Rental problems. Help!

I have been renting a property for 7 weeks.   I paid a 750E deposit and one months rent. I then on 14 Dececmber paid the second months rent. Shortly after the house began to smell of damp and black mould appeared.  Its now on every ceiling, and the walls too in both my and my daughters bedroom.  The landlord has said there has never been a damp problem and its down to me because I have too many hot showers and dont open the windows enough.  I had only been in the property 5 weeks when the mould first made an appearance.  We work 12 hours a day so are really not at home that much.  Anyway, due to their hostile response and the obvioius damp problem I have said I am leaving the property.  I have said they can keep the deposit in leiu of the rent due on 14 January and that I will endeavout to be gone by the end of this month.  I have said any outstanding bills will be met.   They have today said that if I am not paying the rent then I must leave the property by midnight on 13th January or I will be immediately evicted and I also will not be receiving my deposit.  Surely this cant be allowed.  I am not intending to stay in the property rent free but I know that if I pay the rent on 14th I will lose my deposit and I thinks its most unfair considering their property has a damp and mould problem which was not disclosed.  any advice please?

You can not be lawfully evicted immediately after the 13th, if you are unlawfully evicted they are in big trouble. The process of evicting tenants has got a lot quicker in recent years but will still take a couple of months.

I wouldnt worry it will take up to two years to evict you so just relax change the locks in case he pops around most propertys in Spain are mouldy I have found ours is covered in the damn stuff we know some people up in Camposol who midnight flit as soon as the electric goes they just go to another place no body does any background checks in Spain its great really you can live on 3 euros a day around here 

Love Hugh

I wouldn't worry it will take up to two years to evict you

I have a Spanish acquaintance who lets some properties.  When he has problems he goes to the property when the tenants are out, packs all their stuff in cases, changes the locks and then sits outside with the cases until the tenants return. He then tells them he has evicted them.  Yes he knows it’s illegal but on the odd occasion a tenant has complained he has been fined 30/40 euros, but the tenants are still evicted.

The first time he had problems he  tried to do it legally. Cost him a lot in fees and the tenants were allowed to stay for several months and when they did leave they either stole or damaged the furniture, fittings etc.

Harwood:

Did you submit the tenancy to arbitration or to Courts?

No i just sent them photos of the damp and mould last week and said I would be leaving. That the rent due on 14 Jan would be paid by the deposit they have and that i would endeavour to leave by end of January. Then they said i must be out by 13th of January if I am not paying the rent. 

I can understand your dilemma but you simply cannot state that the deposit will cover the last month’s rent!

You must give the appropriate notice that is required under the rental contract and pay the rent due to that point.

You will then receive your deposit back if there are no outstanding bills or damage etc.

You may have cause for a dispute with the landlord and you departure but that does not give you the legal contractual right to simply walk away (assuming you have a contract).

You may have a claim and you can fight it in the courts.

Yes you can effectively squat and change the locks and fight the landlord all the way but why anyone would do that is beyond me especially as you soudn like a decent chap

However, in the world of reality the fact you have threatened to leave and surrender your deposit in settlement and the landlord has accepted that on the understanding that you leave by a certain date then walk away on the 13^th Jan and move into a hotel until you find something else.

I wont get my deposit back and I cant afford to stay in a hotel. Why should I be out of pocket because they didnt disclose that the house was damp? Im not going to stay there without paying rent or trash it but I dont expect to be evicted withing a week of not paying. They have the deposit. Ive only been there 7 weeks!

Perhaps you ought to hint to your landlord that if he is not reasonable, his already damp and squalid property might, regrettably, become a great deal damper and more squalid by the time he forces you out. 

What does your contract say

You may have caused the damp

There  may be a problem with the property

Nothing is clear

You are in the wrong as much as the landlord 2 sides to every story

Clean the damp paint the walls whatever but you cannot assume a deposit will cover the last months rent it is NOT rent so you are in the wrong 

Sorry to sound harsh but it will get messy and end up costing you more

There are plenty of short term holiday let's around rather than hotels

Unfortunately damp is a chronic problem found in many if not the majority of Spanish homes, especially at this time of the year. Unless caused by a defect, ingress of water or a leak it is caused by poor ventilation and insulation, it's a problem that needs to be managed by many.

If you get up in the morning, shower and then leave it unventilated all day and then return, cook, put the heating on and maybe shower again you are asking for problems really. If you like the property why not give it another go. treat the damp patches with neat bleach, you will be surpised how easy you can remove the spores, 

Going forward, keep the house ventilated at all times, we have rejars at the windows so it's easy to leave many of  them ajar 24/7. If you are not working at the weekends, open the house up and give it a good blow through, keep an eye out for damp spores and if you spot one treat with bleach immediately.

If you do decide to move on,unless you ventilate the home you may well end up with the same problem 

You may like to have it at home! ;)

http://www.costaluzlawyers.es/blog/spain-tenancy-act-2013/

When you shower always leave the window open during and after/don't dry clothes or wet towels within the house/Open every window and ventilate the house  for at least one hour every day /when you are sleeping a adult can expel up to a half a ltr .of water that's why your bedroom window is always dripping with condensation in the morning I am a landlord myself and every case of dampness I have looked at has been down to the Tennant's not opening windows to ventilate because its cold outside and trying to keep the heat in this stupidity it has the opposite affect the condensation on the wall has to evaporate first this will cool the property down for instance when you get out of a swimming pool you're body will cool down rapidly when the water evaporates of the body so open up them windows.

L

The comments re necessary ventillation are quite right, but it's also essential to heat the property fully whilst you are living in it. 

Colder air cannot "hold" moisture as well as warm air, so it becomes deposited on the avaiable surfaces - the windows and walls.  If water stays on these places for a while it becomes mouldy.

A property that is well ventilated and heated will not have mould - unless there is a flaw in the building.  But 99% of the time it's the occupant that causes the mould, not a defect in the building.

Harwood333 you say that you work long long hours and possibly you opt not to heat the premises whilst you are away.  I suggest that for this time of year you need to have a dehumidifier which can help and is relatively cheap to run, but you will still need good planning and some heat and lots of ventilation to cope with all the water producing activities - showering, cooking, boiling a kettle and breathing!