Taken from Listín Diario
Many citizens, mainly residents abroad, are having conflicts, even reaching the courts, with people they trusted and left in charge of their homes, because they did not want to rent them out due to negative experiences they have faced in the past.
Many homeowners and other property owners say they have left families living in their homes without pay, and on top of that they assume the costs of water and electricity, except for cable services, because that is a personal matter.
But if there are residential telephones in the property registered in the owners' names, it is their responsibility to pay the rates charged by the telephone companies.
Those affected stated that the trauma they have experienced and continue to experience is grim, tedious and stressful, even causing depression, anguish and anxiety in many of them.
“I remember that 12 years ago, my husband, my three children, and I moved abroad, and so the house wouldn't be empty, we let a man live there who had three children and his partner at the time,” recounts accountant Josefina Amarante. She also mentioned that she and her husband were responsible for paying the water, electricity, and landline phone bills, and that they even sent him clothes and sometimes money, and helped the couple's children with their studies.
The drama
The drama began two years ago when she and her husband decided to return to the country, but their children preferred to stay in the United States.
They spoke with the couple who were living rent-free in their house and told them that they would move back in, help them find a rental house, and cover the deposit and three months' rent in advance.
“The man told us that we were going crazy, that those 12 years wouldn't be wasted, and that we had to find them the benefits they deserved,” he explained.
The lady says that the individual sought a lawyer and sued them in labor court, alleging that he had worked as a security guard in her house for 15 years.
Payment of money
They added three more years to the 12 years he had been living for free.
He emphasized that after negotiations they gave them 400,000 pesos to vacate the property so that they could occupy it again.
“It was tedious, horrible, but it serves as a learning experience. Next time we decide to live outside the country, unless it's a close relative, we'd rather the house fall down than let anyone else live in it and we wouldn't rent it out either,” she emphasized.
