# Please help with possible eviction!



## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

Hello

I would really appreciate some help or advice. We (family with 3 young girls) moved into a property earlier this year and signed a contract for a year's rental, with 3 months notice. We paid 2 months rent as deposit.

Then in March this year I lost my job and told the owner I may have financial difficulties. His reply was that we were locked into the contract and there was no way out. So I tried to increase my earnings (I'm in sales) and this has worked, but has not come soon enough and 2 months' ago I had to give the 3 months formal notice, to say we would be leaving at the end of August.

The owner told us we would forfeit our deposit (4,000 Euros) but without this money we have no means of putting a deposit down on a cheaper house (which we have now found).

The owner and the estate agent have shown a different side since we moved in and been entirely unpleasant and inflexible; I have helped them find another tenant who is ready to move in. I have kept their house immaculate and been honest throughout the entire process.

However, today we were told they were going to evict us before our term is due and that they would not pay our deposit, leaving us in a situation with no home and no money to pay to move somewhere else. I have asked them where our children will sleep but they just don't seem to care.

As you can see I'm very upset - a situation over which I had no control and have done my best to resolve has ended up in conflict. What I need to know is, if they do decide to go down this route, how long it will take for them to evict us - I heard that if they raise a court order, then there is a new fast track route for tenants who have not paid (ie, us!) and I need to understand how long this process takes.

Thank you for whatever help you can give. Sarah


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sarah Diggins said:


> Hello
> 
> I would really appreciate some help or advice. We (family with 3 young girls) moved into a property earlier this year and signed a contract for a year's rental, with 3 months notice. We paid 2 months rent as deposit.
> 
> ...


oh lord............unfortunately this is all too common


have a read of this - there is a lot of good advice on it

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/71337-11-month-rentals-help-please.html

bottom line though - they absolutely CAN NOT evict you without a court order - even fast track would take a while (I want to say about a month, but I'm not sure) & even then you would have at least 15 days notice - after every step has been gone through - & you would be advised every step of the way - one step I believe is that you & the landlord have to try to reach an agreement for catching up with arrears

are you actually behind with the rent?


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

EDIT: ok I should learn to open my eyes, I did not see the part about the open payments. I would expect, it will need quite some time until the eviction takes place, even with a "fast track". Usually in August everything slows down anyway. The deposit is lost no matter what though


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Seb* said:


> EDIT: ok I should learn to open my eyes, I did not see the part about the open payments. I would expect, it will need quite some time until the eviction takes place, even with a "fast track". Usually in August everything slows down anyway. The deposit is lost no matter what though


yes, as she is behind on payments they won't get the deposit back - chances are she wouldn't have anyway IME


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I don't see how they can get you out before the end of August.

The landlord will need to serve a Court Summons in order to evict you, and they will only grant this if you are behind with the rent or have broken the contract in some other way. As soon as the summons has been sent, you have *20 days *to try and settle the the matter directly with the landlord. You can make an offer to pay the arrears through the Court, which the Landlord can choose to accept or reject. If he rejects it , he can apply immediately to the Court for an eviction notice. 

On signing off on the eviction notice, the court also gives notice of a date when the police will effect the eviction, and this can not be *less than* 15 days. If you have nowhere else to go you can appeal against the eviction.

So hopefully this will give you enough time to earn they money for the next deposit., as obviously you won't be handing over any more rent to him in the meantime ...

Good luck!


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

*Thank you*



Alcalaina said:


> I don't see how they can get you out before the end of August.
> 
> The landlord will need to serve a Court Summons in order to evict you, and they will only grant this if you are behind with the rent or have broken the contract in some other way. As soon as the summons has been sent, you have *20 days *to try and settle the the matter directly with the landlord. You can make an offer to pay the arrears through the Court, which the Landlord can choose to accept or reject. If he rejects it , he can apply immediately to the Court for an eviction notice.
> 
> ...


Dear Alcalaina

Thank you for taking time to explain to me how the process works - it's clear that we will be OK and my girls won't be without a bed, which was really my main concern. Thank you! Sarah x


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Sarah Diggins said:


> Dear Alcalaina
> 
> Thank you for taking time to explain to me how the process works - it's clear that we will be OK and my girls won't be without a bed, which was really my main concern. Thank you! Sarah x


No probs. If you google "Tenants Rights in Spain" it mainly comes up with information for landlords on how to evict people - there is very little from the other side of the coin!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Sarah Diggins said:


> Dear Alcalaina
> 
> Thank you for taking time to explain to me how the process works - it's clear that we will be OK and my girls won't be without a bed, which was really my main concern. Thank you! Sarah x


Bloody landlords!!! What about your bills, are you upto date with those????

