Is the rental contract in Mexico is in Spanish and English, and if there is a difference in the two contracts, which one controls?
Jason Waller - Playa del Carmen Real Estate
If there are two rental contracts in Mexico and one is Spanish and one is in English, the Spanish one controls. When we do a rental or a sale, we always recommend hiring an attorney. Lawyers out here will cost you an average of$500 for a rental and $2,000 for a sale. It’ll be a little cheaper for a rental. But they’ll take care of everything from start to finish. They will go over everything with you. They’ll make sure the contract...
If there are two rental contracts in Mexico and one is Spanish and one is in English, the Spanish one controls. When we do a rental or a sale, we always recommend hiring an attorney. Lawyers out here will cost you an average of$500 for a rental and $2,000 for a sale. It’ll be a little cheaper for a rental. But they’ll take care of everything from start to finish. They will go over everything with you. They’ll make sure the contract is exactly what it says it is and they’re fluent in English and Spanish.
You don’t want to hire a US or Canadian attorney back home to review your rental agreement because they have no idea what the laws are here. We get a lot of clients that say, “I’ve got my attorney back home who is going to help out and they’re going to cover to me on my end.” It’s a complete waste of money and it slows everything down because they have no idea what to do right here. If you want to come out here, get a good attorney.
A good realtor can recommend a good attorney, send you to a good contractor, etc. It’s important out here to have your guy for everything. So you want to have a good contact here who could get you in touch with everybody that you need to get whatever you need done.
There are no yellow pages here in Mexico. Living in Mexico, especially if you have to live in here for a while, you always find the right person for every job that needs to be done, whether it is a lawyer, mechanic, or a contractor to fix something in your place. You don’t just pick up the Yellow Page book and thumb through and find somebody—a plumber to come in and fix your plumbing. You need to have the correct contacts. So it’s really important to find somebody who has contacts, and as you spend more time here, you will generate your own contacts.
(Condo with rooftop patio in Playa del Carmen, Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted December 5, 2015
Liliana Cota - Stewart Title Baja and Stewart Title Puerto Peñasco
If there is a difference in Mexico between a rental contract in English and in Spanish, the Spanish version always controls. If you want to purchase property, you have to be aware that many documents from your real estate provider will be in English and Spanish for you to understand what you are signing. When you get to the final documents, which are the public document with the notary, the documents will all be in Spanish.The law in Mexico requires that if you do not speak...
If there is a difference in Mexico between a rental contract in English and in Spanish, the Spanish version always controls. If you want to purchase property, you have to be aware that many documents from your real estate provider will be in English and Spanish for you to understand what you are signing. When you get to the final documents, which are the public document with the notary, the documents will all be in Spanish.The law in Mexico requires that if you do not speak Spanish, you should have a translator when you sign. If you are going to sign a public document in Spanish at the notary, you should have a translator. When you are going to the notary to sign the fideicomiso (the bank trust that foreigners use to buy and hold property in Mexico that are in the restricted zones), you should have someone with who can translate for you at the notary public.
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They don’t have to be a certified translator but it is a good idea to bring someone who speaks very good English and very good Spanish and it should be someone you trust. It is important that you know what you are signing because if there is a legal dispute, then the judges will go with the Spanish version of the document.
(Condos on the beach at Puerto Penasco, Baja California, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted April 19, 2016