Tenants from Hell!!

<p>Hi, I read this yesterday, I don't know if it is of any use to you.</p> <p>Property tenants in Spain who don't pay their rent will find it harder in the future. A new law has been passed by Congress that will allow a property owner to evict tenants in less than 15 days once the tenant has been given 15 days for a voluntary leave after not having paid the rent.</p> <p>The new law aims to offer better security and guarantees to property owners and tenants in order to increase the supply of properties on the rental market.

 Hi, I had heard that the law was changeing very soon, but when my friend asked his lawyer when the changes would apply, because obviously he wanted to use the new rules as opposed to the existing useless ones, the lawyer aparently was unable to give an exact date.  

It really isn´t fair, there must be hundreds if not thousands of owners in similar situations, in many ways on there own, unless the laws are changed things will just get worse, especially with the recession.  It is bad enough not getting paid rent for a property, but to be expected to pay for utilities as well is out of order.  If only owners were allowed to cut off the supplies, which is illegal, this would somehow smoke these parasites out.  then there is the worry of what state the place will be left in, the list goes on, it is a pity that we couldn´t all form a pressure group forcing a change in law, but this is Spain........ 

I for one am not waiting for the law to change! Im not waiting 10 years to get my money!

I dont understand how Endesa takes so long to cut them off, i I dont pay my bills im cut off in 3 months, my tenant has left me 7 months electric owing and its still on!

That electric company also needs to be liable for something.

Joan

http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/costaluz.aspx

Can you explain about arbtration please as I do not understand it.

Our lawyer has already sent 2 legal letters to the tenant and she has responded by asking us via the lawyer, for £2000.  If we agree to pay her this amount (again, despite living in our property rent free in unhealthy conditions because of work that  needs to be carried out by the developer, and not paying anyof the utility bills for the whole of the 11 months)  she will 'move in a matter of weeks'.

The amount she is asking us to pay her is more than she originally paid to the rental agency when she moved in, which was 1800 euros.

As we did not sign the rental agreement ( she moved in in August, we eventually received the document in October when we had already asked the agencies involved to move her out), would we have a case against the company that supplied this tenant with the document and put us in this prediciment?

Can I also ask our lawyer to take this fast route to evict her or does it still need to go through court first?
 

I know there is the legal issue of cutting off utility supplies to tennants, but if the contracts are in the owners name (rather than the tennant's) then getting them cut off should be a simple matter of asking the companies concerned to do so. Simply cancelling a direct debit will not do the job. With Endesa, as far as I know, you can simply go online and cancel your supply. In my (limited) experience, they'll be out and cut off the supply within 24 hours. Of course, any outstanding bills must be settled first, though.

I know there is the legal issue of cutting off utility supplies to tennants, but if the contracts are in the owners name (rather than the tennant's) then getting them cut off should be a simple matter of asking the companies concerned to do so. Simply cancelling a direct debit will not do the job. With Endesa, as far as I know, you can simply go online and cancel your supply. In my (limited) experience, they'll be out and cut off the supply within 24 hours. Of course, any outstanding bills must be settled first, though.

What would be the concequences for us if we did ask for the electric and water to be cut off.  The contract that this lady has, which is not legal anyway as we have never signed it, ends on 18th July.

The fact that the utility bills are in your name makes no difference, you are aware that you have a tenant and therefore are not allowed legally to cut of the electric and water supplies, you could face a serious court case for this matter, all you can do is stop paying as long as you can prove that the tenant has given you no money for the bills.

As for the rental agency i think they are liable for a lot of what has happened and you need to see if your lawyer can hold them responsible.

Joan

Arbitration is a faster system to solve legal problems, without going to Courts but with the veredict of an arbitrator. The arbitrator´s decission have same force as a Judicial decission.

 More information here: http://www.eyeonspain.com/spain-magazine/renting-maria6.aspx

Something that will take a bit of gusto to carry out and i'm not really sure of the practicalities.

If you didn't sign a contract and received no information from the agent "renting" on your behalf, why don't you (or some friends) take a holiday at your holiday home? Perhaps they could even say the "agent" had told them the property would be empty and they are now renting it? Turn up one day with your suitcases and make yourself at home in your home. If the Guardia are called, surely it will be for the "tenant" to prove she is legally entitled to be in the property and didn't just break in? I wonder how long she would stay with two hairy arsed bikers for company .

Mark

Hi Mark,

You would have to have some kind of proof that you have paid the agent, obvioulsy the tenant would call the police and from experience i can guarantee you that all they would do is NOTHING and send everyone home and it would not gain anything for anyone, the best do to in these cases is to do things legally, it takes time but in the end the landlords win and the tenants lose!