Jo xxx


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> I don't see how they can get you out before the end of August.
> 
> The landlord will need to serve a Court Summons in order to evict you, and they will only grant this if you are behind with the rent or have broken the contract in some other way. As soon as the summons has been sent, you have *20 days *to try and settle the the matter directly with the landlord. You can make an offer to pay the arrears through the Court, which the Landlord can choose to accept or reject. If he rejects it , he can apply immediately to the Court for an eviction notice.
> 
> ...



Does all this cost the owner money or is it awarded to the tenant in court???

Jo xxx


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

thanks


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

jojo said:


> Bloody landlords!!! What about your bills, are you upto date with those????
> 
> Jo xxx


yes Jo - and we will pay the outstanding electricity bill before we go.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Sarah Diggins said:


> yes Jo - and we will pay the outstanding electricity bill before we go.



My landlords agent was taking the money for the rent and bills and not paying it into the owners account, so we got cut off the phone and I had to go and pay the bill myself. So I ended up paying twice..... I'm still "at war" with mine and of course the owners think that I'm a bad payer, eventho I've shown the receipts. A different scenario to yours, but stressful and frightening nonetheless

Jo xxx


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> oh lord............unfortunately this is all too common
> 
> bottom line though - they absolutely CAN NOT evict you without a court order - even fast track would take a while (I want to say about a month, but I'm not sure) & even then you would have at least 15 days notice - after every step has been gone through - & you would be advised every step of the way - one step I believe is that you & the landlord have to try to reach an agreement for catching up with arrears
> 
> are you actually behind with the rent?


thank you - no we're not behind with the rent as we are using the 2 months' deposit we paid instead, since the landlords refused to give us our deposit back. Apart from the inability to pay the rent, we have actually been model tenants really looking after the house - just a shame I lost my job and got stuck with landlords who turned out to be not as charming as I first thought!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

......... quite frankly, in your situation, it would be best for everyone if the owner took a reduction in the rent and continued to allow you to stay there. They can be so short sighted

Jo xxx


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

jojo said:


> ......... quite frankly, in your situation, it would be best for everyone if the owner took a reduction in the rent and continued to allow you to stay there. They can be so short sighted
> 
> Jo xxx


hi Jo

We tried that - they were completely inflexible. However they have been landlords from hell (!) because they never fixed anything that broke and ignored every email I ever sent unless it concerned money. We ended up stopping the rent payment earlier this year to try and force them to fix all the broken things and they didn't like it but it did work. But everything that's broken since has been ignored - the cooker doesn't work properly, the gates don't work, the fridge broke and ruined all my things and I had to threaten to go and buy a new one (1800 Euros) before he bothered to reply! So we are better off out of here and fingers crossed for the new landlord who comes recommended so I'm sure he will be lovely!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Sarah Diggins said:


> hi Jo
> 
> We tried that - they were completely inflexible. However they have been landlords from hell (!) because they never fixed anything that broke and ignored every email I ever sent unless it concerned money. We ended up stopping the rent payment earlier this year to try and force them to fix all the broken things and they didn't like it but it did work. But everything that's broken since has been ignored - the cooker doesn't work properly, the gates don't work, the fridge broke and ruined all my things and I had to threaten to go and buy a new one (1800 Euros) before he bothered to reply! So we are better off out of here and fingers crossed for the new landlord who comes recommended so I'm sure he will be lovely!



I hope so! Ours went wrong cos the agent gave us an 11 month contract, but the owners had instructed her to give a 6 month contract, so the agent has been trying desperately to get us out, if she'd explained and asked nicely I would have moved, but she just made life hell. I've had enough and altho I dont like being bullied, I have two kids, my husband commutes and its just too stressful.

Sadly, its quite rare to hear a good story between landlord and tenant, most seem to end in tears, usually over the deposit which very rarely gets returned

Jo xxx


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

jojo said:


> I hope so! Ours went wrong cos the agent gave us an 11 month contract, but the owners had instructed her to give a 6 month contract, so the agent has been trying desperately to get us out, if she'd explained and asked nicely I would have moved, but she just made life hell. I've had enough and altho I dont like being bullied, I have two kids, my husband commutes and its just too stressful.
> 
> Sadly, its quite rare to hear a good story between landlord and tenant, most seem to end in tears, usually over the deposit which very rarely gets returned
> 
> Jo xxx


yes I'm beginning to think we've had a lucky escape and definitely a lesson learned for our next contract! I also hope you manage to get your contract sorted out - I've just been passed a link to a property website that may help when you need to move it's Spanish Property to let, Spanish Property long term let


