Legislation in force
Of the more than 14 million homes, according to the census conducted by the National Statistics Institute (INE), around 11.5 million are owned, 1.6 million in rent (just over 11% of total of all households), and the rest has another scheme or not specified. Our country is situated, therefore, far below other parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands or Germany, where over 50% of people pay a monthly fee for occupying their homes. The average leased homes in the EU reaches 35%. The Civil Procedure Code (LEC), which is the standard against which regulates civil cases, among which are the defaults on rent, initially determined to claim the payment had to go to trial ever written whose resolution generally extended far in time as vice president of Professional Association of Property Administrators in Malaga, Miguel Jesus Aguilar, a year and a half to two. However, the large percentage of cases in which the tenant is not obliged to pay the rent established to expedite the judicial proceedings and in 2000 reformed the law, opting for quick and simple verbal judgments.

Despite the legal, the owners still have trouble renting their flats inhabited, always fearful because they fail to pay and even spoil them housing. All this is compounded further by the fact that owning a house on property is a deep rooted feeling in Spain. Thus, the main measure to enhance the rent is not so much to offer tax advantages to the landlord and allow the eviction notice in the event of default, as reported by Aguilar, who qualifies to enter into a written contract gives the owner some legal protection if not paid. In legal contracts is mandatory cash deposit, usually equivalent to one month’s rent if the dwelling is used as a residence, but sometimes the owners demanded longer amounts or even a bank guarantee to ensure payment of repayments.

When to go to court?
Conditions are not always rigorously detailed in the contracts signed by both parties and, in addition, there are “true professionals”, according to Aguilar, who, having money, not pay the rent. Worst of all, organize it so it does not have property in their name to seize power and declare themselves insolvent. The day after the non-payment of rent, that is, if the contract is detailed to be held in the first week of each month, the day 8, the landlord may sue to rescind the contract and require the eviction. Generally, the landlord chooses to present the complaint from the second month or, at best, third, that is “when the tenant jumps the alarm,” the expert. At that moment has to go to a lawyer who will take the process to a Civil Court of First Instance.

However, there are other cases in which the landlord may take legal action, for example:
• If the tenant sublets or gives shelter to others without the consent of the owner of the property.
• When you cause damage to the house or performing work without permission from the owner.
• If done in the house annoying, unhealthy, noxious, dangerous or illegal.
• If intended for other uses the floor instead of his habitual residence.

Aguilar noted that “when it has exhausted amicably, the only possible is the judiciary.” As an advantage, since the reform of the Civil Procedure Code states that “judges now give priority to the demands of eviction”, unable to take more than six months between the filing of the complaint and the launch, which is when court officers are people in the house to evict her. The first time a person is evicted, it can pay the debt before the day of trial, which automatically makes halt the eviction. However, this possibility disappears in the time of relapses, says Aguilar, who added that unless there is some defect of form, the judge always accepts the request and requires the tenant to leave the building. 70% of the eviction process and ends with only 30% was reached to pay. However, the representative of the estate managers of the province of Malaga admits that only in rare cases the landlord get your money back. “At the most you can hope for is that your home will go,” remark.

Bank guarantees
In this situation, it is often the fear of landlords to tenants stop paying rent or causing damage to housing. So recently one of the most common practices is that the landlord requires the submission of a bank guarantee to ensure compliance with the obligations assumed by the lessee in the contract, which expires when the term of the agreement cease. As explained by the representative of the Association of Property Administrators in Malaga, you have to differentiate the bank guarantee providing a cash deposit, a practice that establishes the Urban Leases Act and will be equivalent to a monthly income in the event that the property is rented for use as accommodation, and two monthly payments when you have a commercial use. However, that legislation provides that parties may agree on any additional warranty.

Therefore, the bond and bank guarantee are guarantees of the lessor against a tenant who refuses to comply with its obligations under the contract, but while the bond is an essential element that is required by law to require the owner to lessee, the bank guarantee is ancillary. In the event that the landlord requires the bank guarantee, it must be reflected in the lease, so you can contact the financial institution guarantor if a tenant does not meet the payment obligations assumed, as the Advocate Rafael Palacios.

If, finally, the tenant must submit a bank guarantee, the financial institution so addressed will be required to demonstrate financial solvency, for which, among other documentation, may have to file their payroll. The amount is usually rubber-stamp corresponding to six months’ rent, just long enough for there to be a judicial decision. In addition, the tenant will pay a price in fees for the study of the application, by the opening of the guarantee and the risk for the bank. However, the actual amount of fees vary for each entity, as required by the Bank of Spain.

Rental Insurance
Insurance companies have launched policies that cover risks of default of rent, which in some ways, comes in response to fears by some owners. The cost of such insurance ranges from 180 to 200 euros per year, according to the enterprises surveyed. Among the safeguards which these insurance payments are up to 12 monthly rental income to a maximum of approximately 1,500 euros per month, once the eviction ruling becomes effective, the compensation of damages to the possible deterioration of real estate by the tenant or for the theft of objects up to 3,000 euros in case of eviction, and the legal cover of a lawyer with a spending limit of up to 1,000 euros, so the owner to recover your home as soon as possible.