How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent

[sunshine]

Dear Sir, Recently one of our apartments suffered a water leak from the property above The tenants are now saying that their personal property was damaged and that they will not pay the rent until they are compensated for their loss. Our apartment has some damp now because of this leak and they also want this fixed. However I do not see why I should pay for the repairs or their loss as the problem was not down to me. The other problem is is that I cannot get hold of the owner of the other property to make a claim against him. Can my tenants legally withold the rent? Can they ask me to pay for their belongings? Do I need to fix repairs that were not my fault? How do I make a claim against my neighbour? What if i cannot find my neighbour or he has no insurance? Can i ask my tenants to leave? thanks

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir or Madam,

You do not have to compensate your tenants for their loss.

You are however obliged legally to carry out the repairwork (damps) as per my prior posts.

Your tenants cannot legally withhold the rent.

Yes you can file a claim against your neighbour because of this. Hopefully he will be insured.

Yours faithfully,

[Unregistered]

i have a very similar problem. my neighbours rented their property and when the tenants left they left a bath overrunning which then caused a leak into my apartment. My apartment was being rented at the time and my tenants are refusing to pay rent until i (or someone) pay them for their loss.. they want to claim nearly 1200 euros in damages for various things though i think they are just making up these figures as they cannot produce recipts. their rent is only 350 a month and they have not paid anything for nearly 3 months. however my neighbour has no insurance and says its not his fault. i really dont know what to do , i need the rent to help towards my mortgage and cannot afford to pay the tenants and i dont see why i should - shouldnt they have their own insurance? can i hold my letting agents responsible as they got me these tenants and they should make sure the tenants pay the rent to me, but they wont help either. what can i do? please help!!

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir or Madam,

You cannot be held liable for this accident. You tenant cannot expect you to pay for their material loss.

As per my reply above, you would however have to carry out the remedial work neccessary on the property to make it once again fit for habitation as per art 21 of Spain's Urban Tenancy Act.

At no time can your tenants withhold the rent to offset their material loss. Nor can they ask you to offset the two month's rental deposit against their loss either.

You can always claim against your neighbour for this accident. Hopefully they too will be insured.

Actually it's you as a landlord who should have home insurance, not your tenants.

At no time can your letting agents be held liable for this unfortunate accident. They are completely unrelated to the accident. Estate agents cannot be held liable either for non-paying tenants, sorry.

Please read the following article which may be of help next time you let the property:

Non-Paying Tenants? No Longer an Issue – 23rd October 2009

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[john]

thanks for your quick reply, the property was repaired as soon as possible at a cost to me. I was hoping to recover this from my neighbour but he has no insurance. I do have insurance for my home and the contents but they say I need to claim against my neighbour, they also say they do not cover my tenants. My tenants are still demanding money from me and will not pay the rent. please can you let me know..
- How do I make a claim against my neighbour for the costs incurred by me if he has no insurance of his own?
- can my tenants make a claim against my neighbour for their loss?
- my other tenant (in another property) does have renters insurance so I know it exists so if my tenants in this case did have renters insurance could they claim on that?
- what is my next step if they still refuse to pay?
thanks again

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear John,

You are welcome.

Replying to your queries:

1 - How do I make a claim against my neighbour for the costs incurred by me if he has no insurance of his own?

In that case you would have to sue him directly as he's the one at fault. Prior to that it is advisable to hire a law firm to sooth the way leaving litigation as a last resort. Normally a settlement can be reached which satisfies both parties waiving litigation altogether.

2 - can my tenants make a claim against my neighbour for their loss?

It would have to be you.

3 - my other tenant (in another property) does have renters insurance so I know it exists so if my tenants in this case did have renters insurance could they claim on that?

Of course, as per my replies above.

4. - what is my next step if they still refuse to pay?
thanks again

As highlighted above, you ought to hire a lawyer who will try to reach an amicable settlement with your upstairs neighbour. Should this not be achievable, you would then have to decide if you want to litigate against them.

Yours faithfully,

[Unregistered]

Hi everyone,

This is a different take on what you're talking about, but I need some advice/help. I'm currently living in a rented apartment in Madrid. I handed in my notice in January and my landlady refused to help. She would tell me one day that I could move out no problem, then another day that I couldn't.

The thing is, I stupidly paid my deposit directly to her and not to a third party, therefore she has refused for the past 3 months that I cannot have my deposit back. (I need it to place a deposit on a new flat).

I DID sign a contract, but my landlady told me I would receive a copy of it when I gave her a photocopy of my passport. I never did this as I wanted my contract before giving her personal details such as my passport.

My question is this - I am not going to pay rent for a month, to make up the money I will lose by her not returning my deposit to me, and then just move out without telling her.

Is this stupid? What can she do in this situation? She has no way of tracing me and I literally have no other choice. I am so stressed and I have tried so hard to be helpful to her, but still, she refuses to cooperate.

Help!

Thanks

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I understand your plight.

When I was also an undergraduate student in Madrid landlords never missed out on the opportunity of taking advantage of poor students which by definition are broke. I guess things haven't changed much over time.

As per my post here http://www.marbella-lawyers.com/foru...=111&page=8#76 you cannot legally withhold the rent against the owed deposit.

But you already knew this.

What you are really trying to ask me politely is if it's worthwhile for your Landlord to sue you for one month's rental. In short no, unless you are on a luxury accomodation. But if you are the average hard-working peniless student you can be almost certain they will not pursue you for one month's let.

It is not worthwhile for them. It's like killing a fly with a machine gun.

Good luck.

Yours sincerely,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[Unregistered]

Thank you very much. This is very helpful: I feel a lot less worried about the situation, now that it's unlikely there will be police waiting to detain me at the airport the next time I try to leave Spain.

Thanks again!

[Lawbird Lawyer]

You're welcome.

The Police do not detain you for debts!

No-one is sentenced to jail on owing money in Spain.

Another matter is that if you are sued you may be brought into custody to be trialed.

But as if I've written it's hardly worthwhile suing you only for a month's let. The expenses far exceed any potential reward and besides the plaintiff must pay in advance these fees to their lawyer and court agent.

The risk-reward ratio quite simply doesn't warrant takig action unless we factor in emotions i.e. your landlord despises you and will sue regardless.

Yours faithfully,