What to do when your tenant defaults in Spain

Last updated on October 28th, 2019 at 05:08 pm.

Letting out Spanish property is perhaps more popular now than it ever has been before. Difficulties in selling property and uncertainty about the property market have led people to consider other options – letting out Spanish property being at the top of the list. It means you have an income that might perhaps help pay your mortgage or that you can put towards another property that you are renting for yourself.

However it does have its down side. All is well when rent is paid on time and your tenant in Spain is a good one. But what about when the rent dries up and/ or your tenants are not taking care of your property?

The image that most people have is of a landlord who has little option but to go with the flow. Generally it’s felt that procedures are so slow that there is really little point in trying to do anything about it. However, this is no longer the case. There are options for the   landlord in Spain whose source of income suddenly disappears or who finds himself at loggerheads with his tenant.

In some cases, unfortunately, the situation will be caused or at least fuelled by the economic crisis. We are all aware of people who have found themselves unemployed through no fault of their own. What had seemed to be a manageable outgoing is no longer. However, you might also have a tenant in Spain who chooses to miss their payments without any concern for the implications for the landlord.

These individuals make avoiding paying rent a profession. After signing the contract they perhaps just pay a rent or two, lull the landlord into a false sense of security and then… the payments stop. The landlord will try to contact the tenant in Spain but will fail as an elaborate game of cat and mouse follows with missed calls, unanswered emails and a tenant who never seems to be in.

The first message we would like to put across is that you are not powerless if this happens to you. The Spanish government is keen that landlords in Spain have their rights protected too and new legislation means that there are options that a landlord can take when they find themselves with tenants who can’t/ won’t pay and refuse to leave the property.