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Sarah Diggins said:


> yes I'm beginning to think we've had a lucky escape and definitely a lesson learned for our next contract! I also hope you manage to get your contract sorted out - I've just been passed a link to a property website that may help when you need to move it's Spanish Property to let, Spanish Property long term let


that's a useful one - & it's in our 'useful links' sticky


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I've been using Kyero for years as most of the usual suspects advertise on there. But a word of warning: most agents, when a property has been let, don't tell Kyero to remove it, so a lot of the time you are disappointed because the home you thought would be perfect has already been let. Not always but it happens a lot. Check out Nerja Realty for example....


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## Sarah Diggins (Feb 7, 2011)

thanks for that advice!


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## andmac (Nov 9, 2010)

Interesting reading and good advice here.

Our landlord has turned into an a*se. Where we rented, we have 2 houses on a plot en el campo. The landlords lived in 1, us in the other. They split up. She took him to the cleaners, nearly took his business too and then moved 2 hours away to Barcelona.

Anyway, the contract states that we pay half of the electricity and half of the water. The other house is empty but in my eyes a contract is binding. Not in hers.

Things started to break, we have had no washing machine for 3 months, luckily the empty house has an outside one. But she was told ours was broken and did nothing.

The drains are leaking. After a shower we get a massive puddle on the patio, again, nothing done.

We were promised a wifi hotspot when we moved in. We had it, past tense. It is gone now. No amount of complaining has brought this back. I work over the internet, so have had to buy a massive aerial and suffer poor wifi from a local camping.

Anyway, the landlord came back this weekend, two big staffy terriers in tow. They were not muzzled or under control The dividing fence is a metre high. We have a three year old daughter and an eight month old golden retriever. These other dogs are potentially dangerous under Spanish law. They were aggressive. No amount of complaining worked to get them under control. So, end result, a weekend indoors apart from taking the dog out twice a day (dawn and dusk).

If I could get out of this 11 month contract, I would. I have made friends with a good estate agent who has lots of nice rentals here. He comes to us socially. I think going with him could be a far better option. We just feel trapped by failing appliances, lack of promised amenities and a downright unfriendly landlord. 

On a plus side, her husband has been superb. He now lives 100 metres away in a finca and we still keep our caravan on his land, free of charge - the odd bottle of wine here and there seems to be welcome. But he kept his business and we still meet up socially.

Anyway, rant over.

Any advice on how to get out of an 11 month contract without a notice clause would be appreciated. Also, the landlords visiting dogs destroyed some of our daughter´s toys. How do I claim this when they withhold the return of the deposit to an immaculately kept house? :boxing:


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

andmac said:


> Interesting reading and good advice here.
> 
> Our landlord has turned into an a*se. Where we rented, we have 2 houses on a plot en el campo. The landlords lived in 1, us in the other. They split up. She took him to the cleaners, nearly took his business too and then moved 2 hours away to Barcelona.
> 
> ...


It depends on your contract, if it has a clause in it saying you must give notice or pay the full ammount, or if the owners have breeched the cotnract - 
i assume yur estate agent friend has ad a look at it?? Oy you could just not pay the rent for a month or two and do a runner???

Jo xxxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

For every wicked landlord there's an equally wicked tenant, alas....This tends to make both parties somewhat antagonistic towards each other, both with good reason.
We were landlords in the UK and Canada and for the past six years we have been tenants.
When we were landlords we bent over backwards to do everything correctly and fairly. In our view, it was our houses but our tenants' homes we were renting. After experiencing a lot of hassle with a tenant we decided enough already and sold up.
We had a very bad experience with a rogue agent when we came here which involved fraud and smashed car windows. Now we rent from an excellent landlord who is having trouble with unpaid rent in the other property he owns.
If a tenant fails to pay the rent for any reason the landlord has the right to evict - landlords aren't charities. But in the case discussed here it seems the landlord is unaware of his tenants' rights and is acting in an unnecessarily aggressive and threatening manner.
Is there the equivalent of a Citizens Advice Bureau in your area? If so, it would be useful to speak with them. You do have rights and this landlord needs to know you are aware of them and intend to enforce them.
I get equally steamed up when I hear about bad landlords or bad tenants.:boxing:
Why can't people treat others with respect and consideration???


