Common Misconceptions about Spanish Rental Contracts
November 21st, 2008
Property renting can become a source of conflict between renter and landlord when either party has limited understanding of the law. As we don’t expect everyone to read the Property Rent Act here are a few things both landlords and tenants should know:
- A contract under 12 months is not necessarily of short term duration. Under Spanish law rental contract terms (for accommodation purposes) are to be freely agreed between the parties but if the tenant can prove that this property has become his habitual home (not a too difficult task) he will be entitled to extend the term up to 5 years.
- In the event of non-payment, it is illegal to attempt to kick the tenant out, change the locks, willingly interrupt utility supplies, send thugs, a night-time guitarist or any other person who with the use of unethical threat, coercion, intimidation or even harm attempts to evict the tenant. Whether we like it or not, only a judge can decide on an eviction.
- It is illegal to deduct anything from the monthly rent. Anything means costs incurred in by the tenant in repair works or self-assessed compensation packages for electricity cut offs, noisy neighbours, incorrect information supplied by the landlord or agent when renting etc. Any such claim has to be claimed directly from the landlord initially and further via the Courts, if not in agreement.
Haphazard screening and tenant selection too often results in problems (i.e. a tenant who pays the rent late or not at all, trashes your place or lets undesirable friends move in). It is advisable to check credit history, references and background prior to letting a property out.
For further reading:
Dear Antonio, rental agent quite often slaps on me repair bills which are, to my opinion, rather inflated. I live in England and cannot sort out these problems in Spain.
Howerer, does he have a right to deduct money from my rent, even if I do not agree with it?
Hello Eugene, the rental agent has not right to deduct any money for the repairs unless specifically requesting your written authorisation. The contrary could be construed as missapropriation of funds so I recommend that you inform your rental agent in a gentle manner about this.
Dear Antonio
What is the law regarding a tenant wanting to end the tenancy early before the end of the contract period. Are they liable to pay the full term?
Ashley, without reading the contract it is difficult to tell but in principle the landlord could have the right to enforce the contract up until the contract period although in practice very few landlords, if any, do actually take further measures other than keeping the month of deposit paid upfront.
In any event it is important, when finalising a rental contract prior to the agreed date, to sign at the bank of the original contract a short note indicating that the contract is terminate earlier and that both parties have nothing to claim from each other.
Dear Antonio, when we moved in to our apartment we signed the rental contracts, but could not afford to give the agents there money straight away, we like many others have been affected with the credit crunch, but they have now told us we have to be out straight away, where do we stand on this.We pay our rent but have not given the commission to them.
thanks julian.
Dear Antonio, I hope you can help. We have tenants in our house in Spain who originally signed an 11 month contract. Approximately 3 weeks before the contract was due to expire we sent a new contract which was due to commence 1 day after the previous contract expired. Despite several reminders the tenants have never signed a new contract. Since then there were some issues with mould appearing in the villa which we asked them to have cleaned and repaired with mould prevention paint and requested that they deduct this from the rent. They have done this but never told us exactly how much this amounted to and have never provided receipts. In addition they have deducted money from the rent to cover their expenses for running a dehumidifier which we never authorised.
We asked them for a breakdown of the deductions and advised that we would shortly be taking a trip to Spain. It was only at this point we were informed by the tenants that the mould had now become intolerable. Up until this time we believed the house was suffering with the usual mould that houses get in Spain. We said we would like to visit our house (we live in the UK) to take a look at the problem to have it resolved. The tenants were very restrictive with the times they would offer for us to investigate the problem. On inspection we found that the problem is one of damp and not mould and have begun proceedings to have the problem rectified. The tenants do not appear to want to co-operate with allowing insurance assessors, builders, etc into the house to investigate the problem.
We believe that the relationship between us has deteriorated to such a degree that we would prefer them to vacate the villa and for us to move back into it? Is this possible, can we do this? Will we have to commence a protracted eviction procedure even though the tenants are now out of contract?
An advice you can provide would be most gratefully received.
Dear Carol,
These tenants seem to have taken the law into their hands and started to do what is not allowed, that is, to deduct all sorts of expenses from the rent. It often happens that if they see that landlords are inactive when deductions are paid they feel comfortable and see the possibility to “de facto” reduce the rent indefinite and permanently because they dont fear of legal action.
