How does the eviction process work in Tenerife?

[graciemae10]

Never posted on any forums before but need help with a tenant that has not paid rent. We have an apartment in Las Chafiras, when our friends lived in Tenerife they allowed with our permission a friend to stay who had spilt from his wife (no contract) as it was empty and some rent was better then none. Our friends moved back to the UK and unbeknown to us this person let his wife and children move in and he moved out . To cut a long story short she has been there paying a very low rent, no electric or water despite several attempts from us to make her pay. With the distance, language barrier and lack of funds on our part with have carried on with this situation. Last year she asked for a tenancy agreement as she could not get her money from the local authority without a contract. We decided the best way to give us some legal standing would be to do a temporary tenancy agreement and we only did this as at the time she had not paid for several months and was promising that she would pay as soon as she got her money. The agreement did not include electric and water which as a DD is set up is still coming from our account. She now owes 2 months rent and Electric and water from when the contract started which was 1/10/2015. Could anyone please recommend a solicitor in the Las Chafiras area. Has anyone had to go through the process of evection? is it costly? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

[bulldog]

Never posted on any forums before but need help with a tenant that has not paid rent. We have an apartment in Las Chafiras, when our friends lived in Tenerife they allowed with our permission a friend to stay who had spilt from his wife (no contract) as it was empty and some rent was better then none. Our friends moved back to the UK and unbeknown to us this person let his wife and children move in and he moved out . To cut a long story short she has been there paying a very low rent, no electric or water despite several attempts from us to make her pay. With the distance, language barrier and lack of funds on our part with have carried on with this situation. Last year she asked for a tenancy agreement as she could not get her money from the local authority without a contract. We decided the best way to give us some legal standing would be to do a temporary tenancy agreement and we only did this as at the time she had not paid for several months and was promising that she would pay as soon as she got her money. The agreement did not include electric and water which as a DD is set up is still coming from our account. She now owes 2 months rent and Electric and water from when the contract started which was 1/10/2015. Could anyone please recommend a solicitor in the Las Chafiras area. Has anyone had to go through the process of evection? is it costly? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

A very familiar situation, going with a solicitor can be costly there interest will be what they can make out of it ,not what you are loosing
I would cancel the standing orders for electric and water they will be cut off after a month or so if the apt. is fairly new they can be re-connected
quite easily when debt is paid in full not many people will live without basic services for long you are not breaking any law if you cannot afford
to pay your bills,this is what I would do. Good Luck been there not nice

[Sunlover]

Try http://www.*************.com/qa-on-illegal-letting for info.

[doreen]

So sorry to hear of your problem .... sadly not uncommon these days.

First thing to say is that please do NOT follow bulldog's advice - it is actually illegal to cut essential supplies to a property, especially where children are involved. There are cases where squatters have complained to police when electricity was cut and the owners had to turn it back on, so please do not cancel any direct debit.

Laws introduced a few years back have made it much easier to evict people via the courts and it should not be too expensive. But a lot will depend on the contract you have - who drew it up for you, is it in Spanish etc etc. The first thing that a solicitor will do is send a formal registered letter (burofax) which gives the tenant a certain (short) time to pay or else the matter goes to court - hopefully, it might only be a case of such a letter to get payment. Many tenants will pay what they owe just before a court hearing which will stop the proceedings, but if they fall into arrears again, they will not have this opportunity a second tme.

As Tenerife is so small, there is no need to think in terms of a solicitor actually near Las Chafiras - anyone in the South will be able to handle this for you. I have heard good things about Simon Nudds, who is English but qualified in Spain ... send an email with a copy of the contract and ask for a quote for a fee.

http://www.lawtenlawyers.com

[bulldog]

So sorry to hear of your problem .... sadly not uncommon these days.

First thing to say is that please do NOT follow bulldog's advice - it is actually illegal to cut essential supplies to a property, especially where children are involved. There are cases where squatters have complained to police when electricity was cut and the owners had to turn it back on, so please do not cancel any direct debit.

Laws introduced a few years back have made it much easier to evict people via the courts and it should not be too expensive. But a lot will depend on the contract you have - who drew it up for you, is it in Spanish etc etc. The first thing that a solicitor will do is send a formal registered letter (burofax) which gives the tenant a certain (short) time to pay or else the matter goes to court - hopefully, it might only be a case of such a letter to get payment. Many tenants will pay what they owe just before a court hearing which will stop the proceedings, but if they fall into arrears again, they will not have this opportunity a second tme.

As Tenerife is so small, there is no need to think in terms of a solicitor actually near Las Chafiras - anyone in the South will be able to handle this for you. I have heard good things about Simon Nudds, who is English but qualified in Spain ... send an email with a copy of the contract and ask for a quote for a fee.

http://www.lawtenlawyers.com

Can I asked Doreen to tell me how many evictions she personally has been involved in ? it is not illegal to stop paying your water and electric if don.t have the funds
to do so . if in doubt try it ! you will be surprised how quick it happens if the contracts are in your name you are responsible is Nudd a charity?

[doreen]

Can I asked Doreen to tell me how many evictions she personally has been involved in ? it is not illegal to stop paying your water and electric if don.t have the funds
to do so . if in doubt try it ! you will be surprised how quick it happens if the contracts are in your name you are responsible is Nudd a charity?

I am going by two reports of squatters forcing electricty to be put back on - so if people who are illegally occupying a property have such rights, you can be sure a tenant will have them. Of course having no cash in your account could happen, but then you wouldn't be able to pay any mortgage or community fees and matters would go from bad to worse :)


And I hope Janet will not mind me quoting from her excellent Q&A on communities

Is it legal to cut off debtors' water and electricity

No. These are sacrosanct under the law. They cannot be disconnected, and certainly not as punishment. For what it’s worth, however, I have known an administrator disconnect the water to an apartment which was heavily in debt; apparently there was a problem with “flooding”, and the entire water supply needed to be disconnected for a short while. Everyone who was then up to date with community payments was, of course, immediately reconnected …

[bulldog]

its only when you,ve played the game you get to know the real rules I,ve been there,done that got angina to prove it:lol:

[doreen]

its only when you,ve played the game you get to know the real rules I,ve been there,done that got angina to prove it:lol:


I know what you mean, bulldog, but this owner is not even on the island

[amanda]

There is an english speaking solicitor opposite mercadona in chafiras he is canarian borne in London

[bulldog]

Doreen,you don,t need to be on the island to get your services cut off, the type of tenant they have will move on once the power,water is off because
initially it will be up to her to try get them back on,on the owners side it is not against the law to be broke I,m done now, it was nice sparring with you:lol:

[doreen]

There is an english speaking solicitor opposite mercadona in chafiras he is canarian borne in London

amanda, can you give the poster contact details so they can ask for a quote as to costs involved

[graciemae10]

Thanks for your reply's everyone hopefully we can get our apartment back soon its just the lack of communication and not having anyone over there now to help, shouldn't have let the situation carry on for so long

[bulldog]

Graciemae 10,anything I have said in my posts is my own personal view and based on my own experiences which were relevant for me at the time
I am not suggesting you use any of the contents as a template for any action you may need to take ,hopefully none. Good Luck

[amanda]

Doreen cant remember his name but his office is directly in front od mercadona going down to the golf have personally been there

[doreen]

Doreen cant remember his name but his office is directly in front od mercadona going down to the golf have personally been there


I've just googled "abogado las chafiras" and think it is actually the same as I recommended - lawtenlaywers :)

http://www.lawtenlawyers.com/contactus.html

[fixer]

Think you mean Gonzalez barco abogados Email info@gonzalezybarcoabogados.es