Property rental is a booming business on the island with many people subsidising their income by renting out any additional properties they may own, however, as with most matters, there are many legalities that the majority are not aware of and we are going to tackle one that is almost unheard of. Even though most contracts are drafted on regular A4 paper, some of you may have noticed upon signing your contract that stamped paper has been used but may not have really questioned the reason why.
Back in 2013, I wrote an article on Holiday Lets based on Law 4/2013 that was passed in June of that year. That law stated “that over the past few years there has been a significant increase in the use of private accommodation for touristic purposes that can be perceived as intrusion and unfair competition and also goes against the quality of tourist destinations”. It was down to each Autonomous Region to govern this matter as holiday lets do not fall under urban rental laws and as the majority know, in the Canaries, ASCAV has fought tirelessly to establish property owner’s rights to let their properties on a short-term basis.
An interesting event occurred just a few days ago that was enough to make me want to write about the experience (with my clients’ consent of course). I was representing a British couple for a property purchase on the island and after they confirmed to me the conditions they had agreed with the developer in their initial meeting, I carried out the necessary property searches and in so doing contacted the developer directly. In one of our conversations, the developer mentioned off hand, a couple of other conditions that had not come up before; the buyer would be liable to pay outstanding local council rates and community charges for the previous year. This of course can lead to the buyer being held responsible for any other outstanding community charges three years prior.
Last year, I wrote an article about the polemic floor clause in mortgage loan contracts, a subject that has frequently cropped up in the news and is now a regular mainstay at Spanish Courts of Law. Most readers are now familiar with this concept but for those of you who aren’t, here is a brief explanation:
Are you selling or renting your property? Make sure you know the facts, to avoid getting caught out!
A while back, we covered how the Spanish government had been given an ultimatum from the European Union, regarding energy performance certificates, since the rest of Europe had already been applying this obligatory system for a number of years. Since the law was enforced back in June of this year, there has been much talk and confusion about it so I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the matter.
