no electric

we have had no electric from the 2nd of july included for 22 days we pay our rent on time and have been living in the house now for over 2 years, we paid our last rent which was 20.6.10 up until 20.7.10. On the 2nd july on returning back to the house after being out for a couple of hrs we came home at 4.00pm to no electric , we got onto our rental company who we pay our rental to spoke to them and they said they couldnt do anything for a couple of days with it being a friday and they would sort it out on the monday as (not sure about this ) unelco are shut on a saturday. we have kept all receipts for takeways in whicj i, getting fed up with, my family has been split apart especially our daughter having to go and live her friends and me and my husband commuting from our house and our friends. today i phoned the rental company up again explaining we STILL dont have any electric and now they are asking for this months rent from 20.7.10 till 20.8.10 in which i have said im not paying until the electricity is back on. i have worked it out that out of the 950 euros a month we pay we only had 11 days of electric , im sure they need to credit us for the days we have paid up until 20.7.10 im totally confused by it all where do we stand HELP :confused::confused: and do they have the right to ask us for next months rent when theres no electric in the dwelling

Dear Diane

I take it it's your landlord that is not paying the rent and has been shut off unbeknown to yourselves. After so many days without electrical supply presumably the fault cannot lie on the utility company.

You cannot rent a property without electrical supply as its regarded as essential. You would need to hire a lawyer and legally withdraw from the Tenancy Agreement claiming back a compensation if applicable as its out of no fault of your own.

You at no time can withhold rental money as it would be considered to be an essential breach of your tenancy agreement.

Please read my article on the matter:

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid on Renting Property in Spain - 22nd April 2010

Shamelessly quoting an excerpt:

Quote:

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Tenant’s top five mistakes

To be fair to landlords tenants also make their fair share of mistakes.-

1.
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4. Deducting damages from the rent. All tenants feel tempted to fall for this one.

Classic examples of this would be:

i) After heavy rainfall I’ve had this terrible damp patch with an aggressive mould growth which has cost me €300 to be removed. Plus my new laptop got damaged as a result (€1,000). I’ll deduct the €1,300 from my let to make up for both.

ii) The washing machine broke down and cost me €150 to repair.

iii) My landlord is not paying the community fees and as a result I’m now being disallowed from using the complex’s facilities i.e. swimming pool. I’ll just pay €300 less a month to offset for this.

I could put more real-life examples of the queries I’ve received over the years but I think that’ll do for now. At no time can a tenant decide unilaterally to pay less rent or withhold part of the rent to offset against these unforeseen damages or expenses. First of all some damages have to be paid, under law, by the tenant himself; especially those relating to the normal wear and tear on renting out a property (Art 21 of the Urban Tenancy Act as well as Arts 1563 and 1564 of the Spanish Civil Code). It is seldom a good idea to practice retentions or withhold amounts when you feel it’s appropriate without having the landlord’s agreement. This may even be a cause for legal eviction as you are effectively breaching the signed Tenancy agreement.

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Yours sincerely
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

all the rent is paid its unelco that have cut the electric of for unpaid bills :confused:

Unelco is the REA, the landlord?

no unelco is the electcity supplier for tenerife . they have cut the electric of cause our landlord has not paid the last 2 electric bills

I see.

Do you know if your landlord is in financial trouble or do you suspect he stopped paying the utility bill on purpose so as to coerce you to leave?

I guess it will be the former judging from your prior emails.

no hes not in any finacial trouble he just missed paying the bills , the rent office i pay my rental to said they have been onto unelco and everything has been sorted and it should of been switched back on , on the 20th july . will they have to credit me for the days i have had no electric on as from 2nd july til 20th juy on which i paid ful rent for these days :eek:

I would request a suitable compensation from your landlord, yes i.e. a reduction of 50% of the rent in your next invoice.