If you believe that the relationship has now deteriorated the best option is to ask them to leave and if this is not forthcoming you then need to evict them for non-payment since not having a new contract does not leave them unprotected because they have a statutory automatic extension to the term in the contract, of up to 5 years if they prove they are residing in the area (which is quite easy to prove).
Changes to tenancy eviction laws mean that in principle you can evict someone within 3-4 months although this is generally dependant on how busy Courts are. But if you file for eviction for non-payment of rent (even if what they paid is a few Euros short of the agreed rent) they will only have this opportunity to pay up because the next time they do it and you file again Courts will not give tenants another opportunity and will be evicted, with the help of the Police if necessary.
Dear Legal Team ,
I took a long term tennant in September 2009 she signed the tennancy agreement but then decided last month to leave. In the meantime she had a moved a friend into my apartment who is still there and has not paid utlility bills or mortgage for 2 months.
What if anything can i do and as I live in the UK if i went to Spain and changed the locks and evicted her can I still be prosecuted ?
Thank you
Donna
Dear Donna,
Since you have a contract you need to file a case for eviction against the contract holder, irrespective of who is in the contract, since the contract is still valid and has not been cancelled. So if you don´t have any positive response from the tenant then you need to file as soon as possible as the more you leave it the more costly it becomes.
Dear Legal Team
I have a 11 month contract which expires at the end of june,i want to move out before hand which as been acepted by my landlord. I have asked that my deposit can be used as my last months rent,my landlord call round on a regular basis and has ssen that everything is in the same condition as when we took it on and no damage has been done.
My landlord wants me to pay the months rent and call round to inspect the property 1 week before i leave,and then give me my deposit back less water and electric which thay are going to estimate and deduct from my deposit.can they do that or as my deposit got to be returned in full
I am inregular contact and only work 3 mile away and said i will pay my bills when i have left when they come in and are accrurate.
Thanks Ian
Dear legal team
Tenants occupied our property in Spain on 26th May. 31st May I was told by the agent that the tv did not work. On 1st June and 2nd June I emailed agent as did not have tenants email to ask what the problem was (Sky or aerial). They did not know, so we arrange engineer to go to the flat. The tenants called me today 3rd June telling me that the property was not clean, the TV was reported on 26th May and they did not have an inventory to sign, so they were not happy and wanted to vacate on Sunday (they were extrmeley aggresive and threatening). I told them I had arranged a engineer, I had arranged cleaning of 8 hours before they moved in (so would ask cleaners to go back) and that I would sort out any other issues that they had. They told me that they were moving out on Sunday and if they didnt get there deposit back there would be trouble! I was happy to return deposit (after keys returned), I was happy to return 450 euros in rent (which they agreed) less the water and electricity costs. The agent has 290 euros and I told them when I get a new tenant I will repay the balance of rent of 160. They are now telling me they are getting a lawyer. I think that a lawyer will see I am more than fair. How do I stand legally???
Dear Antonio
I own a ground floor apartment and have recently had long-term tenants move into the apartments on either side of mine. They both seem insistent on having BBQs on their terraces (charcoal) and smoking me out of mine! Not only is the smell troublesome, but it must also be a fire hazard! Is there any law (Malaga province) regarding charcoal bbqs in apartment blocks?
Helo Myra,
You were no obligated to return any deposits to the tenants just because they felt that the property is not what they expected. I´m afraid so say that this matter should have been dealt with differently because in reality, from the excuses they put forward, it was just not convenient for them to rent your property probably because they found somewhere else.
The 160 Euros should be kept by you in concept of damages due to the tenants´ failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement.
Hello Jenny,
Barbecues are dealt with in various pieces of legislation at national, regional, municipal and also within the Community of Owners. In principle, if the Statutes of the Community of Owners does not prohibit these you will have to resort to municipal ordinances that stipulate that barbecues should have an extraction system (hood or otherwise) for the fumes. If nothing is said here (unlikely) then you can invoke a national Act on Dangerous, Obnoxious, Unhealthy and Annoying Activities wherein a barbecue situation is contemplated. As a first step you should ask the administrators of the Community of Owners and take it from there.
If I take on a tennant for a 6 month rental through an agent, do I have to use the agent if the tennant wants to sign for another 6 months?
