After You Sign: Setting Up a Rental in Puerto Vallarta
Utilities, the building's rules, how you will pay, and what your landlord's insurance does not cover.
General education, not legal or tax advice. Requirements vary by state, municipality, notario, SAT office, and year — confirm current specifics with your Notario Público, an attorney, and a cross-border accountant before acting.
Why readers ask
Signing feels like the finish line, and then the first CFE bill arrives covering a period before you moved in, the building has rules nobody mentioned, and there is no agreed way to pay rent from a foreign account.
What do I need to arrange after signing a lease in Mexico?
On the day you take possession: record meter readings and transfer the accounts that are yours, get the condominium's rules and the emergency contacts in writing, confirm the account, reference and receipt arrangement for rent, and arrange contents insurance — the landlord's policy covers the building, not your belongings.
The first week decides the next twelve months.
Everything in this guide is easier on the day you take possession than at any later point: readings can be observed rather than reconstructed, the manager is expecting your questions, and the landlord is still in the mood that produced the lease.
Utilities are the biggest surprise, and the easiest to plan for.
Electricity in this climate is the largest variable in most tenants' budgets, and CFE bills bimonthly — so the first bill may cover a period that began before you arrived. Recording the meter readings on day one turns that into arithmetic instead of a disagreement. Ask to see a recent bill for the unit before you sign, rather than accepting an estimate.
The building has rules the owner cannot waive.
Condominium regimes on this coast commonly restrict short-term letting, pets, guest numbers and amenity use by tenants. Those sit in the regime and its reglamento, and an owner telling you it will be fine does not change them. Ask for the relevant text in writing, particularly if you plan to work from home, keep a pet, or re-let any part of the stay.
Before you send money
Do the essential checks below. Each row opens for the detail.
In a long-term lease, electricity (CFE), water, gas and internet are commonly the tenant's. Agree which accounts transfer to your name and which remain with the owner, and record the meter readings on the day you take possession so the first bill can be split correctly. CFE bills on a bimonthly cycle, which means the first bill you see may cover a period partly before you arrived. Establishing the readings on day one is what makes that conversation short.
Ask for the condominium's reglamento in writing, along with the administrator's contact details, the maintenance hours, the rules on guests, pets, deliveries and amenity use, and any parking assignment. Separately, get a list of who to contact for a leak, a power failure or a lock-out, and confirm whether that is the owner, a manager, or the building. A tenancy that only has one phone number in it is fragile in a way that becomes obvious at the worst possible moment.
Confirm the account the rent is paid into, the reference to use, the day it is due and how the receipt will be issued. If the landlord issues a CFDI, provide whatever details they need for it early rather than on the due date. If you do not yet have a Mexican bank account, agree explicitly how payment will work in the meantime and what evidence of payment will be accepted — an international transfer that arrives late through no fault of yours is still a late payment unless the contract accounts for it.
A landlord's insurance covers the structure and usually the owner's own contents; it does not cover a tenant's belongings or a tenant's liability. Contents cover is available locally and through some international policies. In a coastal climate, ask specifically what is and is not covered during hurricane season, and confirm with the landlord what the building's own arrangements are for storm preparation and for the shutters or protection of windows and terraces.
If any step raises concerns, stop and investigate further.
Save the checklist
A printable one-pager to take with you.
"The landlord's insurance covers my things." It covers the structure and usually the owner's contents. A tenant's belongings and a tenant's liability are separate cover, available locally and through some international policies.
"If a repair is not made, I can just hold back the rent." Withholding rent on your own initiative is a route to being in breach yourself. Report in writing, keep the record, and take advice on the route the state's civil code actually provides.
"Utilities in the owner's name means I am not paying them." Very often it means you are paying them through the landlord. That is fine if the contract says so and you are shown the actual bills — ask for the bill, not a figure.
At move-in
Do the condition record and the meter readings in the same pass, on the day you take possession, and send everything to the landlord or manager in writing before the end of that day. It is the same photo session that protects the deposit and the same readings that settle the first bill.
Get a second contact for the property. A tenancy with one phone number in it fails at 2am on a holiday weekend. Ask who to call for a leak, a power cut or a lock-out, and whether that is the owner, the manager or the building administrator.
Frequently asked questions
Not necessarily, but it makes almost everything easier — paying rent on a fixed day, holding utility accounts, and setting up direct debits. Opening one generally requires a residency card and proof of address, which is why many tenants arrange payment another way for the first months and open an account once the residency and the address are settled. Agree the interim arrangement in writing.
They often do, particularly in condominium buildings and furnished rentals, and there is nothing wrong with it as long as the contract says who pays and how the amount is evidenced. Ask to be shown the actual bill rather than a figure, and record meter readings at move-in and move-out so the periods can be reconciled.
The contract should separate what the landlord repairs — the structure, the installations, appliances that came with the unit — from what the tenant maintains, and say how a repair is requested and within what time it is attended. Report faults in writing even when you also call. If a repair the landlord owes is not made, the answer is not to withhold rent on your own initiative; take advice on the route the state's civil code provides.
Only if the lease permits it and the building's rules allow it, and both need checking because they are separate constraints. Many condominium regimes on this coast restrict short-term letting regardless of what an individual owner agrees. Doing it without both permissions can put the lease and the owner's standing with the building at risk.
- Primary lawCódigo Civil Federal — Arts. 2398–2496 (arrendamiento: the contract of lease)
- Primary lawCódigo Civil del Estado de Jalisco — Libro Cuarto (arrendamiento urbano)
- Primary lawCódigo Civil para el Estado de Nayarit — arrendamiento
- GovernmentPROFECO — Consumer complaint and guidance service
- GovernmentRegistro Público de la Propiedad — property records (Jalisco)
More guides
How do rental deposits work in Mexico, and how do I get mine returned?
The deposit is decided at move-in, not at move-out — by whoever documented the property.
What should a rental contract in Mexico include?
The clauses worth checking before you sign — and why Jalisco and Nayarit are not the same contract.
What is the difference between a vacation rental and a long-term lease in Mexico?
Two different contracts, two different sets of protections, one listing site.