Martin Grosz
09/07/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Services
Updated 09/07/2021 6:01 AM
With the simple
commitment
of payment of the tenants it is not enough.
When signing a contract, the owners ask for
concrete guarantees
that they will be able to collect the money committed beyond any unforeseen event.
And that puts those who need to rent in a difficult and
expensive dilemma
: what to offer?
The traditionally preferred option for owners is for a
relative or friend
of the tenant to sign as
guarantor
, backing up their promise to fulfill the contract - whatever happens - with
a property
that is not a "family property."
But many times the tenants
do not have a close friend
who can or wants to make that commitment, or they prefer not to ask a loved one for such a favor.
So how can they get a rental guarantee?
What alternatives exist, how do they work, and what are their current
costs
and
risks
?
The warranty options supported by the new law
The Rentals Law 27,551, in force for contracts signed as of July 2020, established that tenants can offer
various types of guarantees
, as alternatives to the classic homeowner guarantee.
These include:
1) Surety insurance
.
It is paid so that an insurance company regulated by the Superintendency of Insurance of the Nation is in charge of paying the owner the rent, expenses and other expenses, in the event that the tenant stops doing so.
A
policy
is issued
that is liable to the owner for defaults up to a certain amount.
2) Bail guarantee
.
A
private company
is paid to
agree to be a "
surety
" and thus be obliged to respond to the landlord, if the tenant does not pay.
These firms guarantee the owner that they will be able to continue collecting everything agreed until the home is recovered.
3) Bank guarantee
.
Here it is a
bank
that guarantees the payment of the commitments to the owner.
And for that, the entity imposes some costs and requirements on the tenant, such as
keeping a
certain amount
deposited
in an account until the end of the contract.
4) Personal guarantee
.
In this case, the tenant (s) offer
their own income
as a guarantee
, documented through pay stubs or other certificates.
The agreed guarantee is detailed in the rental contract.
Photo: Archive.
From law to routine practice
The Rent Law says that the tenant, when asked to offer a guarantee, must propose
at least two
of the options.
And that the owner "
must accept one
".
The norm also established that the owners cannot
require
the presentation of guarantees that exceed the equivalent of
five months
of rent, except in the case of the personal guarantee, where the limit is
ten months
.
These obligations, in any case, result in the facts
impossible to apply
because the owner, if he does not approve the guarantees offered, can decide with any excuse not to sign and rent his home to another person, according to sources in the sector.
In everyday practice, most commonly used alternatives are the
surety
and
bonds
, whose supply grew considerably in recent years as well as the ease of hiring them
.
These are guarantees that today can be
processed 100% online
and sometimes have been approved in less than
24 hours
, as long as the tenant complies with the
multiple checks
that companies implement to ensure that they are in front of trustworthy and solvent people.
The higher the rental value, the more expensive it will be to contract a guarantee.
Photo: Andrés D'Elía.
Surety insurance: options, requirements and costs
Surety insurance is offered directly by some
insurers
(such as San Cristóbal and Iúnigo).
They are also marketed by
property search
sites
(such as Argenprop and Zonaprop), by banks (such as Provincia, Nación and Supervielle) and by specialized brokers (such as Caución Hoy).
Companies usually do a
quick
online pre-
approval that already serves to present to the real estate and move forward with the operation.
What they generally ask to
present
is:
A photo of
the tenant's
DNI
, front and back.
Certificates of
income
(such as the last pay stubs or having retirement, or the proof of Monotributo).
The characteristics of the
contract
to be signed: mainly, the
duration
and the
monthly value
of the rent
The monthly cost of
services
(electricity, gas, water) and, in the case of an apartment, the
expenses
.
With all this, the companies will check, among other issues, that the tenant does not have a
bad
financial
record
.
Many companies define that the rent cannot be
more than 40%
of the income shown.
And if it were, they will ask to add the income of a relative or friend, who will remain as a
guarantor
before the insurer.
How much do these coverages cost?
A range of between
1.5 and 2 months
of rent
is taken as a reference
.
Many times they offer to pay it with a credit card in
3, 6 or 12 installments
.
You can take as an example the rent of a
two rooms
, which today in Capital already exceeds $ 40 thousand per month.
With that amount and expenses of
$ 6,000
per month, surveyed companies offer surety insurance for between
$ 65,000 and $ 70,000
.
