How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Colin,

To have you evicted from the property this can only be done through a formal legal procedure which implies you receiving a registered letter from a law court informing you of the impending court case being held against you.

Whether you receive this letter or not will not stall this procedure. This letter is received at the property being rented.

To stall the eviction procedure, if it really has been filed, you can lodge the back rental at the law court where the court case is being dealt with.

If there is no case against you you can lodge it in the bank account of a Notary as proof of payment.

In both cases if you bring up to date the owed rental they cannot evict you.

In Spain late payment is enough cause to have you evicted. You will not be able to follow the above strategy a second time if it happens and you will be evicted regardless. More on this:


Paying the Rent Late Twice will be Cause of Eviction – 4th June 2009

Yours sincerely,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[Colin]

Dear Raymundo
Thank you for the quick reply. 3 questions: 1) how do I find out if there is a law case filed? 2) How do I find out how much money I need to lodge with the Court or Notary.? 3) How long do eviction processes now take in Spain?

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Hi,

You are welcome Colin.

Addressing your legal queries:

1) how do I find out if there is a law case filed?

You would need to appoint a lawyer to find out on your behalf. As I wrote above it is almost certain you wil lreceive at that property you're renting a recorded delivery letter from the law court that you must sign upon receipt.

2) How do I find out how much money I need to lodge with the Court or Notary.?

It will be in the lawsuit filed against you (if there is actually one). Your appointed lawyer can find out the exact amount to cancel the legal proceedings.


3) How long do eviction processes now take in Spain?

Tricky question.

There's anew law that was passed late last year which aimed to speed things up. It would seem that in some parts of Spain it is working remarkably well whilst in others it's as usual. On average they are now taking between 5-10 months dependent on just how clogged the law court dealing with it is.

Let me know if you need us to represent you on this matter, we act nationwide.

Yours sincerely,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[David]

Hi,

We have tenants renting our property in the Estepona district of Costa del Sol on an 11month agreement. They are 3 months in arrears with rent + utilities. I had heard about a change in legislation "15 day eviction notice" - could you explain if this is correct and what costs we would incur to start eviction proceedings.

We have tried to find an amicable solution but I don't believe the tenant is working so may never be able to pay.

Is there a fast way to evict them?

Thx

[Colin]

Hi can you give me an idea of what it would cost for you to represent us?

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear David,

The legislation you mention was brought into place late last year. The results are very uneaven, in some parts of Spain its has reduced drastically the timelines (3-5 months) yet in other parts of Spain it is still taking 10 months on average. More than the law you mention, what has really made an impact in some parts of Spain has really been Law 13/2009 which has streamlined vastly litigation procedures.

Regarding the law you mention, dubbed popularly as the "Express Eviction Law":

New Law Attempts to Speed up Eviction of Defaulting Tenants in Spain - 24th December 2009

Express Eviction Law Passed by Congress -30th October 2009

New Express Eviction Law: Much Ado About Nothing -13th July 2009

Spanish Express Eviction Law Pre-Approved - 24th December 2008


Regarding the law I mention, Law 13/2009:

Unclogging the Judicial System (Part I) - 15th February 2010

Unclogging the Judicial System (Part II) - 15th March 2010


I strongly suggest you read my detailed articles (and the ensuing thread with queries) which aim to spell out the myths on rentals & evictions in Spain:

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

How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent – 17th December 2007


Regardless if the tenancy is short or long-term one, you will need to have them legally evicted. I take for granted your tenancy agreement had no arbitration clause.

You can browse our forum on similar cases:

Landlord / Tenant Issues

In which case you would have to hire a litigation lawyer to initiate a formal eviction procedure. You cannot evict them on your own or else they could file a report against you before the Spanish police which could lead to you being sentenced to prison. You cannot change the locks or shut-off the utilities; you may be reported to the Police as it’s a criminal act. Please read my article above.

