Liability for past tenents water bill

Long story short, mother in law rented an apartment to a bunch of lowlifes who never paid anything. Because they had kids they were never cut off and she being a softy fool let them away with this for 3 years. The craziest part is they claimed tax relief for the imaginary rent and the mother in law got a tax bill.

Anyway, we moved here and have renovated the flat after the scum left. All set to move in after also paying the various fees to the electricity company but the water company wont reconnect until we pay a reconnection fee (fair enough) a deposit (fair enough) and the outstanding charges of 1000 euro. WTF!

I have to pay a water charge for this git or get no water but he gets to swan into a new flat, get connected no problem and continue to get away with it? Surely someone in the water company is just chancing their arm?

The debt stays with the property and therefore you will have to pay this bill in order to get the water reconnected, sorry but that's the way that the system works in Spain and they have a monopoly

Thanks for answering, we spoke to citizens advise and were advised to fill out some form that basically asks the company to consider the case and be lenient.

We were told it takes upto 3 years for the decision but they will connect us in the meantime and put the outstanding bill aside pending a decision and that the decision boils down to A, a person who wants the council to get paid regardless or B, someone who agrees that its not fair on us. They said its 50 / 50 which way it goes.

A result of sorts, I suppose, but you do still have the 1000e outstanding bill hanging over you. 3 years to make a decision seems an extrordinary long time even for Spain. Is it any wonder that people are reluctant to rent our their property. Let's hope that they come to the right conclusion eventually. Good luck!

Agreed but were hoping to put something towards it over time or I should say my mother in law is, not my bill or apartment.

Sounds like your Mother in Law has a good heart.......presumably she was conscious of a family under stress and for this to be either abused by someone intent on a free ticket or by a system unprepared to recognise that good heart, would be so sad........ be proud of her.

Why werent the utility bills put in the tenants names if they were long term renters?

Owners tend not to put  bills in renters names because they dont tell the tax man they are renting out. This is one of the pit falls they have when they get crap renters.

Then owners can't complain when it comes back to bite them on the bum, then!

Your right.

Read the first comment I made and the reply by inspectahomespain, bills in lodgers names and tax man has looked for tax based on rental income (that was not recieved!). Bills outstanding stay with the property, not follow the named person and thats the entire reason I posted.

If you have nothing to ad, dont comment

Perhaps the questions to ask relating to this thread are:

1) What rights do landlords (home owners) have to protect from abusive tenants who refuse to pay for utilities used, or does the system make the assumption that these amounts will be recovered from the mutually agreed rental income (and deposit?) from the outset?

2) What rights do landlords have to ensure that the rental contract is adhered to (i.e. rent is paid according to mutually agreed terms) and is there a small claims court in existence to assist in this regard?

3) Does the existing system expect the landlord to have taken all necessary steps to speedily enact their legal rights, or is there any consideration/leniency given to "compassionate" landlords who have not acted in a speedy manner to immediately recover these overheads that they are ultimately made responsible for?