Hello William,
This is nothing in Spanish law about this so in principle, unless otherwise agreed, you should be able to get away with not paying since you have already paid for the introduction once and for one specific contract and therefore, whatever happens next (you may even sell the property to this tenant!) will not, in my opinion, give rights to a new commission.
Hi Antonio
Despite our repeated requests for the landlord to provide us with a rental contract, we still do not have one and now after 10 months, we have been offered somewhere else and are looking to move.
We have now given our landlord in effect 2 months notice that we intend to leave, but are concerned that they may ask or try to kick us out earlier. The place we do currently live in is unfurnished and all the furniture is ours.
Can you advise if the landlord can kick us out early or ask us to leave earlier ?
I own a park home in Mucia,I rent the plot it sits on.Does this site
have to be registered by law, if so where do I go to find this out?
Do the same laws apply to renting ground as to renting a house.
Hi Antonio,
My son recently left a rented flat in Madrid a couple of months before the 1 year contract had finished. He gave a month’s notice but the landlord insists that he pay the rent up to the end of the contract even thought he won’t be living there. Is this legally correct?
Hola Antonio,
I am currently renting a property furnished and the washing machine has broken, the letting agent acting on behalf of the landlord got someone out who wasnt even qualified engineer and said my kids broke it. i wasnt happy so i called out a proffesional and they said its the circuit board and if my kids broke that, they must be clever.
She said the landlord wont pay for the full €140 repair and will only pay half, i said we signed a contract and he has breached the contract by not sorting the problem, now we found out the landlord and the letting agent are best friends and i mentioned that there is a conflict of interest with this but they keep dismissing it.
With our property in the uk we have a problem wih any appliance we get it fixed or ge a new one.
could you let me know where we stand??
thanks
James
Hi Antonio,
Would it be legally enforceable to include a statement in a short term rental contract that the renter declares the property will not be his main residence.
Chris, you can include this statement in a contract but again, the provisions of the law cannot be overriden by clauses that oppose it, given the nature of “consumer protection legislation” of this provision. This means that, if they tenant can prove, notwithstanding the clause, that the rented property is his main home, the contract could be extended to the mandatory 5 years.
Dear Antonio, I rented a house on a three month contract but have not received my deposit back. When I was there for two weeks I tripped over a loose carpet and the cup of coffee I had in my hand splashed the wall. I immediately cleaned it but the owner saw the stain when he visited the house I continued to clean it and when the contract was up if he hadn´t known it happened he would not have been none the wiser as the stain had gone. When I left the property it was in excellent condition but the owner did not call to collect the keys He told me to leave them in a local bar. Am I entitled to my money back?
Hola Antonio,
I am currently renting a fully furnished flat along with two others. After the washing machine stopped funcioning due to an internal fault, I stupidly tried fixing it. (a button was pushed in to far and i made a mark on the plastic whilst trying to fix it. If this voids the guarentee, am I liable to pay for it or is the landlord liable? He has taken responsibility for other repairs before such as the dishwasher.
Gracias
Dear Antonio
If my daughter moves into an apartment on the 15th of the month does she have to pay full rent for that month. There is no contract this is a verbal agreement. They are requesting she pays a full months rent on the 15th and another months rent on the 1st.
Many thanks
Hello Diane, it is not correct, she would have to pay half month on the current one and thereafter, a full payment on each month.
Dear Antonio,
I am currently renting an apt on a ten month contract in ANdalucia,and am about halfway íntima three-dimensional contract.However, I have lost a lot of working hours and want to move. I went to give my months notice to the landlord, who said that if they can’t find a replacement tenant they would have to keep the deposit. Is this legal,or does the fact I have given sufficient notice entitle me to my deposit?
Kind regards
Mike
The above comment should read ‘ten month contract’, and not ‘three dimensional’. apologies!
Hi there…. I recently signed a 12 month rental contract in Barcelona which commenced in November 2011. Due to unforseen circumstances I am having to return back to the UK. Can you advise if i will just loose my 3 months deposit, or will my landlord insist i pay up until my lease is up in Nov(which i cant do)
I appreciate your advice
Many thanks
Hi there, in principle you would lose the 3 months deposit and that is about it. Rarely do landlords chase for the rest of the months as it is more costly to do so than the money that they are not getting. Plus, it is not certain that they will get a favourable judgement given that they could be renting out during those months too.