We can offer you our Tenant Eviction for a Spanish Property:

Who is it intended for:

This service is provided to landlords that have a non-paying tenant in their Spanish property (either a dwelling or commercial premises).

What does the service include?

• Analysis of the case and legal advice.
• Preparing and filing your suit.
• Dealing with court proceedings.
• Attending judicial hearings and submitting evidence.
• Claiming unpaid rents before the Spanish Courts.
• What are the steps?

How much does it cost?

i) Non-luxury rental:

• €1,300 plus 18% VAT in legal fees
• Plus a further €700 for the court agent’s fees.

ii) Luxury rental (>€3,500 p/m):

• €1,300 plus 18% VAT in legal fees
• Plus a further €700 for the court agent’s fees.
• 10% on all the recovered amounts (i.e. rental arrears).

We will first try to reach an amicable agreement.

If this fails, we resort to taking legal action. It generally takes less than a year on average to have the tenant evicted.

If you are interested in hiring this legal service, please e-mail me. We act nationwide.

Yours sincerely,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Colin,

It would cost as follows:

€1,300 plus 18% VAT in legal fees
Plus a further €700 for the court agent

Yours sincerely,

[Maura]

Hi, please could you tell me how this new law of eviction will help me, i'm a pensioner and have moved to Andalusia to live, and rented my piso as i am unable to sell it at the moment, in the costa brave, the tenant a young girl of 18 has not paid rent after the first month and is into the deposit money, so at the end of this month she will start to owe money, she is advertising a room to let, she has undesirables in there she is leaving rubbish in the enterance hall, and she has a rabbit on the balcony, the elderly couple upstairs to her are very concerned, what can i do?

[Anthony Thomas]

Hi there,
I have read with interest your articles as well as the various blogs and would be interested to have your legal point of view.
I am an Englishman owning several properties, one of which I have rented out on a room to room basis, usually to young Spanish guys working in the building trade. Each occupant has a separate but simple occupancy agreement ( anything from a three month to two year arrangement) . They all share the facilities within the property. I now realise, the effort in collecting rent, especially when nobody is at home and maintaining the property is just not worth the trouble.

Please correct me if I am wrong, I understand the easiest way to get rid of the whole lot of tenants in one attempt is to have the one regularly consistently bad paying guy evicted on breach of agreement which would mean he would have to leave the entire property empty for me to repossess. The other tenants automatically being evicted under the same ruling. I had thought that I would have to take action against everyone individually but I´ve been led to believe I only have to get rid of one to get rid of them all. And with this particular guy´s bad payment record he does represent the easiest one to go against with my strongest chance of legally winning his eviction. In theory this sounds like an ideal solution to get everyone out of my property in one simple action, so I can put it on the market, but in reality, would it actually work. My only concern is that all the other men are paying on time and meeting their obligations with regard to keeping the property clean and in good working order, one particular guy has been in the property for a few years.

Are there any laws that the other guys might evoke to protect themselves - I suppose I should be aware of this in advance.

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Hi, please could you tell me how this new law of eviction will help me, i'm a pensioner and have moved to Andalusia to live, and rented my piso as i am unable to sell it at the moment, in the costa brave, the tenant a young girl of 18 has not paid rent after the first month and is into the deposit money, so at the end of this month she will start to owe money, she is advertising a room to let, she has undesirables in there she is leaving rubbish in the enterance hall, and she has a rabbit on the balcony, the elderly couple upstairs to her are very concerned, what can i do?

Dear Maura

You can start taking action against her to have her evicted for late payment or non-payment.

This new law works very well and some parts of Spains and yet in others it has barely made a dent on the eviction timeframe.

In the few parts of Spain where it has worked remarkably well more than it being related to this new Express Eviction law it is really to the improvements brought about by key Law 13/2009 (and also here) which has made an impact streamlining the procedural procedures on evicting non-paying tenants cutting down timelines in some cases to a mere 5 months or less from start to finish.

Yours sincerely
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt