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Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Old Feb 12th 2021, 2:19 am
  #211  
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

I happen to have a census list of our town from 2016 and found the following:
1. Our tenant is listed as a resident (born in 1978).
2. His sister is listed as a resident (I thought it was his mother because she has the same name but her date of birth is 1982)
3. Our tenants mother (the President) is NOT listed as a resident.

I contacted the Citizens Advice Bureaux based in the local town hall and asked them whether the President was 'deceased' but they seem to know her and informed me that she had left the township. They gave me the name of a lawyers firm saying they had more information concerning the 'Comunicad Propietarios' situation, so I contacted them (but no reply yet).

Now what is quite concerning for me is that the President looks like she left the town before 2016 but was still signing our tenants 'appeal against eviction evidence' post May 2018 (as if still the President ) . Unless she is still owning one of the apartments in the block she cannot legally be the President .

If she is a not a unit holder , then someone has been lying to the courts , either the tenant has forged his mothers signature or she has misled the court by signing documents under the pretence of being the President of the 'Comunicad Propietarios'.

The above suggests its okay for the tenant to fabricate evidence in the courts without fear of punishment unless one is willing to spend more thousands of euros to pursue the situation. If one did , the most likely outcome would be a punitive 500 euro fine (which he won't be able to pay anyhow).

Also , with regard Okupas just found this .pdf - absolutely shocking and shows how lawless Spain has become.

manuel-eng-zine-version-pdf.pdf (squat.net)

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Old Feb 12th 2021, 4:41 pm
  #212  
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Reading through the manual the illustrations of the Landlord types look like the efforts of a "Citizen Smith" outfit but without the humour. Purely taking something for nothing, without even the pretence of decency. Criminals by another name. Such is life.
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Old Feb 16th 2021, 8:55 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by DOWNANDOUT
Also , with regard Okupas just found this .pdf - absolutely shocking and shows how lawless Spain has become.

manuel-eng-zine-version-pdf.pdf (squat.net)
There's also a link to The Squatter's Handbook on the same site which covers the UK, and it has more or less the same advice as the Spanish version.
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Old Feb 25th 2021, 12:50 am
  #214  
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Just to update you on what's been happening since the eviction of our tenant.

1. Still no sign of our 'Community Of Owners' - I think they've done a runner.
2. I've contacted the water authority and gave them the tenants name and DNI number to check any outstanding bills .They replied back to me saying that 63 euros were owed but they gave me the supply point which is in ANOTHER building . The tenant has obviously been living around the corner of our apartment block - very strange! When I told the water company that this supply point didn't match our apartments location , they investigated and said that the 'Administrator' was responsible for paying the water bill for the whole block . I asked them for his name and contact details but they refused because of data protection act.
I told them that we tried contacting the 'Community of Owners' but they seem to have disappeared .
3. I also contacted the electricity company and they say all bills are paid up-to-date by our tenant but there is one due today for 21 euros. They said that 96kwh has been used from 4th Jan 21 - 15th Feb 21 but the tenant was evicted on the 8th Jan . Is it possible that the 96kwh was used in 5 days or has he broken back in and continued to use more electricity? Maybe the water heater, tv and cooking , refrigerator did use up 96kwh but I think we will wait to see if he pays the 21 euros . He should have cancelled his direct debit after his eviction but if he pays then we might suspect he has broken back into the apartment and is subletting again.

The issue with the water authority is crazy !
1.We can't identify or locate the 'Administrator'
2. We don't know who sends us the water bills and if there is a debt to be paid.
3. We don't know how the water bills are going to be paid for the block if there is no Administrator/President.

I suspect we will just have to let the water supply be cut off !

I have a conspiracy theory about the water bills and here it is :

a. The building was built in 5 phases and was under the management of one 'Comunidad Propietarios' company who paid the water bill .
b. Our block then decided to split and have their own 'Comunidad Propietarios' . The water bills for our block was included in the monthly comunidad that each flat owner paid for many years. It went into a bank account that our 'Comunidad Propietarios' set up.
c. I have my suspicions that our blocks water bills are still being paid by the original 'Comunidad Propietarios' . I don't know how they can check whether their water bills include the supply to our block . How could they? There are no water meters installed for each apartment and I suspect they just get a big bill which is shared between the unit owners in their own blocks (split by apartment size area).
d. I suspect our 'Comunidad Propietarios' have now done a runner with any money that was paid into that bank account . That could add up to quite a nice tidy sum , 400 euros per year over 10 years for 25 apartments ( total 100k euros).

There is something very strange going on ..........

