Delinquent tenants, what can I do?

Renting out a home is a good option if it won’t be used, providing a monthly income that can be very helpful. However, tenants may fail to pay the amount they owe, and this can have significant consequences.

How to avoid and protect yourself from delinquent tenants

Although having delinquent tenants isn’t common, it can always happen. To try to minimize the risks, it’s best to take preventative measures, although it won’t always be possible to detect tenant delinquency.

One option that may be helpful is to consult the FIM, a national registry of delinquencies. This registry contains a database created by property owners and real estate professionals.

Something that often works well to gain more information about the person who will be renting the apartment is to request some documents. The most common are:

DNI/NIF/NIE/ID.
Income tax and VAT declaration.
Work contract.
Last 3 payslips.
Bank certificate.

You can also count on professionals to help you secure your rental. According to the Housing Law 12/2023, real estate management fees and contract formalization costs must be borne by the landlord, not the tenant.

And, just in case all preventive measures fail, the best recommendation is to take out rental insurance to be well protected.

Steps to follow with delinquent tenants

If all the above suggestions have not worked and you have tenants in your property who do not pay their monthly rent, the steps you should follow are:

Try the amicable route. Stay calm and contact the tenant to try to reach an agreement on paying the debt. You can offer payment options or a repayment plan.
Make a reliable request via Burofax (registered letter with certification of content). If the friendly approach doesn’t work, send a Burofax with acknowledgment of receipt and Certified Content. In the Burofax, clearly state the amount owed, the deadline for payment, and the possibility of legal action if the request is not met. It is essential to send this burofax at least 30 days before filing the lawsuit to prevent the ‘enervación’ (reinstatement) of the lease. Enervación is the tenant’s right to pay the debt and stop the eviction process to remain in the property, which can only be done once. If the burofax is sent correctly, the tenant will lose this right.
Summary Eviction Procedure. If the tenant doesn’t pay within the deadline indicated on the burofax (Registered letter), file an eviction order for nonpayment with the court. This suit must be admitted by a judge. Once admitted, the court clerk will give the tenant 10 business days to repay the debt, leave the property or oppose the suit before proceeding with the process.

Under current regulations, before the claim is admitted, the landlord must specify if the property is the tenant’s primary residence and if they are in a situation of economic vulnerability. If the landlord is a Large Property Holder, the law also requires a prior conciliation or mediation process. Please note that if such vulnerability is legally confirmed, the eviction process may be temporarily suspended until the measures deemed appropriate by social services are adopted, which can extend the timelines for recovering the property.

In order for the claim to be accepted for processing, you will need to provide the following documentation:

Rental agreement.
Updated Property Registry Extract (issued within the last 3 months).
Proof of sending the burofax (Registered letter).
Unpaid bills owed by the tenant. The most common are electricity, gas, and water bills. *
Power of Attorney for lawsuits (Poder para pleitos) or Apud Acta designation (required for the court agent to represent you).

Once the claim has been issued, it will be notified to the tenant.

* Important note: If the utility bills are in your name, you must continue paying them throughout the process to avoid harassment or coercion charges, although you may later claim the full amount from the tenant.

Legal proceedings. The court will admit the claim and notify the tenant, who will have the aforementioned period of 10 business days to object. If the tenant does not object or if the objection is unsuccessful, an eviction order will be issued, and the eviction will proceed. It is crucial that the claim includes a request to set the date and time for the eviction (lanzamiento). This ensures the court schedules the eviction date from the beginning, avoiding unnecessary delays after the judgment is issued.
Debt recovery. An eviction claim may also include a claim for amounts owed. However, it may not be possible to recover all the debt, especially if the tenant is insolvent. But, if the rental is subject to VAT (such as commercial premises or tourist apartments), remember that you can recover the VAT from unpaid rents by issuing a corrective invoice (factura rectificativa) within the legal deadlines.

Advice for delinquent tenants

If you find yourself in a situation where there are delinquent tenants in your property, you should follow this recommendations:

Don’t take matters into your own hands. Your first angry reaction may lead to things like changing the locks, cutting off the electricity or water, and threatening the tenant. These actions can be considered a crime of coercion, which could flip the legal process and turn you into the defendant; therefore, the best course of action is to stay calm.
Legal advice. It’s advisable to hire a lawyer specializing in real estate law to advise you throughout the process.
Register of defaulters. You can register the tenant in a register of defaulters; this will help other people when they inquire about them. However, this isn’t enough to recover the debt or evict the tenant.

Consequences of a tenant not paying the landlord

While it’s possible to empathize with a tenant’s financial and personal situation, failure to pay their monthly rent has consequences for the landlord:

Stopping the expected income. Sometimes, rent is used to pay the mortgage on the same or another property, or as part of a family’s monthly spending money.
Assume associated expenses. In addition to community fees and property taxes, other maintenance and renovation costs may arise that must be met without receiving rental income.
Claim costs. The landlord must also pay the lawyer, the court agent, the certified letter, and any other expenses involved in trying to get the tenant to pay.

Although tenant delinquency is a real risk when renting out a property, it does not have to be a problem without a solution. In the event of non-payment, it is vital to act quickly and with legal rigor to recover your property as soon as possible. At Firmalex, we provide the legal certainty you need to manage this process efficiently and without errors. Do not let the situation worsen—contact our specialists today.

Further information

This article is part of our service Real Estate Lawyer in Spain. Visit this section where you will find all the useful information on this topic, including a complete guide on How to buy a house in Spain.

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