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My girlfriend is the shy type and not really the type to speak up for herself, the landlady has been using intimidating / bullying tactics against her since we moved in to try and get extra payments etc, i don't speak any Spanish so i have not been in a position to argue with her.
Last Saturday she came into our property and started screaming at my girlfriend and prodding her in the chest. I watched this happen for a couple of minutes until I felt enough was enough and then removed the screaming woman from our apartment.. firmly closing the door once she was out.
She proceeded to scream louder, and bang, kick and rattle our door until my girlfriend returned outside to confront her. An argument developed which ended with me telling her in broken Spanish that we would be leaving in 4 weeks.
My girlfriend received a phone call from her parents on Saturday (as their name and phone number is on the lease) to say the landlady had been on the phone to them saying that our apartment stunk of marijuana and that i was a junky, and for this reason she was kicking us out. This is simply not true and is nothing but an excuse to try and keep my deposit. It is also causing me serious problems as i previously had a good relationship with the family.
We informed the landlady (and my girlfriends parents) that i would be arranging for a drug test and pursuing legal action, ( i will be taking the drug test to pacify the family, but am not sure where i stand on the legal side of things ) after this the drug use allegations stopped completely.
This woman knows exactly what she is doing with these phone calls, she is interfering with my personal life with malicious lies and ......The contract states that if we leave before 12months we have to pay the outstanding rent up until the end of the year. These are obvious attempts to try and get us to leave whilst extorting us for a large amount of money which neither of us can afford.
I want to pursue legal action but really don't know where to start, if there is anyone here with legal experience or someone who has been through similar problems please please share.[/QUOTE]
A couple things come to mind. First is , WHY is your girlfriends parents on the rental lease? Why did not you and her sign your own lease agreement? This may seem unimportant unless you have ever been a landlord.
Second thought is, How well connected is the landlady? How connected is your girlfriendīs parents? Influence with local office holders can be everything, you better know who you are picking a fight (demanda) against.
Third, You state your spanish is poor which likely means your understanding of the culture is also poor. I hope by " then removed the screaming woman from our apartment.. firmly closing the door once she was out. " you did not touch her.
You need to let the lease holders, namely the parents who signed the lease, and your girlfriend take care of this problem and you need to calm down and shut up. The parents will decide what they think is right, you not having any legal rights on the lease, need to accept their decision if you ever want a chance at living with the girlfriend in Mexico.
It seems you have gotten off on the wrong foot and may never recover. Your girlfriend may have to decide between you and her family if you keep pressing. This would not bode well for you since family is always #1 in Mexico.
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