Last edited by DOWNANDOUT; Feb 25th 2021 at 12:53 am.
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Old Feb 27th 2021, 6:58 am
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

I went into panic mode last night. My house is out in the campo and the neighbouring land owner had been to check his olive trees when he saw my house had been broken in to. He said he didn't get too close but couldn't see anyone around.
I contacted my builder who lives nearby and he, a rather large gentleman and his son, twice as large, went and had a look. I told them of my concerns regarding squatters.
Yes, access has been gained but they can't see anything obvious missing - not even an old computer I have disconnected and laying around to be chucked out.
The only thing was a light had been left on which I'd not left on when I left.
A police report has been made and the builder, nice man, sent his son off to get some things to secure the house whilst he waited there.
This, I am assured, has now been done though I've not seen photos yet of how they've done it.

Panic over for now, unless it happens again. It's just damned unfortunate we can't get over to Spain because normally I'd be there at this time for a while. We have been lucky though that in the last ten years there's only been one full year someone has been in occupation, either us or other family, so it stays empty a lot of the time. It's not overlooked nor can anyone hear anything if noise is made as the nearest neighbour is about a kilometre away.
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Old Feb 27th 2021, 12:46 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

I bought a barking dog plug in motion activated alarm, in the home it would scare burglars when we were not at home. Plugged inside and it alarmed when someone approached the door >
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Old Feb 27th 2021, 1:05 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by Mark604
I went into panic mode last night. My house is out in the campo and the neighbouring land owner had been to check his olive trees when he saw my house had been broken in to. He said he didn't get too close but couldn't see anyone around.
I contacted my builder who lives nearby and he, a rather large gentleman and his son, twice as large, went and had a look. I told them of my concerns regarding squatters.
Yes, access has been gained but they can't see anything obvious missing - not even an old computer I have disconnected and laying around to be chucked out.
The only thing was a light had been left on which I'd not left on when I left.
A police report has been made and the builder, nice man, sent his son off to get some things to secure the house whilst he waited there.
This, I am assured, has now been done though I've not seen photos yet of how they've done it.

Panic over for now, unless it happens again. It's just damned unfortunate we can't get over to Spain because normally I'd be there at this time for a while. We have been lucky though that in the last ten years there's only been one full year someone has been in occupation, either us or other family, so it stays empty a lot of the time. It's not overlooked nor can anyone hear anything if noise is made as the nearest neighbour is about a kilometre away.
I'm sorry to hear that someone broke into your house but strange they didn't steal anything . The only other possibility is that they might be checking out the place for future okupas - ie . checking the water and electricity supply , what locks to change , etc , etc . If I were you , I'd get some motion detectors set up asap. I've been reading about doing it on the cheap using old android phones and some free download software so that one can monitor the house from abroad (still trying to figure out how it all works from an expense perspective).

Turn Old Smartphones into Security Cameras with Motion Detection FREE Alfred - YouTube

I raised some questions but I still have some doubts about how much it would cost to have a 'multiple SIM' account and whether there are roaming charges , etc.

Questions: Can the 'camera' be used abroad in another country ? For example , have the 'camera' monitoring a property in Spain while still having the 'viewer' in the UK?

Answer: Yes. I used it during my trips to Japan. As long as they can connect to Wifi or some other connection, it will work

Question: I'm assuming for both cameras (spy and viewer) that one would have to create 2 accounts with a mobile supplier to access the internet (ie. 2 SIM cards and different telephone numbers). But won't having continuous monitoring also require continuous access to the internet? Won't this cost a lot of money in data usage? Would one also need to have 2 accounts with the same mobile operator or can they be different? For example , could I have the 'spy' camera with a local mobile operator in Spain (with coverage near our property) which would be different to the mobile operator for the 'viewer' camera based in our UK location?

Answer: Just one account is needed, even with multiple phones and devices. They are motion activated so if there something moving, it grabs that.




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Old Apr 23rd 2021, 3:40 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Hi DOWNANOUT,
I have followed this thread for some time and wondered what can be done to prevent a further re-infestation of squatters. Looking at internet sites that specialise in repossessions I often see properties that are apparently wrecked. I thought initially that this had been a final “thankyou” by the previous occupant but no, I now think that it is a strategy to keep the property free of squatters. In essence the owner has a metal framed security door fitted and then removes all plumbing fittings and fixtures, smashing the bath/shower tray, sink, all kitchen units/appliances removed or smashed all electrical fittings torn out and removed. All internal doors removed. Same for fuse box. In short made virtually uninhabitable, It seems that the reasoning is that the whole place will need refurbishment anyway so why not just strip it in advance. The owner then advertises it and gets a basic price the “lucky” buyer gets a cheap as chips place to refurbish.

