December 29, 2008

Spain changes property law

With nearly three million empty properties in Spain, a change in the law has been on the cards for some time, this concerns the property rental market, which should be booming at the moment especially with the amount of empty properties around.

The problem for property owners is that at the moment it can take up to year to enforce an eviction process, this puts most property owners off, because of the time and costs involved. However, proposal are being put forward which could change all of that, the details of which are below.

Notice of payment prior to going to Court is reduced from 2 months to 1.
The Court proceedings are now conducted via an equivalent to a small claims court procedure and are therefore a ruling can be reached in a couple of months (depending on the specific Court).
The Court ruling will now be enough to evict a tenant and will be enforced within 30 days, without having to execute the ruling (whereas before the ruling was not automatically enforceable as the landlord had to instigate this action). If the tenant cannot be found the ruling will be notified in the notice board which each Court has and will proceed to send the bailiffs.
Landlords will be able to demand return of the property if they need it not only for their own use but for that of parents and children. This clause will have to be inserted into the contract in order to be enforceable.

Source [Marbella Lawyers]