Tenant’s top five mistakes
To be fair to landlords tenants also make their fair share of mistakes.-
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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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