Have a look at this site for ideas. (I have no connection to the owners nor any other interest in the business)

Put in the price lowest and observe state of many of the properties. Good luck!

https://buyspainpropertiessl.net/
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Old Jun 25th 2021, 8:03 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

No news is 'good' news?
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 1:57 am
  #220  
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by Mark604
No news is 'good' news?
Well here's a bit of shocker .

We've obviously been unable to visit our flat since our tenant got evicted last January. Since that time I've managed to identify the electricity company who supplies our flat and the contract is still in the name of our old tenant. We refuse to takeover the contract until we are certain he or his friends haven't broken back into our apartment (the only set of front door keys is with our lawyer in Alicante).

The electricity company have been good enough to understand our predicament and have sent me a statement showing the unpaid monthly bills (so we can determine if anyone is actually living in our flat and using electricity).

Here they are
Jan 21 = 21.51 (we evicted him in Jan but he was subletting it for a few weeks before and there is some usage)
Feb 21 = 14.96
Mar 21 = 11.64
April 21 = 10.97
June 21 = 8.94

So there isn't much usage but I've noticed that May 21 invoice is not shown or not outstanding

This suggests that our tenant or someone else may have broken in and paid the invoice (or it could be a mistake and they've forgotten to add that invoice in the statement). Anxiety levels are climbing now until I get a reply from them to confirm if its an error or the invoice paid.

There certainly doesn't seem to be any usage for June period so fingers crossed its just an admin error by the energy company .

We will never takeover the contract for this electricity supply until we are able to visit and secure our property and wish they would just cut it off . Our evicted tenant is still liable for all outstanding debt as he is the contract owner.

It just goes to show how mad the laws in Spain are allowing people to break into our properties and live there for free at our expense. Spain deserves to be kicked out of the EU for assisting criminality against property owners (especially foreign owned).

Last edited by DOWNANDOUT; Jul 20th 2021 at 2:00 am.
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 1:21 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by DOWNANDOUT
Spain deserves to be kicked out of the EU for assisting criminality against property owners (especially foreign owned).
​​​​​​​Quite the most ridiculous comment I've heard this year!
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 2:22 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by Notdunroamin
Quite the most ridiculous comment I've heard this year!
If i had gone thru what the OP has then i would make the same comment.
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 3:05 pm
  #223  
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by santaanita
If i had gone thru what the OP has then i would make the same comment.
Many thanks but the court case is still not over since it started in May 2018 (even after we evicted this criminal from our flat).

We lost our 1st case of eviction due to a legal process error made by our solicitor and the judge hit us with costs of £4.5k which we still owe . Apparently it is very rare for judges to enforce costs just because of a legal process error but he decided that we had to pay the tenant (even though he knew he hadn't paid his rent for over 10 years). It is normal in Spanish Courts for some of the judges to be biased towards their own countrymen so we were unlucky in our 1st attempt but lucky in our 2nd court case because we had a lady judge who 'saw through' our tenants lies and allowed the eviction process to proceed (although it took 3 years with all the legally allowed appeals to delay eviction).

Further , we have now found out that all the tenants evidence was fabricated by him and his family (who were managing the 'Community Of Owners' ). The 'Community of Owners' went bankrupt before our court case started, therefore all the documents produced to support the tenants appeals were forged. Yet nothing will be done by the courts unless we spend another fortune to have the tenant charged for fraud.

When we evicted the tenant in Jan 2021 (he was subletting the flat making good money for many years) he owed us over 11k but obviously emptied all his bank accounts before the courts could request an embargo on them to enforce payment to us. He basically hasn't paid a penny of what is owed for the last 5 years while all his legal fees and court costs were paid by the State (free legal aid).

In the meantime the court was going to embargo our flat for the 4.5k owed in the 1st failed eviction attempt , so we had to pay another 1k to our solicitor to raise an appeal requesting the court to offset this debt against the 11k the tenant owes us. That appeal was raised 7 months ago and the court decision is still pending .

You can hazard a guess what we expect their decision will be.

We are the not the only ones suffering the terribly biased laws in Spain that protect squatters and dodgy tenants, even those that are illegally subletting the properties. It is rife across Spain and I can only assume that some landlords have raised their cases to the EU Courts to get some sort of justice.

Last edited by DOWNANDOUT; Jul 20th 2021 at 3:11 pm.
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 8:12 pm
  #224  
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Old Jul 20th 2021, 8:14 pm
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Default Re: Tenant Eviction Nightmare -Part 2

Originally Posted by Notdunroamin
Quite the most ridiculous comment I've heard this year!
​​​​​​​Quite the most stupid reply that I have read on here by a country mile.
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