wicklowjack

i own a house in the jean Granada area.
i bought it in 2015 and have being doing it up over time
and intend to move there this year full time
but a friend of mine went to cheek recently and there was a chain on the front door a sure sign that it was broken into and inhabited by squatters.

what do i do? i have no idea when i get there do i go in and re chain the door and hope thay do not come back when thay see there is someone in residence. or will it be a bigger issue involving solicitors and the guards , i have no problem throwing them out of the place if that is what is needed and am not afraid to do this
just looking for advice as when i arrive i need to stay in the house as i will be moving in my furniture and personal belonging
any help please

Lookingforthesun1

According to this if you change the locks you can end up being charged with an offense even as the legal owner is they are in the property. The advice looks pretty solid regarding the three options open to you! Sounds like hell, I am sorry that your Spanish dream is being violated!
spanishpropertyinsight - https://www.spanishpropertyinsight.c...ters-in-spain/

Pulaski

As per the UK, US, and other countries, the owner can be sued by the squatters if you lock them out, the unknown question is "will you be if you change the locks?"

One of the problems may be that some squatters never leave the house unoccupied, meaning confrontation is inevitable if you try to reclaim the property "informally". IMO you would need to watch the proprty for a day or more to try to get information on who and how many people are squatting.

Another possibility is offering to "buy them off", basically offering them the squatters the money, cash, that you would otherwise spend on legal and court fees - but be sure to upgrade the locks immediately and/or move in to avoid recurrence of the problem.

philat98

Hope you get your house back soon Jack.
What I wonder is what you could have done to prevent the situation from happening in the first place? You can rent the property but renters can do more or less the same thing.

wicklowjack

thank you for your replies.i cant rent it as it is.
i think i will be following pulaski advice will make travel arrangements to travel there this week but cant afford it now need the money to live but have to protect what is mine and move there as quick as i can who needs all this hassel

VFR

I wonder if a couple of real big nasty looking fellows decided to squat in your place instead of the present cretins ?
Guess they would just disappear before before they got thrown out of the windows !

wicklowjack

yes i wonder as well. but just want my house back, i got rid of squatters in the 80s no problem just threw in a swarn of bees and the place was cleared in a flash lol. but was the 80 and at home

jonboy

Another way could be to get a solicitor/gestor to inform the town hall of the situation and encourage the Mayor (he/she would not want to look as though they encourage this sort of thing in front of the opposition party) to take action with the backing of the local police.
Your neighbours may back you up as well, after all they do not want to be the next victims.
You could still explore other options if that came to nothing.

wicklowjack

WILL TRY EVERYTHING NEEDED TO GET THEM OUT

VFR

As far as I know "once" you involve the authority's then the shysters then become protected ?

wicklowjack

yes i think you are right better try and out squat the squatters . move in with a few frends when the house is empty and see if we can negotiate with them

VFR

I would think ?
The moment you are back in & they turn up (if they do) then call the police local immediately and tell them that some mad nutters are trying to break in ?

Squatters .............. ?, what squatters !

MikeJ

Similar happened to neighbours in our (gated) community.
The rightful owners turned up for their stay and found that their high secure locks had been removed - by a registered locksmith!! - and replaced with a simple yale type lock. Fortunately the squatter (who later claimed that he had a proper tenancy agreement) was out at work. They called the community president who in turn called the management company who pitched up with a locksmith and a paralegal. The locksmith let them in and replaced the locks and they took occupancy. In effect they out-squatted the squatter.
When the illegal squatter returned from work he was barred entrance and he threatened to call the GC - who told him that they wouldn't attend.
I think they were incredibly lucky!

Yorick

Turn the water and leccy off.

wicklowjack

it is off. i have flights down there next Wednesday. hopefully i can sort it out when there with not to much shoting or pushing