Spanish Eviction Notice Requirements
The Supreme Court handed down it’s interpretation of Article 22.4 of the LEC - Spanish Eviction Notice Requirements - for unpaid rent, in May 2014, as follows:
What are the Spanish eviction notice requirements when sending a notification to a tenant regarding rent arrears or other unpaid bills arising from a tenant’s occupation of a property?
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The Supreme Court handed down it’s interpretation of Article 22.4 of the LEC (Ley Enjuiciamiento Civil) regarding the requirements when notifying a tenant of a demand for unpaid rent and utility bills in May 2014, as follows:
- The notification must contain a demand for immediate payment of the rent or other amounts due under the terms of the lease e.g. IBI, community payments, electricity, water etc). This prevents the possibility of the tenant preventing the eviction by making a late payment of the rent due at this time.
- The notification must be irrefutable, that is to say that the communication must have been sent in such a manner that it’s arrival to the tenant can be accredited (for example by certified post)
- The communication must refer to unpaid rent or other payments due under the lease that are unpaid.
- The legally prescribed time frame – of between one and two months since the amounts fell due (varying according to the different legal reforms on the matter) – must have been completed
The Supreme Court considered that it is commonly known that the failure to pay the rent gives rise to the termination of the lease and the eviction of the tenant from the home or business premises. Accordingly, we are here dealing with a law regulating tenants such that they are obliged to pay rent and other bills assumed under the lease and an obligation to pay on the part of the tenant who must be notified without it being necessary to make the tenant aware of the consequences of failure to pay.
