# renting a premises in luxor egypt



## kymmy

Hello
Can anybody tell me if you are allowed to rent from someone who is already renting a premises (resturant) i have been to look at a premise but the man is only renting from the owner, he wants me to rent from him?????
He first of all asked a stupid amount for the deposit now he as come back with half of what he orignally asked.
1. Deposit he wants sixty thousand egyptian pounds
2. five hundred english per month
3. 3 year contract
4.he says i will get the deposit back after the three years if i choose to leave?

Is this correct? can i rent from him? he says it will be done through the couts in Luxor??

Thankyou in advance


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## GM1

what about licenses to run the place?


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## kymmy

*licence*



GM1 said:


> what about licenses to run the place?


which licence are you speaking about ????? not got to that part yet as still discussing the rent and the deposit x:confused2:


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## Beatle

kymmy said:


> which licence are you speaking about ????? not got to that part yet as still discussing the rent and the deposit x:confused2:


I am a little confused by your question. Are you proposing to open a restaurant in Luxor or are the premises for personal use? If it is the former, I would strongly suggest that you involve an Egyptian lawyer as it can be very difficult for non-Egyptians to recover money etc through the courts in Egypt. That also seems to be an extremely large deposit that he's asking for.


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## GM1

Try to contact the owner first. I think he has to agree to this. You can also ask for the agreement between the owner and this friend and then ask a good lawyer (not one recommended by this friend) to check it out.

as you are writing about a restaurant, I presume that you will run this restaurant.
Even if you agree on the rent etc., do you know which licenses you need, can you get them, what time it will take before you have these licenses and how much they cost? I know that an alcohol license is expensive and difficult to get.


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## DeadGuy

kymmy said:


> Hello
> Can anybody tell me if you are allowed to rent from someone who is already renting a premises (resturant) i have been to look at a premise but the man is only renting from the owner, he wants me to rent from him?????
> He first of all asked a stupid amount for the deposit now he as come back with half of what he orignally asked.
> 1. Deposit he wants sixty thousand egyptian pounds
> 2. five hundred english per month
> 3. 3 year contract
> 4.he says i will get the deposit back after the three years if i choose to leave?
> 
> Is this correct? can i rent from him? he says it will be done through the couts in Luxor??
> 
> Thankyou in advance


Hi there,

Will just quote you again, and you tell for yourself if it was a scam or not! 



kymmy said:


> now he as come back with half of what he orignally asked.


So how does that sound???!!!:confused2:

However, to be able to offer anything (A building, a car, or ANYTHING) for rent in here in Egypt, you MUST be either the owner of that thing or you got the full power to do that, and those powers are usually granted by an official paper signed by the original owner mentioning the name of the person allowed to rent/sell his/her property for them! And I doubt that this idiot is the owner or even got anything to do with the owner!

But answering your questions, just in case anyone was having a similar situation!

1. Deposit he wants sixty thousand egyptian pounds

Deposits in here depend on many things (The area of the place, its location, the "finishing" of the place, water supply, electricity, furniture, etc), and it's not something that's defined by any law in here, just depends on how good you are in negotiating.


2. five hundred english per month

Well the monthly payment also depends on the previous statics, but for a guy that went half way down the original deposit?? You will most probably be able to cut this stupid figure! (By the way, I'm not sure about this, but don't think Egyptian citizens can charge foreign currencies in here, unless it's a firm or so, so it won't probably say that you're gonna be charged 500£, which is no good as long as it's not in the contract!)

3. 3 year contract

Again, depends on what kinda negotiator you are.

4.he says i will get the deposit back after the three years if i choose to leave?

Well, he can say whatever he wanna say, as long is it's not written on a paper that he signed then it's not worth it! And even with it written on a paper, it won't be that easy to get your money back if he decided to keep them, which usually happens in situations like these (Owners just keep nagging you, you hammered a nail in here, you broke the sink, you broke this and that etc.!)


As Beatle did advise you, an Egyptian lawyer would be handy in a situation like this, contracts can always be manipulated, however lawyers in here aren't much better than the rest of the public, so you really need to get a lawyer that you or a trusted friend of yours do trust, cause lawyers can play sick game if they got the right price!

Good luck!


