•Letting & Renting 

Can I simply enter my property in Spain after the agreed 5 year’s rental term is over even if the tenant hasn’t left?

No you cannot, since the law protects any actual occupant of a real estate property even if the legal validity of the occupation is finishing or in dispute. The same rule applies to cases where the tenancy’s term is clearly over but the tenant has not left for whatever reason. In such cases the legal possessor can only solve the matter through the courts that would legally put the property back in his hands.

Also, and this is very important, you must formally let know your tenant before the end of the contract that you do not want to renew it. If you do not do this the rental can be regarded as renewed for two more years.

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Does it make any difference if I rent mi villa to a Spanish company instead of an individual?

Yes, it does. To start with, companies normally limit the responsibility they may incur into (including due lease rents), up to the amount of their share capital. Another substantial circumstance is the fact that most companies may legally change their board of shareholders as many times they find appropriate without informing anyone; thus the persons you may have seen at the time of contracting the lease may be substituted by others you do not know at all.

A properly drafted lease contract should avoid these and any other risky issues even if the tenant is to be a company.

Emilio Pino – Abogados can help you regarding such contract.

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My rental contract does not mention any tenant’s address other than the rented property. Where should I send him an official notice if I know he is not there?

The recently approved new Reform of the Law for Leases ( Ley 19/2009) has solved this old dilemma. It clearly indicates that in case the parties have not stated otherwise, the tenant’s address for official notices is the rented property. And this is so regardless your tenant is not there when the notice is properly sent, therefore as a consequence your notice shall have legal effects even if it does not reach the receiver.

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I need to sell my restaurant business along with the premises in Spain, do I need to inform my landlord or can I just formally do it with the buyer exclusively?

You cannot do it without offering the business first to your landlord, bearing in mind you need to offer it to him for the same price your potential buyer is offering as the landlord has a legal first refusal right.

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Is a property owner able to stipulate a term of lease of less than five years according to the Spanish Law? (2006-05-21)

Yes he could, because Landlord and Tenant can mutually agree about any term when they celebrate their contract. Anyhow, the Spanish Urban Renting Law (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos) quite clearly indicates that in cases of rentals having a term of less than five years, the Tenant can extend the term by successive periods of one year if he wishes so for a maximum period totalizing five years.

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Is it legal in Spain for the landlord to let a home property without asking for a guarantee deposit?

No it is not. The Law establishes that the deposit will be an obligatory exigency and benefit for both parties, landlord and tenant, respectively.

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Regarding my rented apartment in Spain, how can I as a landlord be protected against a tenant deciding to stay 5 years instead of the originally agreed shorter term?

In general terms there is not such a protection’s possibility really. The tenant is legally more protected and the Spanish Law requires that a home contract be renewable for a minimum of five years, just subject to the tenant’s non-resignable right to decide so. However there are methods to avoid that your apartment is being considered as a rented home for tenants and thus avoiding this compulsory time extension through a careful analysis of the situation and with a properly worded contract.

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Can I be sure that these tenants will leave at the end of the first six months?

I own a holiday house in a town of Málaga ’s province. I am considering renting it through an agent, to a Spanish couple for an initial period of six months. I think the couple might want to stay longer than six months, and the agent says we can consider this near the end of the first six months, and decide whether to agree to another six months for example. Can I be sure that these tenants will leave at the end of the first six months, or after twelve months, so that we can continue to visit our house for holidays? Do I simply need a short term letting contract?

Tenancy contracts are a delicate subject in what refers to short terms stipulations versus long term intentions or necessities of the tenant themselves. Therefore, there are measures as well as statements on the contract that are aimed to destroy a presumed or subjacent reality of permanent home of the tenant. This is so, because the tenancy law proclaims that it is not the parties or the contracts the ones who determine the kind of tenancy in a given situation, but the fact, or the reality itself.
We could give you assistance in case you wish to be protected against long term tenancy, by means of studying your individual case and implementing a contract with adapted stipulations.

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