bad tenants!

anyone else having problems with tenants? we have people in our property who haven't paid rent in months and will not leave! what to do?

Hi,

Do they have a contract of tenancy?

How long is it for?

I am no expert on this, there are Lawyers on here that will advise you.

The more detail you can give, they will answer you correctly.

I do know that it is better to have an 11month tenancy than anything longer.

This gives you  more rights as the landlord.

 Well, I am afraid that just an eviction procedure is possible in your case. Some of them react and leave once they receive the first letter from landlord´s lawyer.

Best,

Maria

thanks for the advice. do landlords have any extra rights as the lease is only for 11 months?

We have had a tenant in our property since August 2008 who has only paid 1 months rent and no utility bills to date.

Some problems with our house we can not get resolved while she lives there (snagging and more serious).  She has been asked to leave and also was offered 2 other properties inOctober 2008, which she turned down and has refused point blank to leave.

Had to get lawyer involved in January 2009, has already been sent 2 official legal letters and has ignored these, knowing we will have the expence to take her to court to get eviction and this can take up to 3 years despite the contract only  being for 11 months.

We have been told we can not ask for the electric and water to be turned off, despite her running up large bills (last one over 400 euros for electric) or we could get in to trouble legally ourselves.

Her animals have ruined all the new leather furniture we put in (beautiful and expensive furniture pack and we were told she had no animals) 

It feels like landlords have apsolutelly no rights and the tenant has the right to do what they want.

Good luck with your situation I hope you can get it resolved sooner than we have been able to.

Thats terrible! You could try to denounce her to the police although they cannot throw her out. Initiate legal proceedings immediately as she sounds like a hard nut and wont be pressurized into moving out.

You could try not paying the bills, plead poverty, as theres not much anyone can do if you are not living in Spain and it means she would have to take action against you for recourse at which point you can counter claim and means her paying the lawyer upfront - doubt she would stay long without elec and water.

Good luck

are you mad break in kick her out change the locks and if she protests give her a slap thats the only language some of these ** Edited  - Please refrain from using foul language ** understand

Is there some way of getting the details on these sort of tenents? Some sort of list or something so that others do not make the same mistakes with them?

As a company, we try very hard not to let this happen to our property owners and so far, it has'nt but it would be great to have some way of checking peoples names/passport numbers or whatever.

I would be happy to compile a list and sent it out if you would all like to let me know? It would also help me make sure this never happens to my clients in the future. Or is there already a web site with this sort of info?

We should all work together to stop these thieves and vandals. Just a thought, what do you guys think?

This has been raised before but the main objection is that some people may be named and shamed when they are not at fault. Obviously as in the case below there is no doubt who is in the wrong, in some cases landlords wont do the repairs or return deposits when tenants move out, so it can be a problem naming in these cases

Perhaps a private list of bad tenants would be an idea?

Obviously am not able to name anyone, although I think a list of problem tenants that is keept in letting agencies would be a really helpful thing as this lady moved from her previous accomodation because there was 'fire damage' that we have found out since, was caused by an 'accidental' kitchen fire and she moved from her accomodation prior to that because of 'flood damage' (not sure how or what that was caused by).

We have found out these things ourselves as the agency we used never knew. or did not tell us. They actually let another agency we had never heard of, put this tenant in our property without the correct deposit and with loads of cats when we specifically said (verbally) no pets!. The agency was going to also 'manage' our property (first time we have ever had a property in Spain and new to the whole situation) but once there were problems with the snagging and other more serious build issues, and the tenant became difficult, they withdrew and we were told basically, it was our problem.

Im sure the agencies involved follow the eye on spain, so will know our situation.

This has been the worse thing we have ever done in our lives and the stress and anxiety it has caused, and continues to cause is almost unbearable.

I hope this actually warns other people to make sure they use a reputable agency who will stick by them if there are any problems as none of this was in our control. 

That really is terrible! When I used to manage and rent properties I had a basic agreement with the owner just so it was clear what was offered and what went on.

There is nothing stopping you or anyone drafting a simple agreement which both sign to protect both sides. It is rather strange that everyone goes on about 11 month contracts for tenants, but nothing in writing between owners and agencies!

'are you mad break in kick her out change the locks and if she protests give her a slap thats the only language some of these ** Edited  - Please refrain from using foul language ** understand'

I rather like Rod's train of thought.

If WE don't pay our electric bill in Spain it is PROMPTLY switched off so why isn't that an option ?

I know a few couples whose service was cut off as their bank couldn't pay the direct debit because they'd all forgotton to transfer sufficient funds.  They arrived back in Spain to find quite a stench from their defrosted freezers I tell you.

I agree that you cannot cut off Water and Electricity supplies as it is illegal and YOU would end up being the one in court.

However, IF you cannot PAY those bills, as you don't have the money, then Aquahest and Endesa/Sevillana would terminate the Water and Electricity supplies themselves.

Strictly speaking under spanish vivienda law the landlord pays the bills and the tenant reimburses. However the shorter 11 month term contract is a grey area and I always used to put the bills into the tenants name - not the supply but the bill itslef. This meant if they didnt pay it they cut themselves off!

Its laziness that agents dont do it and one of my still standing clients is a lawyer for whom I find tenants for, and he puts the bills into the tenants name! Easily done and saves hassle. If the leccy gets turned off then the tenants will move!

My tenant is just about to move out, which is a shame as he has always paid on time and when it came to the bills he gave me cash in advance.

However I was thinking of including the bills in the monthly rental charge, that way if the new tenant doesn't pay the rent, then they are not paying the water and electricity bills, and then I can't pay them, so they will be cut off.

Just because a tenant stops paying the rent, doesn't mean they are going to stop paying the Electricity and Water bills, even if they are in their own name!

Just my two peneth worth.

The only problem is that tenants dont have any responsibility and will easily run up huge bills as its included in the price. Maybe make a futher stipulation in the rental agreement it covers to reasonable use and state this use, then anything else is deducted from the damages deposit.