by Josep Maria Reichardt The different economic crises that we have been suffering in recent years, first the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2008 that led to the bankruptcy of so many banks, then from 2019 the COVID 19 pandemic and now we are experiencing the difficulties derived from the Ukrainian war. As a consequence, there are many families who have seen their incomes reduced and who have serious economic difficulties even to meet the most basic payments, such as paying rent. To this problem should be added the slow pace of evictions.
Unfortunately, apart from the families that have real economic problems, there is a group of scoundrels who, taking advantage of the misfortune of others, try to blend in with the mass of those affected by the crisis in order to avoid paying rent.
The slowness and inefficiency of the Administration of Justice to process evictions worries the owners. The owners consider whether to rent a home for fear of non-payment of rent. In fact, the owners must already count on the fact that defaults will sometimes occur, what worries them most is the slowness with which evictions occur due to non-payment.
The extraordinary guarantee measures of the administration to prevent or avoid the avalanche of evictions due to non-payment, whether of mortgage loan installments or rental income, have extended the suspension of eviction and release processes for families who are declared judicially vulnerable in eviction proceedings due to non-payment of rent or expiration of the term, but these same administrations do not take into account the need to recover possession of a dwelling by its legitimate owner in order to put it back up for rent.
We are not talking about the large holders, but about small owners who need the rental income from their home to supplement their pension, for example.
The normal period of an eviction in Madrid, for example, was in its day about 6 months, but now it is taking up to 9 months or a year. In addition, in the event that there is a suspension due to vulnerability, the processes could be paralyzed until September 30, 2022, which is the period established in the last extension.
That is why we must be reasonable and that neither owners nor tenants try to abuse in the difficult situation we are experiencing. Unfortunately, apart from the families that suffer real economic problems, there is another group that, taking advantage of the situation, try to blend in with the mass of those affected to avoid paying rent.
These types of problematic tenants swindle small amounts from successive owners who lease them homes or business premises who, clearly, take advantage of crisis situations, whether they affect them or not, to evade their payment obligations. They always find a justification for doing so, for example regarding the characteristics of the rented home or premises, and that they believe is a sufficient excuse for non-payment of their due rent. They tend to be very aggressive with the owner and argue that “they” have financial problems and they do not care if they are causing financial problems to the person who has rented the house or premises.
In the case of a professional defaulter, at the first non-payment or lack of punctuality in the payment, a procedure for express eviction in Madrid for non-payment of rental income.
Perhaps your tenants are good people, dutiful and honest, perhaps they are temporarily affected by the crisis, but there are many professional delinquent tenants who go from house to house and from place to place, leaving large amounts pending payment of rental income to his step.
Unfortunately, the Administration of Justice is excessively protectionist and its procedures favor delinquent tenants and harm the owners, and when they finally accept an eviction lawsuit for processing, after months of waiting, they set a trial date to attend to the demand for Non-payment of rent several months later, and even more months later the release date is set, and meanwhile the delinquent tenant continues to live quietly in the rented house and without paying any rent.
