It is increasingly difficult to rent in Argentina due to high inflation, devaluation and the controversial Rental Law. In this sense, many people decide to rent outside the rental system, generating controversy in some charges, such as the extraordinary expenses that, theoretically, correspond to the owner of the property.

What are the extraordinary common expenses?

Expenses are, in simple terms, a monthly sum of money that people must pay to contribute to the maintenance costs of the building or private neighborhood.

In the case of extraordinary ones, they are expenses that usually generate an increase in the value of the building, benefiting the owners.

The payment must be resolved by the owners’ meeting, with a majority vote and according to current policies of the building co-ownership regulation. It also usually includes expenses that are not exposed on a monthly basis and, due to their treatment, are extraordinary, such as maintenance of the water or gas pipe. However, in many buildings they are usually considered common expenses.

What are the ordinary and extraordinary expenses?

The ordinary expenses are the common or habitual expenses of the building that are made on a monthly basis and respond to a consideration for services, that is, they are services provided by the consortium, but they do not increase the value of the property.

Among the most common are the salary of the manager and building staff, expenses for “common” or “maintenance” repairs such as the elevator, cleaning supplies, water, electricity and gas expenses of the consortium and building , the monthly expense for monitoring or surveillance, etc.

On the other hand, extraordinary expenses, as we mentioned above, are those unusual or uncommon expenses and are not made periodically. In addition, this type of expense usually increases the value of the property.

Who pays the extraordinary expenses?

Extraordinary expenses must be paid by the owner, while ordinary expenses or expenses are paid by the tenant.

What does the current Rental Law establish?

The current Rental Law established a series of changes with respect to the previous regulations. One of the most controversial features is the calculation of rent increases, since previously the values were previously defined when signing the contract, with a total price that is divided by the months that the rental lasted and, in general, it was agreed with semi-annual increments.

What extraordinary expenses does the tenant pay?

In theory, extraordinary expenses must always be paid by the owner. As we mentioned before, these include out-of-the-ordinary expenses such as the acquisition of fire extinguishers, building repairs, the repair of a water tank, etc.

In these cases, modifications, acquisition of machinery, innovations, painting of the property, internal or external spare parts and even repairs of breakages that, due to their impact, exceed traditional maintenance, are usually included.

In this sense, based on the new regulations, rents are adjusted once a year with a formula that is made up of 50% by the evolution of wages  and 50% by the evolution of measured inflation. by the INDEC (IPC).

Another change occurs in the month of advance and deposit, since the new law establishes that the deposit and the month in advance cannot be greater than one month’s rent. On the other hand, the minimum contract went from two years to three years, in addition to the fact that it is mandatory to declare the lease contracts before the AFIP.

On the other hand, regarding the guarantee, the tenant must propose at least two alternatives, among them is the bank guarantee, surety insurance, title deed to a property, bond or personal guarantees such as salary receipt.

Regarding the value of these, the landlord cannot require guarantees that exceed the equivalent of five times the monthly value of the lease, except in the case that the guarantee is for income. In the latter case it rises to ten times.

In addition, the new rental law establishes that intermediation can only be carried out by a professional registered for real estate brokerage. Regarding the resolution of conflicts, it is also made available for the development of low-cost or free mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts derived from rental contracts.