Squatters

Dear sir/madam,

I received an e-mail dated the 15th January from the keyholder of my spanish property, which stated she had found a tenant and had told the tenant the rent was including bills which was not acceptable, so i called her less than 24 hours later on the 16th january 2012 to tell her "NO".

To my absolute horror she said that she had already given them a contract (which i had not signed) and the keys, for which i told her that this is against the law without my permission and told her to return the deposit and get back my keys. The "squatters" have refused to leave, can i ask what are are my rights under spanish law?

Shall i call the police and would i be allowed by law to enter the house while they are out and change the locks?

The police wouldnt remove them hun.

Your claim is against the letting company. Money has exchanged hands and the contract is deemed legal in that respect.

Firstly you need to know how long the contract is for, and whether it's been given as a vivienda or a temporada. As the type the contract that been given to them has a bearing on the outcome.

If the contract is 6 or 11 months it may be better to let it run as it'll take that long to get around the court system. The tenants have done everything right as far as they are concerned.

It may be worthwhile issuing a case against the letting agents for the error... They may come to some sort of arrangement for you.

But I'd say it's pretty hopeless to challenge the tenants as they are not the ones in the wrong.

My other half Geoff has done a lot of letting work over the years and I think you'll find he's sadly right.

I wish there was more that could be done. But I definitely think you should at least threaten the letting company with court action and see how they respond.

Best of luck,

Sal

Thanks for your reply Sal, and yes i believe you are right with what you say. I believe the letting company may not be a company as such but rather an ex pat living on the estate looking after a few properties as a key holder/cleaner, i know her and her husband and never thought she would do such a thing. she gave a contract without my signature but if she is not a registered company then would the contract be invalid?

Regards,

Do you or her have any paperwork giving her authority to act on your behalf?

I think it may be a tough one for you though... But again, unfortunately for you, the tenants havent really done anything wrong so there's not point in pressing them.

What official agreement do you have between yourself and this "agent"??

Sal

Not again! These estate agents and rental companies are a real nightmare!

Your only option may well be a legal route! Maybe consult with a solicitor to see what the options are, knowing the police in Spain they will do nothing and tell you to go to court!

Hope you can get it sorted.

Joan

 Well to be fair - the police in the Uk would not interfere either for private landlords!!!

The question really is, are the tenants paying the rent and is the agent passing this money back to you?

If not then a new law that came in recently means that you can actually get non-paying tenants chucked out after 30 days (if I remember right).

The other thing to do is file a "denuncia" at the local police against the agent.  The police will then be obliged to follow it up.  If she is not legally registered to run a business then just the threat of a denuncia might make her change her tact with you.

Best of luck with it, sounds a bit of a nightmare.

Justin

rknox

Ask to see the contract immediately

A accepted form of Spanish property rental contract should be written in Spanish

Rknox,

From a legal point of view please note that entering a property in this way is what we call a criminal offence and therefore you would need to file a possession injunction and eviction. This process is one of the quickest proceedings for this kind of matter. 

If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact us at comunicaciones@lexland.es or by phone on 0034.952.77.88.99.

Kind regards,

Lexland Marbella

Whats your problem you should be pleased you have a tenant under the economic circumstances I bet its been vacant for months prior to this tenant arriving

Just chill and if you dont get your brass then complain

You are perhaps too controlling let the expert decide

G

It might be worth trying the police. My neighbour let a house out for someone else and received a months rent and a months deposit. When she went to collect the second months rent they insisted that they had already paid it and refused to accept that this was a deposit to be returned at the end of the tenancy. She was then threatened, informed the police who arrived within an hour and the tenants vacated the house there and then while the police supervised.

 Rob. Do not enter when they are out and change the locks. I was in that situation a year ago and my solicitor told me it was an imprisonable offence!!! I said what to enter my own house??? yes its classed as breaking and entering. Luckily in my case they left of their own accord, leavng the place like a squat. You have been given advice to just let it go the time and hope that the contract is no longer than an11 month one or the renters rights change completely in their favour. My advice for what its worth, dont fall out with anyone over this. Find out how long the contract is for, if its less than 11 months, heave a sigh of relief and go with it. If you upset the tennants they have the capability of trashing the place and dissapearing into thin air. Been there done that!!! it can take up to three years to get a court order of eviction if the tennants dispute your statement. one of our friends was in that situation and the tennant was a spanish councillor and he knew the ropes, it took 3 years and a lot of money to get him out. Sit tight and wait!!!regards Trish

 To be honest, the situation with tenants is not very good here in Spain.  The law is not quick enough to avoid large losses by landlords not to mention the damage they cause out of either ignorance or spite.  

I am wondering what the legal situation is with a website for Name and Shame  - It would give people a chance to blacklist tenants who do not deserve to be able to rent property with the intention of not paying rent.  I could put already a few names together they make a loss of around €20,000 till now... not including the time and money it takes to rectify the damage done.

I'm a bit confused. If you wanted to let the property which has been done, why do you want the tenants out? The only problem seems to be whether the rent includes bills or not. The wording of the contract may answer this question. If not then whose name are the bills in now? If there is nothing in the contract about bills, go and put them all in the tenants' name.

I have a problem very similar to this and wondered if Maria could help? I initiallyaccepted a tenant from an agent but when the contracts came I noticed that her name wasn't on the contract only her employers this worried me as if she was to leave then they could put anyone in,so I asked for this to be altered to her name only and also wanted an inclusion that I do not accept pets. Unfortunately for me the agent gave the original contract to the employer who signed it before giving it to me to read. We (my husband and I) didn't sign this contract but did sign the amended contract which included the amendments, the employer did not sign this. 

Now we are in the situation where we have discovered that this tenant is already in the property as the agent gave her a key to have a good look round on her own!!!!

I have booked to come down to Spain to attend our AGM on Monday 30th, and expected to stay in our apartment only to be told 2 days ago that we have tis "squatter ".

Please can anyone advise what are my options here as there is no signed contract between her employer (who is paying the rent) and ourselves.

This was my first venture into long term letting and it has put me off totally.

Regards,

Mo

"there is no signed contract between her employer (who is paying the rent) and ourselves"

Are they strictly "squatters", if someone is paying the rent?

Other than that, I can't help. If you want Maria's help, I suggest you send her a PM. She may not see this thread.

thank you Roberto I guess you are right just so frustrated as we have booked to arrive Monday 30th and have nowhere to stay. There is no signed contract between the two parties, the employer paid a deposit which we are willing to pay back and ofcourse the agent took the first months rent as their charge but again no contracts have been signed. The agent gave her the key to look around but appears unwilling to take responsibility for this.

Regards,Mo

Roberto, we have a squatter the electricity meter has been removed, we are not sure what services they have, they have keys! The property is a bank repossession, we have asked them to leave they did, the committee, overnight we could not get the keys! We think they are back but without sitting out side we are not 100%, I have contacted the electric company, to try and get them to look at any power changes have been done, but with haveing keys from? Unknown person we are trying to get the bank to change the locks, is there anything else we can do?

Sorry, I don't understand your post

Sorry

Roberto,

we have a squatter, 

the electricity meter has been removed from the vacant apartment.

the squatters say they found the keys to property, is a bank repossession apartment.

we asked them to leave they did, we are the urbanisation committee, they left sometime overnight, so we could not get the keys!

We think they are back but without sitting out side we are not 100%.

i have contacted the electric company, to try and get them to look at any power changes that have been done!

 we are trying to get the bank to change the locks, is there anything else we can do?

I did a copy/past part of the post and it did not make sense sorry!