Getting out of long term contract early - help!

Hi everyone

My husband Simon and I,who are both danes, have been living in a house we rented outside barcelona for a year now. Unfortunately Simon just lost his job and we have to return to Denmark as soon as possible. Also we have a baby on the way - duedate 21. september, so we would like things to go somewhat smothly.. 

I am pretty sure we have a long term contract thats was signed 1. august 2014. I've been trying to understand the system of terminating a contract early, but I find it pretty unclear what to do and what our rights are. We have an appartment in Denmark that we subletted with at 3 months notice - normal danish procedure. So ideally we would like to move out from our house in spain before 1. december, and go back to the appartment in Denmark. We would like to give our houseowner a 3 monts notice if that is possible? What are our legal rights? Some places it says something about having to compensate for the months you leave early, which would be pretty devastationg if we are obliged for another year.  Does the contract automaticly renew itself after a year?  So far the owners have been nothing but nice and trustworthy and have fixes anything broken on a short notice. We would like to end things on good terms,  and get our 2 months deposit back. But it is also essential for us to get out in 2015 as we are loosing money on staying as it is right now. I sincerely hope someone can clear things up! 

Thanks a milllion in advance

Best regards from 9nna

Sounds the way l am reading your post you want the peny a the bun just hand you're notice in to the landlord you can forget about getting the deposit back ,and then catch a flight back home the landlord would be a fool if he took you to court( speaking as a landlord myself ) he will just be happy to get his property back with no damage good luck.

By the sounds of what you say they are good landlords, maybe a face to face talk like...Sorry we have no jobs, baby on the way, cant pay the rent, and you might get somewhere, even if you lose your 2 months  deposit thats better then another years rent you might not have, also the landlord wouldn't want you in the place paying no rent with the added cost and bother of evicting you.

Whats the worst that can happen...They say no, you have to pay me, well then you know what to do.

Thanks both of you for answering! 

They are good landlords and since we need a few months to plan the return, it would be nice if we could give them the three months notice (as it is custom in Denmark) so we would move out just before 1. december. My main question is, if that is possible or spanish contracts really commits you for whole year or more, when you have the long term kind? 

9nna

Hi the normal lenght of a long term letting contract in Spain is 11 months due to the laws protecting the tennant after 12 months (i.e. very difficult for the landlord to get them out). Not sure if Barcelona has any exceptions to this.

Anyway what does the contract you signed actually say?

Do you have a copy of the contract if not then you need to get a copy to understand the terms and then your rights of termination

Did you use an estate agent or go direct to the landlord whenyou found the house?

Have you discussed your contract and plans / issues with your landlord

3 Months notice would be reasonable in any letting contract

The current law in Spain is 3 months notice from the owner/agent and 1 months notice from the tenant.

hope this helps anf good luck

I am not sure where people get there information form but there is no such things as an 11 month contrcat in Spain, it is myth

Costablade is bank on, regradless of the length of the contract the law is 1 month notuce from the tennant and 3 months form the owner

Getting people out and getting deposits returned is a whole different ball game

This is fairly straight forward. As you have already been advised, you must check your contract asap to see what your contract states. In all my experience, the notice requirement after the first year was 1 month (in writing) without any penalisation. By the sounds of it, you have already fulfilled one year. My past contracts were always for 12 months with a right to renew and stay in the property up to 5 or 3 years, depending on the landlord. Either way there was never an obligation to fulfill a second or third year. Once the first year was fulfilled I was always free to walk with 1 months notice. No landlord would expect anything more as far as I am aware. So best to speak directly with them and agree the final terms to get your deposit back. If they deny you your deposit back and the property is ship-shape or as they gave it to you, then you will have to decide what to do...I would be very surprised if you have a penalisation clause after having been in the property more than 12 months.

You may find this info below interesting:

http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/costaluz/11328/Legal-tip-1029-NEW-Spain-Rental-Act.aspx