We are going over to Spain next week.  The tenant has said she will not move on the 18/7/09 (end of 11 month contract never signed by us).  She said she will stay in our property with or without electricity as she can not pay any of the bills.  She has also said our house is at risk because of all the break in's in that area.  (Makes me wonder if she will sell some of our furniture, TV etc and say it has been stollen)

She is now asking for more money than before to move out, wants us to pay for 3 flights to UK, £300 for renewal of daughters passport, 1 months rent and 1 months deposit on property in UK!!!!!!

How do we stand legally (again, as have stayed within the law until now) if we take our furniture out of the property and put in storage?

Anyone know if we can do this?

Kernow.  Firstly I am not a lawyer.  I act on my knowledge of the law and my many experiences in dealing with the problems that may arise from living or buying in Spain.  You say tentant from hell, she is hell. She is blackmailing you which is against the law. I would keep written proof of everything you have to this effect.  It does not go in your favour that you did not sign the contract. She probably has some proof that you allowed her to rent. Even  with a contract the law here is similar to the UK protecting the tenant. If she is paying the rent she could be law be entitled to stay on living in the property. As regards taking the furniture. By law you are not allowed to enter a rented property even if it is yours. Therefore you cannot remove your furniture. If you did give her this money she is asking for how do you know that she will go? One should have a very good rental agency because evern for them it is difficult to know that a tenant is not trustworthy. You need to have legal assistance. I am sorry for your situation.

Hello Myra

We did not sign the contract because we asked an agency to rent and manage our property,  they then allowed a different agency to find the tenant without our knowledge. The second agent drew up the contract in August 2008 and took this ladies first month rent and a security deposit (which was 2000 euros short of what was required.)  They gave her the keys and allowed her in to our property.  We did not  have any contract sent to us at all until October 2008,when it was emailed over. By that time we were asking the original agent we asked to rent for us, to get this lady out. The agency kept the first months rent as a 'finding fee'.  We have never received any rent or money for the utility bills which now amount to over 2500 euros.  Once the agencies found out that this lady was a problem, they both washed their hands of the situation and told us that the contract was in our names as they had put our personal details on the top of the document.

The house is a new build and has many snagging issues, some are now major as there are problems with drainage/sewage and damp in the house.  Some work has been carried out but the house is really in no fit state to be lived in.

We were over in Spain in January 2009 and met the developer who came to see the house.  It is his opinion that this lady is making the situation worse in our property and will not do any more work in the house until she has left.

She has quite a few cats (and 2 teenage children) that have ruined our furniture by scratching the leather, which we saw for ourselves.  The garden, which was tiled, has been ruined as her son had ridden a motobike over the tiles which were not for that purpose.

I have written about this situation so many times, it is now 11 months since she moved in.  We have sent 2 legal letters through a solicitor which she has ignored.

She tells us it would be cheaper to give her some money that it would to take her to court.  She also says she has no money so it will be a waste of time.

She was working when she moved in in August 2008 but lost her job in November 2008 and has not worked since.

Are you sure we can not take the furniture out as we have received no rent?

Can I ask a question of a lawyer which may sound daft ( though it doesn't to me.)

If Kernow can gain access why can't he just change the locks & put the tenant's belongings outside ? 

I saw Myra said 'By law you are not allowed to enter a rented property even if it is yours. Therefore you cannot remove your furniture.' but, if Kernow does that, isn't it then up to the tenant to sue him ?  Is that not an option worth considering as all else has failed, certainly if he does have proof she asked for money, ie blackmail. If she has no money how can she sue him ? Can she denounce Kernow ? Is that then a megga worry that she will.

As Myra says, Kernow, you need legal assistance. You said 'We have sent 2 legal letters through a solicitor which she has ignored.' so she must surely know something could well happen now.

I'm interested in the outcome & wish you the very best.

Any help with the answers from a legal or knowledgable person sucha s Myra?

Hello again,

As i explained, you are not allowed to change the lock as there is a tenant and a contract, the first thing you need to due is keep at the agencies and threaten to take them to court specially as you never solicited the services of the second agency,  The contract should have an inventory with all the furniture and the tenants are liable if it gets damaged or goes missing,

I know its a pain but the only way out is the legal route, you have proof nothing has been paid and proof of blackmail, a good lawyer can get her out even though it will take time. If you dont you can be liable and it is just not worth it,

I have been left with over 2000 euros of damages and the tenants are liable and will pay but it has to go the legal route.

Joan