Hi Antonio, please can you let me know if rental guarantees like Arrenta and Corte de Arbitraje are worth the money as they do not seem to cover anything?
Many Thanks
Hi Antonio, I am a tenant whose 11 month contract will expire in the next 48 hours. My landlord is based in uk and I have paid my rent to date. I believe my rights and status changes after this date to long term tenant is this correct? my tenancy agreement is a ‘la vivienda’ but the previous address stated on the contract is not correct is it valid?
Hello Andy, contracts like those issued by Arrenta or the Corte de Arbitraje are generally standard contracts that comply with the Tenancy Act 100%. This means that they don’t oppose mandatory requirements of the law, such as the 5-year period, allocation of expenses, taxes and other costs etc.
The only real difference with other contracts you may find elsewhere is that they submit their disputes to arbitration, and undertake to sort problems out within a specified period of time (i.e., Arrenta says 25 days).
Hello Martin,
11-month contracts do not exist in Spain more than 11-day or 222-month contracts. THe law says that you can freely agree on the term but that, if such term is under 5 years, then it is optional on the tenant and mandatory on the landlord to extend it to 5 years. The only exception is where the landlord needs the property for his own use and he explicitly specifies this in the contract, and verifiably
does take up possession of the property.
Hi Antonio,
I have been living in Madrid in an apartment for the last 18months, last summer some bars opened in our street commonly referred to as ‘after hours’. In particular one of these bars opens at 6am and closes at 5pm. Other bars in my street close at 3am. As you can see, the problem lies with the horrendous noise in my street from Wednesday – Sunday, furthermore, the street has become full of disgusting people who go to these bars, with rubbish, vomit, and poo in the street. Also, the police are reguarly in my street everyday, in order to arrest people who have been fighting or people who have robbed others. My contract states that my landlords could enforce the contract upon ourselves and make us stay until November. Is it possible you could give me some information if i wanted to terminate the contract early based on the fact that i am paying for a service which i am not recieving (sleep and safety), also is there anything in Spanish law which permit people to terminate contracts based on pyschological stresses that the contract would make.Also my landlord states that the contract automatically renews on the start date if i have not provided notice to say otherwise, i have not signed anything, is this true. I would be very happy if you could give me some information.I really need help on this matter.
Thanks,
Tom
Hello Tom,
Contracts do automatically get renewed if you do not provide notice of termination, and therefore if you are to leave on expiration of the term, you will need to send a “burofax”.
If you wish to leave earlier because of the situation of the neighbourhood, and provided this was not a known fact to you when to signed up for the tenancy, I believe this could be used to argue that the conditions have changed dramatically and that your landlord is no longer in a position to offer you what he said he would when striking the deal.
Havings said this, it is not too normal for a landlord to chase someone who has left an apartment with no damage or having paid up his rent till the day of departure.
Hi Antonio,
We are currently 3 months in to our 11 month rental agreement, and yesterday discovered that the property we are renting is for sale. We found out quite by chance, when the agent appeared at the door with two people who wanted to view the apartment! Myself and my husband were at work at the time (as the agent knew), however our friend was at the property and the agent did not insist on entering. Our concern now is, that the agent could let potential purchasers into the house whilst we are not there. Could you let us know whether they are within their rights to do this. Can you also advise whether we are obliged to give access to the property for viewing purposes and also whether we are able to terminate the agreement early as we were not aware of the circumstances at the time of signing.
Kind regards
Jayne
Hello Jayne, absolutely not. You have no legal obligation to give access to anyone that you do not wish, and an agent with prospective purchasers is certainly on top of that list. To avoid confrontation and distressing situations (you may be feel compelled to attack intruders, agents particularly with great gusto, I would think
), I suggest that you do the most sensible thing which is to change the locks.
Hi Antonio, thankyou for the advice! Tom
Hi Antonio, I hope you can advise me. I have taken on a rental contract that terminates in November 2012, unfortunatley i need to terminate the contract early due to unforseen circumstances. My landlord has agreed i can leave providing i find someone to replace me. This is proving more difficult than first thought and now my situation is getting quite desperate that i really need to leave. She has 3 months deposit that i am almost willing to loose if it means i can vacate. But i am worried she may make me pay the full term (which i cant)… if i did leave can she help herself to my bank account? What normally happens?.. i appreciate your help! thank you!