00:00To strengthen legal certainty in the rental market, the Venezuelan government approved the new law on the Special Regime for
00:07Residential Property Rentals.
00:09Our colleague Leonardo Rieta gives us the details.
00:13This legal instrument, approved by the Venezuelan parliament, aims to update regulations in the real estate sector.
00:22According to Jesus Ortega, a deputy from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela,
00:27the law will contribute to a win-win between landlords and tenants.
00:32President Delcy Rodriguez raised the need to accelerate this process, and obviously parliament set about responding to this bill.
00:39I believe this legislation, to a significant degree, benefits both parties,
00:45as they would say in my town, 50-50, half and half,
00:49because the property owner also provides guarantees to the tenant.
00:54Before, there was a practically excessive contract.
00:57You had to pay six months' rent up front, and you had to have a business entity to be eligible
01:02to rent,
01:02plus three security deposits and three months' rent in advance.
01:06And all of that has changed under this new law.
01:08But it also allows those who worked hard to buy their home,
01:11and who saw it as a source of extra income, to know that their property will be protected.
01:18The law on the Special Regime for Residential Property Leases protects the national real estate market,
01:23guarantees the right to housing, and protects families,
01:26providing legal certainty for landlords and tenants.
01:29Another aspect is that the rent amount is an agreement between the landlord and the tenant.
01:33The law stands that it shall be a maximum of three months' rent as a security deposit,
01:37and may be paid in bolivarez or foreign currency.
01:41Economic experts believe that bank loans will be essential for these transactions.
01:45Venezuelan public banks today have sufficient capital and assets to handle these transactions with ease.
01:52When a conflict arises due to a breach of contract,
01:55it is taken into account that justice of the peace could be involved
01:59and could participate in seeking a negotiated solution,
02:02and in the case of eviction of a renting family,
02:05the police do not have the authority to act as they did during the Fourth Republic,
02:08which allowed for various abuses
02:12and resulted in families being evicted without regard for their vulnerability or disability status.
02:18Today, under this law, a court must rule before a family or tenant can be evicted.
02:25The double earthquake on June 24 spurred the update to the law
02:29to continue guaranteeing the right to housing.
02:33This law is very timely and creates a legal framework for very interesting lease agreements.
02:38First and foremost, it guarantees a quite broad freedom of contract,
02:42and the government is stepping in to regulate a sector while guaranteeing contractual freedom,
02:46which is very interesting,
02:48as the tenant and landlord agree on the terms of the contract,
02:51and it will be permitted to be done in foreign currency according to different criteria
02:55for terms of no less than one year.
02:58And the law also specifies very clearly that the tenant may pay in Bolivares,
03:02always at the BCV exchange rate.
03:04With the 27 articles of this legal instrument,
03:07the Venezuelan government aims to stimulate the rental market,
03:10as reported by Gustavo Flores, Leonardo Urieta,
03:12Telesur, Caracas, Venezuela.
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