An EOS member "woke me up" this morning with this full list of interesting questions on rentals. I have also attached a link to articles on this topic published in the articles section of EOS.
As always, my answers in bold green. Green is the color for hope in Spain. Is it the same in the UK? Ireland?
My most and first advise is to submitt the contract to arbitration rather than Courts.
Please have answers to your questions below in bold green ( same text as your email):
1. What references should I obtain and are guarantees possible in Spain? The best guarantee is to submitt the contract to arbitration rather than Courts. References can be provided by the prospective tenant but there is nothing like a public office to provide them.
2. Can credit checks be performed in Spain and if so how? RAI is a defaulters registry in Spain. What is the minimum personal information I can request from a tenant? As much as he allows you to.
3. Can I hold the security deposit in my own bank account or must it be deposited elsewhere? Yes, you can hold it in your own bank.
4. How long do I have to carry out any repairs to the property and can the tenant withold the rent until the repairs are done? There is no legal timeframe for the repairs being done. It will depend on the type of reparations needed on every occassion. The tenant can terminate the contract if repairs are not made, so any rents allegedly unpaid due to necessary repairs will be difficult to claim back.
5. Is there a maximum period for a long term let on a temporary contract? No, there is not.
6. If I am unfortunate to have problematic tenants how do I go about evicting them? Through the eviction procedure, whish is long and costful. That is why we always advise people to submitt the contract to arbitration ( quicker, and cheaper way to solve this type of conflicts)
7. Is there a time period for me to return a security deposit at the end of a tenancy and is there a procedure for deductions e.g do both parties need to agree on deductions being made? what if both parties do not agree? You have one month after which, legal interests will have to be added to the refund. Yes, both parties need to agree on deductions being made. If there is a disagreement you can go to the Consumers office ( if the landlord was a company). Again, the arbittration system covers these circumnstances much better than the judicial system would do.
8. I have heard that changing bills into tenants names can be difficult, time consuming and sometimes costs. What is the best procedure with regards to bills - should I pay them and get reimbursed or should I take the effort to change the holder? This depends on personal preferences.
9. Finally the contract - does this have to be in Spanish? Ideally I would like it in Spanish with an english translation. Does anyone know where I could get hold of such a contract? Any lawyer with rentals services should be able to provide this to you. I have also heard that the contract should be submitted to arbitration- it is highly advisable does anyone know how this is done? Does there have to be a specific clause in the rental contract? Yes, adding an specific clause to the contract in this sense, is the way to do it. You will also be choosing the arbitrator in that clause
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Santuario de la Luz ( Tarifa, Cadiz) by Basilievich at Flickr.com