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Just to add....when we had had enough of our lying, cheating, thieving agent we told her we were moving out after three months of an eleven month contract. We too had paid two months deposit so we stayed another two months.
We ignored the threats and the smashed LandRover window although if I see her car in an unobserved spot revenge will be mine....
As water was included in the rent we got our own back by allowing a German hippy who had a shack on the campo to every day fill up dozens of huge drums with water for his vegetable garden and to shower, bathe and wash his clothes at the agent's expense. We suspected she was renting the property without the owner's knowledge.
The cost of all that water must have been in the hundreds if not thousands of euros.
I sincerely hope so.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

andmac said:


> .
> 
> Any advice on how to get out of an 11 month contract without a notice clause would be appreciated. Also, the landlords visiting dogs destroyed some of our daughter´s toys. How do I claim this when they withhold the return of the deposit to an immaculately kept house? :boxing:


As I posted above, we just stopped paying, used up the rental time we'd prepaid and left.
Odds are you will not get your deposit back - I'd be amazed if you do. Our current good landlord actually told us not to pay the two months on our previous contract. So when we leave here we shall follow his advice!
As for the dogs....they are probably not chipped or registered and will not have been registered as 'perros peligrosos'. Neither will the owner have the required insurance.
Our local police have a Canine Unit - they patrol streets with a chip reader to check on passing hounds which imo is brilliant.
You could try pointing out to these people that under current law there are stiff penalties for people who fail to observe the ordinances regarding dog ownership.
My advice would be forget your deposit, use it as rental payment.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> For every wicked landlord there's an equally wicked tenant, alas....This tends to make both parties somewhat antagonistic towards each other, both with good reason.
> We were landlords in the UK and Canada and for the past six years we have been tenants.
> When we were landlords we bent over backwards to do everything correctly and fairly. In our view, it was our houses but our tenants' homes we were renting. After experiencing a lot of hassle with a tenant we decided enough already and sold up.
> We had a very bad experience with a rogue agent when we came here which involved fraud and smashed car windows. Now we rent from an excellent landlord who is having trouble with unpaid rent in the other property he owns.
> ...


I would be surprised if the tenant/agent didn't know - they just expect the tenant to not know 

our current agent (who we have known for nearly 8 years) told someone we know a load of rubbish about deposits, notice & so on - I sincerely hope they don't try the same with us when we move out

I don't know what would make me feel more disappointed - that they genuinely didn't know the law - or that they were trying to pull a fast one on us


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> As I posted above, we just stopped paying, used up the rental time we'd prepaid and left.
> Odds are you will not get your deposit back - I'd be amazed if you do. Our current good landlord actually told us not to pay the two months on our previous contract. So when we leave here we shall follow his advice!
> As for the dogs....they are probably not chipped or registered and will not have been registered as 'perros peligrosos'. Neither will the owner have the required insurance.
> Our local police have a Canine Unit - they patrol streets with a chip reader to check on passing hounds which imo is brilliant.
> ...


and while we're on the subject of deposits...........I know I've said this before, but it doesn't hurt to repeat it - legally, you only have to pay one month deposit


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> but it doesn't hurt to repeat it - legally, you only have to pay one month deposit


Yes indeeedeee ..... but unfortunately in Spain, as you know, it doesnt quite work like that.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> Yes indeeedeee ..... but unfortunately in Spain, as you know, it doesnt quite work like that.


yes, I know it doesn't - but if you know it you can tell the agent you know it at least, and then the agent will also know that you are clued in - and maybe won't try to pull a fast one

we have actually paid 2 months deposit here - but they know damn well that we know the law, so there had better not be any problems when it comes to getting it back


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> yes, I know it doesn't - but if you know it you can tell the agent you know it at least, and then the agent will also know that you are clued in - and maybe won't try to pull a fast one
> 
> we have actually paid 2 months deposit here - but they know damn well that we know the law, so there had better not be any problems when it comes to getting it back


I can't see an agent messing with you lot


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

When we moved here we were told we had to pay 2 months but we said our understanding was that only one monthy was legally required and in the end that is all we paid. Same thing with our new place, 2 months requested only one month paid. We also got 100 € a month reduction for paying 5 months in advance, and this is written into the contract, at our request and signed by the landord and agent, just in case. But of course, as Strav says, this is Spain so all will be revealed at the end of next month. Meanwhile back at the ranch (not a cliche, we live on a ranch atm) we now know for certain that we have been paying electricity for our villa and also for the landlord's villa next door. They had a meter put in our villa and told us they would simply subtract our usage from the bill so we know what we had to pay, apart from the fact that the bill they showed us was forged and the meter is hooked up to both buildings. Couple that with the fact that we also now know that the agent we used never returns the deposit. They don't give it to the landord, they keep it for themselves. So next month, our last, we will tell the landlord he can use the one month deposit for the rent and see what happens!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

thrax said:


