Tenants fom Hell. What can be done legally

 Competa... et al...

If the owner does not pay, they will take HIM to court and have his car etc/anything of value sold to pay it...

The tenant has more rights than him.

He could even end up in jail over the matter if he did cut it off.

This really is how crazy it is! 

 I think you can cut them off, but there is nothing stopping them getting reconnected?

Such a disasterous situation, surely there must be some other common sense things that can be done which may have worked for others?

I don't think anyone is listening to me...

You 'could' physically cut them off - but you would be liable to prosectuion.

As regards non payment/Endesa for eg doing the cutting off - the bill would have to be in their name etc.

And no, they could not have legally reconnected until all previous debts were paid. (Whether in their name or anyone elses. That's how it works!) 

Sigh...

I think I am talking to myself here.

(Spain is not like the UK at all - it is very clear about these rules and tenants etc.)

With 25 years of experience in Spain, I think I know how it works!

Exactly, moncapitan.  They would need a legally binding tenancy agreement before the tenant could put the utilities in their name.  Most owners keep utilities in their own name for exactly that reason - so they remain in control of the bills.

 Quote from a Spanish lawyer on the matter on another forum...

Dear Sir/ Madam,

If you try to throw them out, ever so politely, you may find yourself sleeping in a Spanish jail this w/e.

Even though it's your property, you've signed a tenancy agreement with them whereby you relinquish possession on the property. Moreover, you have to request written permission from the tenant to enter the property (your property), regardless if he's paying or not the let. 

You will have to hire a litigation lawyer to start an eviction procedure and have them removed from your property.

Please read my article on the matter:

How to Evict a Tenant who is not Paying the Rent (http://www.marbella-lawyers.com/articles/showArticle/spain-tenant-not-paying-rent-spanish-property) - 17th December 2007 



Can’t I just lock them out or cut-off the utilities and force them out this way ?

The problem in cutting off the utilities, or changing the locks to the property is that the landlord may be subject of having a criminal proceeding being filed against him. 


Changing the locks without the tenant’s permission can be considered either coercion (delito de coacciones) or unlawful entry (delito de allanamiento de morada), or both. These acts are punishable under the Spanish Penal Code. There is ample Jurisprudence on the matter, and as an example we can cite the Supreme Court ruling of the 28th February 2000 (rec 4642/1998).


If the landlord decides to cut off the utility supply, either directly or indirectly (not paying the invoices), he may also be prosecuted for this act, as it is equally regarded as coercion. 


In addition to this, the landlord will be breaching the rental contract and this weakens his legal position before a court on claiming eviction.

In any case, the debtor before the utility companies is the owner of the property, never the tenant. Any unpaid utility invoices will go against the property. The landlord will have to pay for all the expenses associated to reconnecting his property to the utility services as well as paying the invoices and any delay interests. For all the reasons outlined, this is not a recommended option. 



Attempts to enter the rented property, your property, without the tenant's written permission may be regarded as illegal trespassing. Attempts to shut off the utilities or change the locks may be regarded as coercion. On all the afore you may be sentenced to jail in Spain as its happened to other landlords already. 

My personal opinion is that the Government must change these laws as they are totally biased, for historical reasons no longer existent, towards tenants. 

I take the opportunity to offer you our legal services for the eviction procedure (http://www.lawbird.com/services/view/26/Tenant-Eviction-for-a-Spanish-Property). We act nationwide.

Please contact us (http://www.lawbird.com/services/contact)if you are interested.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt

Hi Susan

That's a useful piece of information you've quoted as it is important that people know the possible consequences if they go along the illegal route.  I think what you mentioned earlier about the 1,000 euro fixed fee to get the hearing within 6 months is the way to go.  It is of course an astronomically unnecessary fee and totally unjustifiable, but the law is even more of an ass in Spain than it is in the UK.  I would be very careful though about lawyers and find out beforehand what they would charge and what they would do for the money.  In the UK we do all our eviction procedures ourselves as landlords and have never employed a lawyer, and depending on how much work is involved, I wouldn't expect astronomical fees, but one would have to check first.  Our worry with lawyers has always been whether we can rely on them to do things correctly and most importantly whether they turn up on the day.  On this Forum I read about a case where the lawyer didn't turn up and the plaintiffs then automatically los tthe case, losing on that morning tens of thousands of pounds when they were clearly in the right.  So there's a lot to think about.  But you seem to be the most informed person here on how things stand in Spain.  It doesn't look like Brummie Dave is actually looking at all of this useful information, but it will stand here anyway and may help someone else who finds themselves in a similar position.  I think the main lesson is that it is a very bad idea to do long-term rentals of property in Spain.  All the best.

I can't imagine landlords falling over themselves to let an apartment in Spain.

Regardless, changing the locks and cutting off the utilities is the way to go IMO.

 One detail that should be incorporated by any landlord into a rental agreement (to ensure no legal nightmare) is that it is a "contrato de arrendamiento de temporada", which can be for a term up to a year (I believe).  This deals with certain issues that are present with 'long term rentals' (exceeding one year and up to five years).

I am sure Maria de Castro has mentioned on this site, on more than one occasion, that this is a significant factor in renting - many believe this is only for short term (holiday) lets and this is not the case.

By making your rental agreements "temporada" I believe that it may lessen many problems that owners face.  I'm up for correction if this is erroneous.

 Si eggcup, sadly long term rentals have the potential to go very wrong indeed. our last landlady (before we were lucky enough to find something cheap enough to become first time home owners), always made us sign a 'temporada' (11 months - renewable, at her descretion), but she was very sure to make sure we gave a UK address so she could say we were not stuck for accommodation etc. (Although we were both resident and on the padron here at the time, so would have been interesting to see how it would have panned out if we had decided not to pay the rent etc. (But we are not like that, so she didn't have to test it.) 

Regarding legal ways to get people out and lawyers. 

I totally agree with you regarding troublesome - and inept lawyers.

I would not choose to hire one again for anything, but have had to do this time round regarding house purchase. But fingers crossed all seems to be going well. (She has reached the second part of a three phase case to get our house Escritura updated. And she has done all she promised. This said, she has a very sharp para legal on her case - In fact the person we trust with most of our legal and financial matters now. At least we finally found someone who is honest and does what she says, and on time!) 

ps - If johnx is reading this - yes I am contradicting myself.. but I write as I talk! 

it is very hard to try to get some1 out of your house and legaly it can take up to five years, some people say turn the water and electricity of but this can somethimes make thing worse, they could vandilise the property. i wish you all the luck in the world that you have a speedy and clean clear out of your house .

There is NO legal way to remove a bad tenant without heavy financial loss.

 The law is an ass, both in Brit and Spain.

The ONLY alternative is to have the same mindset as the skumbag tenant.

Mr Mike Tyson must be employed and given a bonus when the property is empty of  crap.

This is the ONLY cost effective method.

Anything else is a total waste of time and money.

We had a problem with a tenant who would not move out at the end of the tenancy and refused to pay the rent.  We took out a denuncia on him but this just went into a queue.  We then heard on the grape vine that he had gone on holiday (can you believe it) so we went t the property and changed the locks and sat back to see want would happen.  When he returned he broke into the house and changed the locks back and also reported us to the Guardia who came around to see us. They were very good with us and were really on our side but told us we could not do what we had done and that we would just have to wait while it went via the courts.

In the end the tenant disappeared anyway but not before he repainted the house, may be he a touch of guilt after all.

 how about just removing the doors instead of replacing the locks?