When you lease in Monterrey, how are utilities handled?
Utilities usually stay in the name of the current (or even previous) owner. Because of the deficient mail service in Mexico, utility bills are delivered by messenger. However, instead of hand delivering these bills to you, they usually leave them in a mailbox (if you are lucky enough to have one as they are not common in Mexico), on the windshield of your car or even in a flower box! So keep a look out for them, because if you do not pay on time your utility will be cut off even if the fault was theirs for not having delivered the receipt on time. It is important that once you have the first utility bill, check and see what days of the month these are delivered and keep a record. Several utility companies will give you your balance over the phone.
In the US we pay the first and last month rent. Can we expect the same system in Mexico?
First of all, let me tell you a little about leases in Mexico. Because Spanish is the official language of Mexico, leases, to be legal, must be in this language. You may be lucky enough to get a translation in English but this will have no legal value. Leases for non-furnished properties are usually for one year and the owner will expect you to have a co-signer which would be your company, signed by its legal representative in Monterrey. Owners will also usually require a copy of the deed of incorporation or company bylaws and a copy of the legal reps power of attorney.
Upon signing the lease in Mexico, you pay one month security deposit and first month rent in advance. In the case of a furnished property, you pay two months security deposit and the first month rent in advance. The security deposit is returned 45 to 60 days after you vacate the property. It is important to add that the security deposit can not be used to pay the last month rent as is usual in other parts of the world. Leases in Mexico carefully state that the security deposit is returned only after once having established that all utilities have been paid in full and the property has been returned in the same condition in which it was rented (in the case of furnished properties a photographic and written inventory is usually attached for review at the end of the lease).
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