The new law would prohibit the owner of a rental property from collecting three deposits "of which one is used for 'the broker' to carry out the legal procedures.".
SANTO DOMINGO.- The draft General Law on Real Estate Rentals and Evictions currently before the National Congress aims to establish regulations governing legal relationships arising from the rental of real estate intended for housing or other uses.
The bill was submitted at the end of 2018 and is an initiative of Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) representatives Henry Merán and Demóstenes Martínez, which received a favorable report from the Permanent Justice Committee. It is unclear whether it is included among the pending bills to be considered in the legislative session that begins next Sunday, February 27.
The reform project would modify the obsolete Tenancy Law, 17-88, of February 5, 1988, which is the one that currently governs the provision and application of values in tenancy in the country, which arose to modify 4314, of October 22, 1955.
The project, which has been submitted to the National Congress, has received countless criticisms from groups in the real estate sector and especially from investors in the real estate rental market.
What does the project establish?
The regulation governs all contracts, written or verbal, for the rental of real estate, in any location where they are situated and intended for housing or for the exercise of a commercial, industrial, artisanal, professional, technical, welfare, cultural, educational, recreational activity or for public activities and services.
It stipulates that landlords or their representatives shall deposit the sums paid by tenants for the purpose indicated in the article, along with an original copy of the lease agreement, in the Agricultural Bank of the Dominican Republic within thirty days of its validity. The bank shall keep a record of the deposited agreements, which from that moment on shall have a certain date.
If the deposit is not made within the specified period, the landlord will pay a surcharge of twenty percent for each month of delay during the first five months and one percent from the sixth month onward, until the contract is registered. This amount will become part of the funds of the Agricultural Bank. This provision will not apply to rentals whose price does not exceed the value of one minimum wage in the public sector.
No application, request or demand directed to the Justice of the Peace for the purpose of eviction or for the fulfillment of a contractual or legal obligation derived from the contract will be processed until the plaintiff, owner or tenant presents the original receipt, or certification from the Agricultural Bank, through which it is demonstrated that the deposit has been made.
The new law prohibits the owner of a rental property from charging three deposits "of which one is used for 'the broker' to carry out the legal procedures.".
It includes owners and managers of houses, apartments, buildings, offices, industrial buildings, warehouses and the like.
The proposed law also establishes that in no case may the landlord demand advance payment of more than one month's rent and provides for the payment of rent in foreign currency.
The project would prohibit requiring conditions such as not having children, being foreigners, or establishing discrimination related to ethnicity, sex, creed, social status, or other forms of discrimination for housing rentals.
