THE END OF RENT CONTROL IN ARGENTINA

HOW JAVIER MILEI UNLEASHED THE MARKET AND BROUGHT BUENOS AIRES BACK TO LIFE

- RYAN BOURNE AND MARCOS FALCONE

MARTÍN LÓPEZ IS an Argentine landlord, but in recent years he felt more like a nervous fugitive. Now based in Madrid, he spent much of 2022 and 2023 mired in anxiety and paperwork-not because he did anything immoral, but because Argentina's rental laws made being a landlord a liability.

"Martín López" is an alias. Until late 2023, he rented out his two-bedroom apartment in Buenos Aires' upscale Belgrano neighborhood through a tangle of short-term contracts, never fully sure whether his actions were legal. Argentina's 2020 rent control law, repealed by President Javier Milei in December 2023, had loaded aboveground landlords with unbearable risks.

Many like Martín fled the formal rental market into legal limbo. Empty apartments, housing shortages, and backroom deals defined the sector in Buenos Aires. Tenants scrambled

for scarce formal leases, while landlords twisted themselves into knots trying to extract value from their properties without breaking the law.

While planning his move to Spain, Martín wanted to rent out his apartment without dealing in pesos, Argentina's everdevaluing currency. "After consulting with five or six brokers, they told us the best option was to do 'temporary,' Airbnb-like contracts," he explains.

That workaround brought its own headaches. "Once I left for Madrid, I had to sign a legal document to authorize my mother to sign these contracts on my behalf, as they had to be signed in person every three months." By leasing in dollars and repeatedly renewing contracts with the same tenants, Martín was sidestepping the rent control law-a move that explains his reluctance to reveal his identity. One contract dispute with tenants would have brought him all sorts of legal problems.