How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent

[Susan]

Hello, I am currently 7 months into an 11 month contract (although the contract was drafted in english not spanish - please comment on validity) and 2 months in arrears.

I paid the usual months deposit and month in advance upon moving into the property. Further payments were made by bank transfer until 2 months ago when I lost my job and couldnt pay my rent.

The Landlord is now threatening to change the locks and cut the electric off if I dont pay all the arrears in the next 10 days.

1. Can she do this?
2. What are my rights?
3. What procedure should she be following?
4. What should I do if she does change the locks while I am out?
5. What penalty would she face?

I am genuine and want to remain in the property but am afraid I will be unable to met with his unreasonable timescale for the repayment. I want to reach an amicable agreement with the landlord but it seems she isnt interested. What can I do?

Thank you in anticipation of your advice

[aflores]

Dear Susan,

The landlord is not entitled to change locks or switch supplies of as this is considered to be a criminal offence. You should send the landlord a letter to the effect of warning him that if any of the above are carried out you will take legal action.

If the landlord wants you out of the property he has to send you notice of payment and evictions and then file a Court case, which will take a few months. Even though you are bound by a contract generally speaking landlords prefer to settle the matter even of the lose a month or two than having to go to Court.

I trust this is useful advice.

regards
Antonio

[Katrinre]

I have property in costa del sol, my tenant were late always on payment and now they left the property without paying 3 month rent and bills and they have another 6 month to their agreement.

The agency did not do much to recover the money from them despite I am paying them management fee.

Please let me know what I need to do, I am also late on my mortgage payment with bank, which is very serious.

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Madam,

In all honesty it is not an Estate Agency's job to recover unpaid rental. They simply cannot.

As a Landlord you are legally entitled to claim from your now ex-tenant all the owed rental, that is the full 9 months. It us up to you to decide if you want to pursue them through the law courts to claim back the unpaid 9 month's rental besides legal interests.

Regarding the arrears you mention it is indeed a very serious issue.

We have a very long thread dealing with this matter:

Bank Repossessions in Spain: A Legal Perspective - 25th June 2008

I believe the arrears should be your prime concern now and you should give them priority. Unpaid rental is second tier in comparison.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[Hedgepog]

My sister has a flat that she has been renting out successfully for several years through an Agent in a small town near Vera. In August 2009, after the property had been empty for a couple of months, her Agent said he was returning to the UK but a friend of his would take over the letting of the flat but that an elderly couple would like to rent the flat. My sister agreed to this. However the elderly couple have refused to pay rent, it also appears that they have changed the locks on the property. My sister sent another representative to talk to the 'squatters' and at this meeting they agreed to start paying rent for which my sister sent them bank details. However no money has been forthcoming. The 'squatters' are now claiming they have squatters rights and are refusing to pay. What should my sister do?

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I was wondering when I would be asked this question.

With the ongoing credit crunch the number of reported squatters has soared in Spain. If you watch the Spanish news it's becoming all too common nationwide. The high levels of unemployment are driving people to take extreme measures with vacant properties.

From a legal standpoint the problem is how long it takes to have them removed from the property, if at all. Art 202 of the Spanish Criminal Code rules on this type of crime.

Depending on how clogged the law courts are it can take between 2-4 years or even more to have them removed, in which time the property may have been completely vandalised with even the fixtures being ripped of the walls, including floor tiles and pipes which are then resold. Let me add that if you are repaying a mortgage loan you will have to continue servicing it regardless.

And it gets worse. There have been quite a few rulings recently of judges which have established that squatters cannot be removed from the property they are squatting as it's the only place they have to dwell in (!). So effectively it's as if some judges invited other would-be-squatters to follow suit in view of the impunity of their actions and complete disregard for our laws.

Recently a luxury unsold development in Mijas (Costa del Sol) which had been repossessed from the developer by the lending banks was invaded by a huge family of gypsies (150 + !!) which literally stormed into the place swarming it:

Gypsy families squat in empty Mijas apartments. Surinenglish.com

The problem is that this trend is catching on with the financial crisis and more squatters are being reported.

And the same as in England & Wales, the property becomes legally yours after uninterrupted possession (30 years) even if contested and in bad faith.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[roddie]

Dear Sir
I am using a Spanish Lawyer in Fuerteventura to try to evict a man who refused to sign the contract he was given. I had stupidly given him jey about 4 days befor e he got it. He paid some rent for a few months but now owes me over a years worth. I have been asked by the lawyer after many months to give them a form signed by me and apostilled by the foreign office. Is this a normal request, I am surprised it was not asked for immediately - not several months later. They have said to me the court has loads of cases and can give not time scale for the eviction. I am getting concerned the money send to them may have been a waste of time as inefficiency seems so rife.
Yours Roddie

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dera Sir,

I would imagine this "form" is the litigation POA your lawyer needs to represent you and have your non-paying tenant legally evicted.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt

[kelly]

Hello. We have rented our house for 7 months to a couple. They have a contract saying that they are responsible to pay the utilities etc. They were told that they have to give 2 months notice if they want to leave before the end of the contract. They are always late with payments and will not pay the utilities. They say they are leaving with one months notice and are due to go in the next 2 weeks. They say take the money out of the deposit but the deposit will not cover what they owe and continue to build up debt. They lie that they have done a transfer and they havent. The agent only provided their passport numbers and we know they are going to another part of spain. We want to sue them but as they are leaving in 2 weeks time we will not have a forwarding address for them. Is it possible to issue a denuncia for unpaid rent and utilities that could be served by local police and they could see the tenants official id. more importantly could they make them give them their forwarding address which I believe to be in Malaga. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir,

Even if they do not have a forwarding address you can regardless issue legal proceedings against them.

At some point or other they will have to enter or exit this country and may be stopped.

In any case if they have assets abroad, i.e. in the UK, you can always place a charge against them following a Spanish ruling.

Please contact us on your matter and we will advise further.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt