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In Spain, rental contracts: the most frequent breaches between property owners and tenants!

A study by the Rental Negotiation Agency summarizes the misconceptions of both property owners and tenants when renting in Spain.

In times of uncertainty and crisis, scams become increasingly evident, many people breaking rules and laws for their own benefit in many areas. This is true in the case of the Spanish rental market and is a problem accelerated by the coronavirus crisis.  properties in qatar

This is the conclusion reached either by ANA (Agencia Negociadora del Alquiler) or the Rental Negotiation Agency in Spain, where the experts say they noted 'a significant growth in the numbers of tenants and landowners who are seeking shortcuts to circumvent or directly violate the Urban Leasing Law (LAU) in these exceptional circumstances generated by the COVID 19 pandemic.'

To avoid any problems, José Ramón Zurdo decided in a recent study to summarize what are the most frequent 'mistakes' among landlords and tenants in Spain and how these lead to a breach of the rental agreement.

Frequent violations by property owners
Requesting additional guarantees for over two months
Prevention of extensions for up to five years
Use residential rentals like tourist rentals
Subsidized (protected) housing development
Frequent infringements by tenants
Failure to pay rent
Housing degradation: property damage and maintenance
Use the deposit as a rental month
The landlord leaves before the contract ends.
Home for another person
Frequent violations by property owners

Requesting additional guarantees for over two months
The study explains that it is common for proprietors in Spain who rent property in the face of fears of non-payment that they want to secure as much rent as possible from the beginning and therefore property owners often request additional guarantees from tenants over two months.

The latest LAU reform by RD 7/2019 of 1 March, which limits additional safeguards to a maximum of two monthly payments, contravenes this practice. However, landlords may claim over two months' rental as an additional guarantee if rent is intended for a period of long term, that is for landlords that are legal entities for more than five years or more than seven years.

Prevention of extensions for up to five years
The latest LAU reform allows tenants to stay in a rented property for up to five years. Some landlords use some tricks to get the property back by claiming for themselves or close relatives false reasons of need. It is also possible to relocate via legal channels.

Use residential rentals like tourist rentals
Housing tenants that were destined for seasonal rent and are not obliged to fulfill the five years that tenants have the right to stay, normally make rental contracts for a period of less than a year to recover the property later and leave it without the right to prolongation. "When locators demonstrate that the purpose of the rental is to reside habitually and permanently, the agreement automatically becomes a LAU-regulated housing rental contract and not a tourist arrangement," says the ANA.

Subsidized (protected) housing development
Landlords are known to abide also by and violate the rules when renting protected or subsidized housing (more often called VPO, VPP, VPT, etc.) in Spain, especially when, in order to maintain their belongings, they reserve storage rooms in the property. However, as the study points out, "home storage rooms are indissoluble and must be handed over to the tenants."

Frequent infringements by tenants

Failure to pay rent
ANA emphasizes that "Late payment is, sadly, the main contractual default when it comes to property rentals in Spain. The causes are quite different: on the one hand, those of "professional defaulters" who do not pay their rent intentionally, or who think they have a right not to rent and profit primarily from private owners, or businesses in this sector with little or no experience. On the other hand, there are tenants who, for example, become unemployed who are ready to pay but cannot afford to pay the rent. In this last case of default a private landlord normally does not have the financial capacity needed to solve this situation professionally "There was a mistake.

Since the start of a pandemic, rental defaults among private owners have increased, "without any experience in the selection and administration of tenants or rental properties," added ANA experts.

Housing degradation: property damage and maintenance
Besides non-payment, the second most common contract breach is where a property or maintenance is severely damaged. The owner then receives the property in a wrong condition, which is worse or worse than when he or she first rented it out, a situation which must not be confused with the deterioration caused by the passing of time or the wear and tear of a property.

Use the deposit as a rental for a month
Article 36 of the LAU regulates all rental deposits in Spain but does not, in any case, allow the tenant to use the deposit to cover a month's rent. The study therefore insists that "it is illegal and widespread use by many tenants who fear that the owner will not return the deposit and replace the amount of the deposit payment last month." With regards to the return of the deposit, in Article 36.4 the LAU states that, at the end of the lease, the balance will be returned to the tenant within one month of handing the keys over to the property.

The landlord leaves before the contract ends.
This is yet another common issue among tenants in Spain, who feel it is a right to leave the property whenever they want and therefore are not fined in any way, and who consider it totally unfair if this happens and they are given a financial penalty. ANA reminds us that "this assumption only applies if the rental agreement fails to explicitly declare the penalty at the early end of the agreement."

On the other hand, if the penalty appears in the Contract and a tenant leaves the property 6 months later and notifies the owner 30 days in advance, he shall have a maximum penalty of one month's rent for each year of the remaining contract, and the proportional part of the compensation for periods of less than a year. An additional fine may also be applied if the 30-day notice is not given.

Home for another person
It is a common practice in many housing rentals, "when the tenants include decide not to notify the landlord of the house for one or more adults permanently without the obligatory inclusion in the rental contract. This practice can cause numerous problems for the landlord because the persons of the legal age who now live in the dwelling are exempt from all contractual obligations, the payment of rent, contract life, repairs "The study explains.

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