anything to do with this sort of thing? (relating to opinions of some that having no contract favours the renter? )

6.-¿Existe el contrato de arrendamiento verbal?
El contrato de arrendamiento es esencialmente consensual, o sea, se perfecciona por la unión de la voluntad del arrendador y el arrendatario, existiendo el consentimiento, no requiriéndose para su existencia de un documento en donde conste. El contrato escriturado, materialmente, es el instrumento en donde consta el contrato. Se recomienda que siempre sea así, ya que existe una sanción que se presume que la renta es la que declara el arrendatario en caso de no existir contrato escrito.

18.-¿Cómo se le pone fin al contrato de arrendamiento?
Expira de los mismos modos que los otros contratos, y especialmente:
1° Por la destrucción total de la cosa arrendada.
2° Por la expiración del tiempo estipulado para la duración del arriendo
3° Por la extinción del derecho del arrendador
4° Por sentencia del juez en los casos que la ley ha previsto
(Artículo 1950 CC)

30.-¿Cuáles son los casos en que el arrendatario puede presentar una demanda sin Abogado?
La Ley 18.120 sobre comparecencia en juicio decreta que en todas las gestiones judiciales se debe contar con el patrocinio de un Abogado habilitado para el ejercicio legal y un apoderado o procurador, salvo las excepciones legales. Una de ellas, está contenida en la norma sobre arrendamiento de predios urbanos que señala que en los arrendamientos menores a 4 Unidades Tributarias Mensuales (UTM), el arrendador podrá comparecer ante la Justicia, sin Abogado, sino en forma personal.

Hightower wrote:I am about to rent a fully furnished apartment and face the same issue.
The landlord says a written contract is not necessary (however he does offer me the option of a preparing a notarized contract if I pay for it).

My Chilean colleagues tell me that it is a sign that the landlord trusts me and just doesn't want to go through with the legal paperwork.
My Argentinian friend says that without a contract, I cannot demonstrate you have any right to live in the apartment, or property of your own stuff and warns against it.

I'm not sure what to do....

In your case, I would have a complete inventory done, right down to the last spoon, supported with photographic evidence, signed and notarized.
As to the rental contract... that's another story. You can prepare a contract based on examples (I think there some here in the forum) and designed to protect you and your interests. For example, you could stipulate the condition of the inventory AND a monetary limit for wear and tear.