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## Beatle

DeadGuy said:


> Hi there,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2. five hundred english per month
> 
> Well the monthly payment also depends on the previous statics, but for a guy that went half way down the original deposit?? You will most probably be able to cut this stupid figure! (By the way, I'm not sure about this, but don't think Egyptian citizens can charge foreign currencies in here, unless it's a firm or so, so it won't probably say that you're gonna be charged 500£, which is no good as long as it's not in the contract!)


I have been charged my rent in US dollars before (why does everyone want to charge me in US$s, I get hit on the stirling/Egyptian pound rate as it is, so I don't want a third currency in the equation!) but the accomodation was arranged through my college, so that might be the exception Deadguy is referring to.

It sounds likes Egyptian property law has some similiarities with UK property law i.e. the property can't be sub-let unless the contract specificially assigns the right to do so. In which case, you need to see the contract which is more likely than not to be written in Arabic, so you may need assistance in translating it. Plus you also need to be sure of the authenticity of the document.


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## Sam

Some very valid points have been made.

If you have any specific questions in regards to law then fire away 

It is fine for rents, deposits etc to be charged in any currency, there is no law stating what currency must be used. Sub-letting on the other hand is rarely okay. If the original contract between the owner and this tenant is valid, then the owner can come along one day and kick you out as you are not the one named on this contract. If the one you are renting from has a PoA from the owner to rent on his behalf, this is legal. For anything else I'd be very cautious, even if the owner verbally agrees, if there is no contract between you and him it doesn't matter. Even if you had a contract between this tenant and you, it's not worth the paper it's written on if he originally doesn't have the right to sub-let. 

Licenses are also another valid point people are mentioning. Every land-plot has a license elucidating the purpose of the land, can be residential, medical, touristic etc (there are hundreds) - you would need to make sure the purpose you will use it for is okay (and just because it is a restaurant now doesn't mean that it is legally a restaurant). Then there are the licenses that you would personally require to hold a business... liquor license if you sell alcohol etc etc. There are many, many things to consider.

If you let me know more details about your intentions I could be of more help. And if you are able to get a copy of the original contract from the owner and the building license of the land I don't mind having them checked for you.

Sam


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## Angelat211

kymmy said:


> Hello
> Can anybody tell me if you are allowed to rent from someone who is already renting a premises (resturant) i have been to look at a premise but the man is only renting from the owner, he wants me to rent from him?????
> He first of all asked a stupid amount for the deposit now he as come back with half of what he orignally asked.
> 1. Deposit he wants sixty thousand egyptian pounds
> 2. five hundred english per month
> 3. 3 year contract
> 4.he says i will get the deposit back after the three years if i choose to leave?
> 
> Is this correct? can i rent from him? he says it will be done through the couts in Luxor??
> 
> Thankyou in advance


PLEASE DON'T DO IT.
It sounds as though you are being set up which is very common here. If you would like to meet up to discuss it let me know and we can pick some safe public area. There is so much dodgy stuff going on I would say never buy a house/flat or business in general but sometimes buying does work out. Yo just have to be sooooo careful. Sonesta is a good pace to meet and has nice coffee.......


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## Sam

Angelat211 said:


> PLEASE DON'T DO IT.
> It sounds as though you are being set up which is very common here. If you would like to meet up to discuss it let me know and we can pick some safe public area. There is so much dodgy stuff going on I would say never buy a house/flat or business in general but sometimes buying does work out. Yo just have to be sooooo careful. Sonesta is a good pace to meet and has nice coffee.......


As long as everything checks out legally and you know your rights and where you stand to be protected, there is no reason why anybody shouldn't buy property or set up a business here. Many have profited very well in Egypt and shouldn't be discouraged because of the bad stories. That's not to say it is easy or it will work, but for those that do their homework and set themselves up properly Egypt is a perfectly safe place to invest.


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## Angelat211

Everything that has been said here shouts that it isn't straight. I know things can be done in Luxor but for someone to be asking on this site means they are open to being abused.


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## DeadGuy

Angelat211 said:


> Everything that has been said here shouts that it isn't straight. I know things can be done in Luxor but for someone to be asking on this site means they are open to being abused.


I agree with that......Many things don't sound right at all!!

Negotiating is known in here, but people don't just go half way down what they originally asked, not in real estates anyway! I'm Egyptian but I wouldn't wanna deal with someone making contradiction talks like that person offering you the place for sure!

Good luck, but just be sharp!


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