When renting a home, one of the most frequent questions is What expenses must the tenant assume and which correspond to the owner?. Among them, one of those that generates the most conflict is the garbage rate, a municipal tax that many landlords try to pass on to the tenant. But can they do it? Does the Urban Lease Law (LAU) allow it?
The answer is in article 20 of this law, which regulates the general expenses and taxes that can be transferred to the tenant, as long as very specific requirements are met.
Although the garbage rate It is not mentioned literally in the LAU, it is included within the “general expenses, taxes, charges and responsibilities” that may fall on the lessee, but only if expressly agreed upon. And here is the key, if it does not appear in writing in the contract, the landlord cannot demand payment.
The garbage fee can only be charged to the tenant if it appears in the contract
Article 20 of the LAU establishes that the payment of the general expenses of the property, which includes taxes such as the garbage rate, can be agreed between the parties and be the responsibility of the tenant.
However, it must be taken into account that for this to be valid two conditions must be met.
- State it in writing in the rental contract. If you do not specify that the tenant assumes the garbage fee, the landlord cannot demand it later.
- The contract must indicate the annual amount of that expense at the time of signing. That is, the amount that said rate represented in the last year must appear.
Article 20 also clarifies that, during the first five years of the contract (or seven if the owner is a legal entity), the passed-on expenses, except taxes, may only be increased annually by agreement between the parties and never more than double the permitted increase in rent.
This means that, although the garbage rate is a tax and is not affected by this limit, any other general expense passed on to the tenant will have restrictions on increasing its amount.
Finally, it is also established that the expenses individualized by meter always correspond to the tenant, regardless of what is agreed on the rest of the expenses.