Among them, it cites the clarification and regulation of the conditions or differences between contracts for habitual residence, tourist, holiday, commercial or other types of housing.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The "Real Estate Rental and Eviction Bill," recently submitted to the National Congress by Representative Alfredo Pacheco, is an incomplete instrument because it omits a group of elements vital to the tenancy process, according to lawyer Maridalia Rodríguez Padilla, an expert on the subject.
Although it acknowledges that the legislation addresses the need to renew and unify the scattered regulations on real estate rentals in the country, it omits important points, including the clarification and regulation of the conditions or differences between contracts for regular housing, tourist, vacation, commercial or other types of rentals.
Rodríguez Padilla also mentions the establishment of preferential acquisition rules for the tenant, the stipulation of alternative means of conflict resolution and the link between real estate rentals and financial legal instruments (e.g. real estate trust).
The well-versed lawyer believes that, compared to previous projects, the new proposal does not identify significant contributions regarding the obligation to deposit the rental guarantee or deposits.
“What might seem like a novelty can be interpreted as a mere substitution of the entity managing these funds, which goes from the Agricultural Bank to the Reserve Bank, and although the intention is to create a special fund with these deposits, the fact that the administrator is the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (MIVED) could be interpreted as a forced delegation of public responsibility to be borne by the private sector,” explains the scholar on the subject.
He understands that the legislative foundations must be reviewed and how it will benefit property owners beyond simply obtaining ordinary savings interest.
Although the project's preamble mentions the need to stimulate foreign real estate investment, the new bill makes no contributions in this regard, the expert says.
"While Article 3 of the new draft adds some exceptions to the scope of the possible law, such as short or long term leases of tourist projects, it does not clarify its regulation (for example: the rental of housing without a tourist exploitation license like Airbnb)," he points out.
Regarding the penalty for early termination proposed by the new bill, he believes that milder measures could be reviewed, citing as an example that in other legislations this penalty can be one month's rent per year withdrawn, since sometimes the percentages can be more detrimental.
"This project makes no distinction between different owners: large or small landlords, individuals or legal entities. This is something that could add motivation to the real estate market and especially to the rental supply.".
Rodríguez Padilla observes that the new project creates functions or assignments for the Reserve Bank that seem to be more within the competence of MIVED (for example: registration of contracts, delivery of property in the event of differences between tenants and owners).
He concludes that, in general terms, "it could be said that it is practically the same project with the few modifications we have referred to.".
Investigation
In the research “Rental and Eviction Law: legal proposals for a balanced housing stock”, published last year, Rodríguez Padilla and Denisse Härtling argue that the regulations on matters pertaining to tenancy are outdated and their subsequent modifications do not harmonize with the existing housing problem in the country.
“Given this scenario, we want to take this opportunity to highlight the potential contributions that can come from a well-protected rental market, especially given its potential to balance our housing stock,” the experts point out.
They emphasize as a main point the need to improve the procedures that govern the operation of rentals, from a legal balance, since they understand that both owners and tenants must be protected and effective solutions must be provided to the controversies that arise in these contractual relationships.
