# Letting agent headache



## Sazzy (May 8, 2013)

Hi,

I am new to the forum and was guided here by a colleague of mine.
My contract for my apartment recently came up for renewal and I was hoping for some advice. My contract expired at the end of April so I contacted the agent mid April via email to ask them about renewing as I am happy there. However, I didn't hear anything back until Monday this week. They stated that the landlord wanted to put the rent up by a significant amount as of the start of June. 
I would like to know where I stand really as I feel that with less than a month's notice I am pretty annoyed about it, even to point of getting some legal advice about my rights. Plus, technically I am also out of contract at present. Is there a maximum amount that rent can be increased?

Thanks in advance


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sazzy said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am new to the forum and was guided here by a colleague of mine.
> My contract for my apartment recently came up for renewal and I was hoping for some advice. My contract expired at the end of April so I contacted the agent mid April via email to ask them about renewing as I am happy there. However, I didn't hear anything back until Monday this week. They stated that the landlord wanted to put the rent up by a significant amount as of the start of June.
> ...


:welcome:
yes, it's linked to the cost of living index (or whatever we call it here) - off the top of my head I can't think where to find out what that % is atm, but when I do I'll post it

or maybe someone else will


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Sazzy said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am new to the forum and was guided here by a colleague of mine.
> My contract for my apartment recently came up for renewal and I was hoping for some advice. My contract expired at the end of April so I contacted the agent mid April via email to ask them about renewing as I am happy there. However, I didn't hear anything back until Monday this week. They stated that the landlord wanted to put the rent up by a significant amount as of the start of June.
> ...


We don't know the terms of your contract. There may be a clause in there regarding rent increase. Asking legal questions, it is better to ask your Abogado, or your gestoria for their advice. In the UK you would have a clause in the contract giving you a few months in advance of any rent increase. If that date is missed, the landlord can not increase the rent. However, the law in Spain may be different, so you need to ask the person who would have legal knowledge regarding rental property.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Aron said:


> We don't know the terms of your contract. There may be a clause in there regarding rent increase. Asking legal questions, it is better to ask your Abogado, or your gestoria for their advice. In the UK you would have a clause in the contract giving you a few months in advance of any rent increase. If that date is missed, the landlord can not increase the rent. However, the law in Spain may be different, so you need to ask the person who would have legal knowledge regarding rental property.


the LAU (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanicos) states that any increase has to be in line with the cost of living - I can't remember exactly the wording, but there's a link in our *FAQs & useful info *thread above

the LAU also overrides any contract, unless the contract specifically states that IT overrides the LAU


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Our contract has clauses which state that we agree to surrender our rights under certain provisions of the LAU which I haven't read but which I'm guessing refer to refusing to renew only if reletting or requiring house for family members and the clause referring to our right of purchase were the property to be offered for sale.

Would those exemptions still apply to a tenant who has lived in the house for five years and has no other home?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Our contract has clauses which state that we agree to surrender our rights under certain provisions of the LAU which I haven't read but which I'm guessing refer to refusing to renew only if reletting or requiring house for family members and the clause referring to our right of purchase were the property to be offered for sale.
> 
> Would those exemptions still apply to a tenant who has lived in the house for five years and has no other home?


at the end of the 5 years (or I think it's 4 now) you are meant to have to renegotiate

you only have the right to stay there for up to that length of time (obviously as long as the terms of the contract aren't breached) - after that you start again


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## Sazzy (May 8, 2013)

Thanks for all your help, it's really appreciated.
I am going to talk to a gestoria about it.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> at the end of the 5 years (or I think it's 4 now) you are meant to have to renegotiate
> 
> you only have the right to stay there for up to that length of time (obviously as long as the terms of the contract aren't breached) - after that you start again


We have had a series of eleven-month contracts.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> We have had a series of eleven-month contracts.


yeah I know..... that's irrelevant - they aren't worth the paper they're written on - the LAU is all that counts


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> We have had a series of eleven-month contracts.


As Xabia says, they're not 'real' contracts. They should be annual contracts which automatically renew up to 4 years then they should be re-negotiated.

I don't know why agents/landlords still write 11 month contracts - no-one benefits!

The LAU is all that matters.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> As Xabia says, they're not 'real' contracts. They should be annual contracts which automatically renew up to 4 years then they should be re-negotiated.
> 
> I don't know why agents/landlords still write 11 month contracts - no-one benefits!
> 
> The LAU is all that matters.


that's pretty much all you can get around here - from the Brit agents anyway

they all know they're useless - except one or two who insist that they are & clearly have no clue

one agent has actually stopped doing long term letting now - they had managed to convince themselves & one particular owner that they were fine with the 11 month contract...they would get their property back in time for their summer holiday... until they had a tenant who knew better..... I think it took them over a year to persuade them to move out


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

snikpoh said:


> As Xabia says, they're not 'real' contracts. They should be annual contracts which automatically renew up to 4 years then they should be re-negotiated.
> 
> I don't know why agents/landlords still write 11 month contracts - no-one benefits!
> 
> The LAU is all that matters.


So...are you and Xabia saying that our contracts aren't 'real' contracts? If so, then those clauses which refer to giving up our rights under LAU don't apply?
We have a good relationship with our landlord...but business is business.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> So...are you and Xabia saying that our contracts aren't 'real' contracts? If so, then those clauses which refer to giving up our rights under LAU don't apply?
> We have a good relationship with our landlord...but business is business.


they are 'holiday' contracts - & therefore totally pointless when both you & your landlord know that it's your full time & only home


unless the clauses say that the contract overrides the LAU in it's entirety


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Makes one wonder why so many of our colleagues are so into "don't buy - just rent!" Unless, of course, they are letting!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> they are 'holiday' contracts - & therefore totally pointless when both you & your landlord know that it's your full time & only home
> 
> 
> unless the clauses say that the contract overrides the LAU in it's entirety


No, it just mentions those two clauses, not that it replaces the whole LAU.

Baldy, we haven't any problems with our landlord. Quite the opposite, we get on well - he, an Austrian, and his Russian wife insist that I should visit them in Austria and Russia. He isn't much of a businessman either. Last time the contract was up for renewal he timidly suggested we should think about paying a little more rent as the £ had risen. 
I sent him a long screed detailing the defects of the house and garden and our many virtues as tenants, to which he replied 'All you say is quite right'. Then I sent him details of current rentals for similar properties in this area.



When he was here two weeks ago he took me to sort out a high water bill then to lunch, after which I took him to see a nearby empty house that had been stripped of everything removable. I also regaled him with tales of houses for rent standing empty for months and being squatted, taken apart or both. 
He went quite pale. He returned to Austria and his puti-club business worried about his adosado he uses when he visits....

Before he went back he told me that I must get any repairs done immediately, at his expenseand he also told me to go and buy some shrubs and plants for our garden, also at his expense...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> No, it just mentions those two clauses, not that it replaces the whole LAU.
> 
> Baldy, we haven't any problems with our landlord. Quite the opposite, we get on well - he, an Austrian, and his Russian wife insist that I should visit them in Austria and Russia. He isn't much of a businessman either. Last time the contract was up for renewal he timidly suggested we should think about paying a little more rent as the £ had risen.
> I sent him a long screed detailing the defects of the house and garden and our many virtues as tenants, to which he replied 'All you say is quite right'. Then I sent him details of current rentals for similar properties in this area.
> ...


OO! You are awful, but I like you!


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