Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Hi
Hope someone here can help. We began a rental contract on an apartment on 3rd April 2012 but have started to have major issues with a few things here. We have very bad electrics (my kids have had shocks a few times :( ) and there are a couple of other issues but the landlord lives in Syria so the property is maintained by an agent who seems uninterested by our issues and has made no effort to sort them out. We paid the usual 1 month rent/1 month deposit when we moved in but things are that bad that we actually want to leave already.

It is an 11 month contract and it states that we must give 2 months notice but what are our rights to leaving? We have found somewhere else that is much more suitable and comes with recommendation from a friend so we know this won't happen again.

Someone suggested that we just inform the agent that he will not be receiving next months rent as we will have moved out before it is due and he can keep the deposit for his troubles but i'm not so sure. I don't want any kind of black mark against us or any negative impact on our credit rating etc.

Any advice? :fingerscrossed:

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Firstly, let me declare my interests, I'm a Landlord.

However, I would advise that you use the deposit to pay the last month's rent and then just leave - it is unlikely that if you leave without giving the 2-months notice, that you will get the deposit back.

You have tried to discuss the issues and they are not willing to resolve them.

You will not get a negative rating or black-mark so don't worry.

It is also MOST unlikely that they will go to court over a broken contract for such a small amount.

Best of luck.

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

snikpoh, as a landlord perhaps you would be kind enought to answer a couple of questions I have as my OH and I will be looking to rent sometime in the future.

1. What length of contract is normal
2. What is the general number of months/deposit to be paid initially
3. Is the rent normally paid to an agent or direct to the owner. If the owner, and the owner has a UK bank account would it be ok to make a direct debit from our UK bank to the owners UK ban?

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

agreed - from a tenant's point of view

if the agent is already being unhelpful the chances of you getting your deposit back are pretty much zero, no matter what you do

you are nearly up to the end of your first month - if you chose to leave now you lose just a month deposit, if you stick it out for another without paying the rent somehow, you break even

only you can decide if you can stick it out - but there's virtually no chance they'd bother chasing you for the money they reckon you owe & as snikpoh says it won't give you a bad rating either

one thing - it might be an idea to make sure that you write to the agent regarding the repairs (& keep a copy) - then IF - & it's a big IF - they did pursue it - you would have some evidence that the property wasn't 'fit for purpose' which is a valid reason for breaking a contract in anyone's book

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Thanks both, think that's what we probably will do. Its a shame when things have to come to this but we feel a bit like we have no other option.

We figured that we'd struggle to get the deposit back anyway as the agent used it to pay the unpaid bills from the previous tenant (which i'm sure is illegal!)

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

yes, that's completely illegal - the deposit is meant to be paid into an 'escrow' account & kept safe & seperate for return

you'll get used to the way things are here - deposits are rarely returned


for future reference - if a property is your only home in Spain it doesn't matter what the contract says - the LAU (rental law for tenants) takes precedence over any contract

you only have to pay a month rent & a month deposit by law, and only have to give a month notice

there's loads more to it - here's a link - if you don't read Spanish just put the link into googletranslate & it does a reasonable job

http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_d.../l29-1994.html

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Try and get a receipt for the letter, proof they received it. Agent signs for it or recorded delivery etc.

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

To specifically answer your questions;

1. Contracts vary but ours are for 12 months (typically and then they simply get extended automatically ie. there is no fixed end date)
2. we don't take a deposit as such. We take 1 months finance (security) and then ask for the tenant to pay in advance. So, on day one, we get two months money
3. The rent (finance and rent) is always paid directly to us, the owners. I guess it would be OK to pay in another currency but this gets complicated and can be viewed as a way of defrauding the tax office!

To OP, send a burofax - this is considered legally binding.

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Thanks for the info snikpoh. Filed away for the future.

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Just out of curiosity....... How exactly do you know how the agent used the funds that you paid as deposit ?

On the one hand you tell us that they are being "unhelpful', yet it seems that they are willing to share with you, the fact that they have been misusing your deposit ???

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

He accompanied us to Endesa while we set the account up in our name and he told me to use the cash that I had for the deposit to pay the old debts. I had to go the correos myself and use the deposit funds. We only gave him the 1 month's rent

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

11 month contracts are completely illegal anyway. They are only meant for holidays homes that you are using as a second home. They tend to use them on the CDS where the foreigners dont know the law

So you can do what you like as the contract isnt valid

The only legal contract for renting your main residence is a rolling 12 month contract where the tenants have the right to stay for 5 years

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

Oh really, obviously didn't know that! Thanks, very helpful advice

Re: Major issues with property rental- advice needed
 

yes they use them around here on the CB too - even some agents think they are legal

if you look at my earlier post on this thread I gave a link to the LAU