Before renting out your Spanish property it is wise to investigate what your situation will be if your tenant stops paying the rent and refuses to move out of your property. This helps to focus a prospective landlords mind on the potential dangers of renting out a Spanish property, and what steps they can take to avoid letting out their property to “tenants from hell”.

Unfortunately it is a fact of life that there are many unscrupulous people who deliberately abuse the legal rights that exist for tenants under Spanish law for their own advantage. If your tenant stops paying rent your only option is to evict them legally through the Spanish Courts which due to the slowness of the Court system could take anything up to a year. During this time you will not be receiving rent for your property, have the legal expenses of eviction and in addition your non-paying tenant may be causing damage to your property which will cost you to repair once you eventually get your property back.

Of course it is extremely stressful to have a person occupying your property and not paying rent, and it is understandable for you to feel angry and for you to want to send in some “heavies” to throw the people out. Although this is an understandable reaction, as in the UK is illegal, and usually will only add to the owners’ problems if they finds themselves arrested and prosecuted for illegally evicting the tenants!

The only correct option they have is to instruct a Spanish lawyer or Solicitor as soon as the tenant stops paying the rent and start eviction proceedings through the Spanish legal system. Due to the expense, slowness and stress associated with the legal eviction process it is wise for anyone thinking of renting out their property to do the following steps first:

1. Undertake extensive checks on your prospective tenant. Obtain references from his bank. Ask for copies of pay slips (an employee with a steady income usually a safer bet than a self employed one). Carry out a credit check, ask for references and try and contact their previous Spanish landlords. With thorough checks you may discover if your prospective tenant has a history of not paying rent.

2. Obtain a months deposit in advance. The law specifies only one months rent in advance, but it may be safer to ask for 2 months rent if you can.

3. Take out a rental insurance from one of the several companies offering them. The premium may be up to the value of one month’s rent out of the year but you will have your rental income protected should your tenant stop paying, as well as Spanish eviction legal expenses covered up to set amounts.

4. Make sure you instruct a Spanish lawyer or Solicitor to draft a comprehensive Spanish rental contract that protects your interests as the owner of the Spanish property.

If you take these steps you should minimise your likelihood of renting to a troublesome tenant and if one does slip through the net you will have at least protected yourself from the loss of income and legal expenses.