Tenant left property owing money - what can be done?

My tenant has disappeared owing 3 months rent and 2 electric bills at a total of nearly 1700 euros. We only took 1 months deposit which was 500. The property was ok, needed a good clean and laundry and we had a number of repairs but the deposit covered this and the electric but i am annoyed that they still lived rent free for 3 months. Is there anything I can legally do? My friends say to let it go as it would be too expensive to pursue but I would like to know if I have any options available to me? Is there such thing in Spain as a small claims court or do I have to pursue through another court and if so what is the likelyhood of success and would it be a waste of money? The neighbour of my property said that my tenant had spoken with him a few months ago and my tenant had said that he may go back to the UK. Could I try and track him down over there? Sorry if I sound very determined but I just dont like people taking the **** !

Hello,

You can legally claim the amounts due if you are able to prove there was a valid rental agreement and that the tenant occupied the dwelling during the months that you indicate. However, the legal fees that you will have to pay for the assistance in the case will be nearly the same as the claimed amount, which will be returned if you won the court case. Initially, it is a court case with high possibilities of success but you will later need to recover the due amounts and if the tenant left Spain, this will be very complicated. If you fianlly execute the sentence in UK, the process will be quite long and expensive. The money paid for the case can be totally or partially recovered ( or in the worse case, never recovered ) but if the debtor isinsolvent, it does not matter in which country he is, it will be endless. You can also try to claim the debt in a small claims proceedings ( proceso monitorio) , as you mention, without the aid of a solicitor and procurator. The forms are available for the public at the courts of Justice, though these are all in Spanish and a bit of background knowledge on legal procedures will be needed.

Regards,