> When we moved here we were told we had to pay 2 months but we said our understanding was that only one monthy was legally required and in the end that is all we paid. Same thing with our new place, 2 months requested only one month paid. We also got 100 € a month reduction for paying 5 months in advance, and this is written into the contract, at our request and signed by the landord and agent, just in case. But of course, as Strav says, this is Spain so all will be revealed at the end of next month. Meanwhiloe back at the ranch (not a cliche, we live on a ranch atm) we now kn ow for certain that we have been paying electricity for our villa and also for the landlord's villa next door. They had a meter put in our villa and told us they would simply subtract our usage from the bill so we know what we had to pay, apart from the fact that the bill they showed us was forged and the meter is hooked up to both buildings. Couple that with the fact that we also now know that the agent we used never returns the deposit. They don't give it to the landord, they keep it for themselves. So next month, our last, we will tell the landlord he can use the one month deposit for the rent and see what happens!!


yep - that's what most people end up doing - not strictly legal - but then they are supposed to put it in a holding account & not spend it - but I bet most do!!

the main reason I suspect that you don't get the deposit back, is that it has been spent by the agent


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

That's what we heard about our unscrupulous agent so we thought we'd leave it to the landlord to retrieve it...


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> I don't know what would make me feel more disappointed - that they genuinely didn't know the law - or that they were trying to pull a fast one on us


That's what gets me most of all. People pulling a fast one, or trying to.
I may be a naive, simple-minded sweet old dear but I have this old-fashioned view that one should treat people decently with courtesy, fairness and respect...
Ignorance I can live with....I'm ignorant myself about loads of things.
But I hate cheating and deception as I try to be straight with people myself.
When people try to cheat me I have insane thoughts of violent revenge. Fortunately I have a calm, level-headed partner.


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## toast (Oct 19, 2007)

*deposits*

Well, to be true, a 11 month contract is a "vacational" or temporary contract, so is not ruled under the LAU(2471171994).
LAU states 1 month deposit for a long term contract, but Short term contracts are indeed private contracts, so you can agree terms and conditions( ie-2 months deposit).
In a Short contract, the house can´t be your permanent address, is a temporary address. But on a short contract your rental is not revised with the CPI(increase of costs) after 12 months(wich in a long term contract does...)
Not all landlords are bad, and most have to pay mortgages on the houses, and banks do not care about "personal situations" if they dont pay.
There are many people taking advantage of 11 months rates, renting before summer and leaving after, so some landlords do ask for 2 months to cover themselves from these situations(many do live from what they get from their houses, so is also a way of living.)
In any case, deposits have to be returned by landlords, and rental should be paid as agreed, this is a 2 way street.....
Good beahviour from bouth sides would make life easier!:clap2:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

toast said:


> Well, to be true, a 11 month contract is a "vacational" or temporary contract, so is not ruled under the LAU(2471171994).
> LAU states 1 month deposit for a long term contract, but Short term contracts are indeed private contracts, so you can agree terms and conditions( ie-2 months deposit).
> In a Short contract, the house can´t be your permanent address, is a temporary address. But on a short contract your rental is not revised with the CPI(increase of costs) after 12 months(wich in a long term contract does...)
> Not all landlords are bad, and most have to pay mortgages on the houses, and banks do not care about "personal situations" if they dont pay.
> ...


That's what I said earlier!!
What you say about people taking advantage of lower rents for 11-month contracts then leaving after two months is so true...It has happened to a friend of ours.
Personally I would never rely on rental income alone to cover the cost of a mortgage. Too risky.
The properties we rented were paid for apart from one in Canada but the mortgage was so low we could cover it without rental income.
People take far too many risks in uncertain situations then cry 'Victim'.
They are often victims of their own impulsiveness.
Not all of course but quite a few people who purchased in Spain were architects of their own misfortune.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> That's what gets me most of all. People pulling a fast one, or trying to.
> I may be a naive, simple-minded sweet old dear but I have this old-fashioned view that one should treat people decently with courtesy, fairness and respect...
> Ignorance I can live with....I'm ignorant myself about loads of things.
> But I hate cheating and deception as I try to be straight with people myself.
> When people try to cheat me I have insane thoughts of violent revenge. Fortunately I have a calm, level-headed partner.


Are you me?

I mean apart from this bit...



> I may be a naive, simple-minded sweet old dear


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