On the sites that offer surety insurance you can easily calculate the cost by entering the key data.
Image: Capture.
Surety bonds: options, requirements and costs
In the case of bonds, the conditions can vary a lot depending on the chosen company and are close to or above
2 months of rent
, with discounts of 10% or 15% for those who pay in cash.
In the Hoggax firm, for example, for a rent of $ 40,000 per month with expenses of $ 6,000, the simulator shows a cost of
$ 80,730
for the guarantee if it is paid by transfer, or of
$ 89,700
paying with a card in
3 installments without interest
.
"A reference value could be
4% of the contract
, but the price
drops proportionally
as the rental value increases. Other variables to consider are the expenses and services covered, the term, the currency and if the contract is commercial or for housing ", explained to
Clarín
Pablo González, CEO of Hoggax.
The documentation required is practically the same as for surety insurance: DNI and certificates of employment status and income.
"All the documentation and the granting is done
entirely online
", highlighted González.
When the tenant does not have enough income to qualify, they ask a relative or friend with demonstrable income to also provide the same documentation and sign the contract as "
co-guarantor
."
The option of paying the guarantee in one payment is always the cheapest, but they also offer to do it in installments.
Image: Capture.
In GarantiaYa, another company in the field, explained to
Clarín
that the cost of the service is "
approximately two rentals
", although sometimes they offer special discounts.
"We offer
interest-free installments
, in some cases up to 24, and many facilities. The spirit is to help those who do not have a proprietary guarantee, that is why we attend each case in a personalized way and in the qualification we weigh not only economic issues, but also others. , like the students, "said Gustavo Daniszewski, the company's CEO.
Another option is Premium Group, which works with more than 3,000 real estate companies and promises to respond to requests within 24 hours.
In Finaer, on the other hand, to give a surety, they ask the tenant and the "co-applicants" to prove income for a sum that is
triple the value
of the first rental plus expenses.
The online simulator of that company, for a rent of $ 40,000 a month for 3 years with expenses of $ 6,000, shows a guarantee cost of
$ 84,456
if paid in cash, of
$ 99,360
in
6 installments
or of $ 119,232 in 12 dues.
On the websites of the surety companies you can calculate the cost of the guarantee and compare payment options.
Image: Capture.
And if I can't pay, what are the risks and what to do?
With surety insurance or surety bond, the issue is complicated if the tenant, for some reason,
cannot continue to pay
the rent in a timely manner. Faced with something like this, the
owner will
not be affected, since it will be enough for him to notify the company about the situation for it to give him
the money
very
quickly
.
The problem is that then the firm that provided the guarantee will turn around and go to
claim the tenant
- and then their
co-guarantors
- for the money, plus
penalty
interest
, expenses, fees and other costs that greatly increase the amount owed and can become a "
snowball
", as explained to
Clarín
in the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires.
Andrés Bernal, lawyer for the agency's Tenant Attention Program, commented: "The guarantees for bank guarantee, for surety insurance and for guarantor have
pending a regulation
so that it is well determined what can and cannot be demanded from the tenant at the beginning, and how they should act on a notice of non-compliance. "
Some points of the new Rent Law have not yet been regulated.
Photo: Andrés D'Elía.
The Ombudsman reports that there are
recurring conflicts
with these companies when non-payment is caused by a
disagreement
between the renter and the owner.
For example, if moisture appeared in a closet, they disagreed on the urgency of the fix, the tenant fixed it on their own,
discounted the cost
the following month, and the landlord interpreted that this was in breach of the contract.
Another typical example is when the parties
do not agree
on who is responsible for paying a certain part of the expenses, and the owner notifies the guarantee company that he
received a partial payment
.
"It happens often that in those cases the company
rushes to pay
the owner what he wants without even contacting the tenant beforehand, who really
had the right to withhold
part of the payment. And then they
demand a refund
with the penalties, expenses , fees and others, "said Bernal.
In situations like these, or given the impossibility of continuing to pay the rent due to lack of money, the main advice of the experts is that the tenant
seek legal advice
to be able to
negotiate with the companies
how to deal with that debt, without falling into very disadvantageous agreements or directly abusive.
The Ombudsman's Office of the City provides advice to tenants on this and other issues through the line (011) 4338-4900, WhatsApp 11-2392-1644 and the email atencioninquilinos@defensoria.org.ar.
MG
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