Thread: Question about tenant rights

Hey there everyone! First of all I´d like to thank Valerie for introducing me to this forum, I´m new to it but already it has given me a wealth of info! :-)

I would like to know if we have any rights as tenants to cancel our one-year rental contract without the required 2mth notice, or if we can negotiate a lower rent due to circumstances that are out of our control (which the landlord should have, and probably did, foresee) and directly affects the quality of our living conditions.

*BIT OF BACKGROUND
My husband and I recently moved into an apartment which we thought would give us the peace and quiet we desperately wanted (we were living on a noisy street with noisy neighbours before). In fact, we stipulated to our landlords from the get-go that the most impt aspect to us (our entire reason for moving) is a peaceful tranquil environment.

They assured us that it is a very quiet building (7 apartments - 2 on each floor except principal which is all one apartment), with quiet neighbours (most of them belong to the same family) in a very quiet street.
We´ve now been in the apartment for just under two months now and it is becoming more like hell as each day passes, and the building is now almost a total construction site.

*WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE TO LIVE WITH:
1. The space next to the front entrance is being turned from a garage space into an office (but we were aware of this before we moved) -STATUS: still ongoing, but they havent worked on it for a couple of weeks because there are just two (sometimes three) guys and they´re doing three separate construction projects in our building, and they seem to spend one hour here, two hours there, etc, and not really getting any one thing completed.

2. the garage is undergoing massive work (drilling almost everyday)-STATUS: ongoing (see #1 for more info)

3. i came home one day to find the entire entrance way being drilled to bits (after 1 mth it has been turned into a big ditch approx 3 feet wide, 4 feet deep and 20 feet long, from within 2 feet of the front door all the way to the back wall, i cant even get to the mailboxes unless i want to be in the ditch! and the entrance way isnt that big, about 6 feet wide!) - STATUS: ongoing, drilling all day, and they have yet to drill the last 2 feet to the front door and into the street and then replace all the pipework. first three items on this list are being done by same 2 or 3 workmen.

4. i bumped into the owner of the building. he is a ned flanders lookalike, (which distracted me from my suffering for about three amusing seconds) until, when asked, he revealed that his apartment where he lives, on principal, will be split into two separate apartments. ¨fan-diddily-tastic¨... when asked how long this will take, he said about 2 months. STATUS: not started yet but is slated to begin any day now.

5.Yesterday, we awoke to the apt directly below us having its walls torn down. major renovations have started (we were told prior to moving in by our landlords that the woman who just bought the place may be doing a little bit of work on it. little?!!! the entire place is being gutted!) STATUS: just started, with the workmen telling me that it will take around 1.5 mths.

*CONCLUSION AND PLEAD FOR HELP AND ADVICE!
So here you have it, we have our very own 1000 euro per month piece of a building site. From 8am until 6pm it is unbearable to be in the building. 3 weeks ago i slipped and fell down the stairs from all the dust that had accummulated from the drilling work, and ended up with bone bruise on my wrist and an injured hip. i wish i had reported it (i did see a doctor though and have had treatment) so i guess there is the proof of what happened.

i sent off an angry yet still reasonable email to the owners (who are living overseas for the year) and though the wife has replied to tell me she had no idea of the full scale of the renovations that would be going on, i am hesitant to believe her. She and her husband are fairly close to the property owner and were talking alot prior to and after our move. I dont think it is possible that all this wasnt mentioned.

i think that the building owner has moved out temporarily in anticipation of the work (obviously he cant live there while it´s being done), and the people -his relatives?- on the first floor (opposite/next to the one being gutted) have also gone for now. so it´s obviously been in planning and common knowledge for a while.

out of the 5 floors of the building, the first three are basically under construction...

Sorry for long post, there is alot of info to give, and i thank you for taking the time to read this. i do hope that someone out there has some advice for us!!!
we definitely didnt want to start our married life in this hell, and we dont know spanish law enough to know what we can fight for. we love this apartment and when we thought the work was minimal and shortlived, we were okay to put up with the drilling. but now it is so unreasonable and we feel that we shouldnt have to pay good money to live in these conditions... what all this means that for our 12 mth lease, from between 1/3 to 1/2 of it (not more i hope) will be spent uncomfortably...

¡¡ayudanos, por favor!!
muchissimas gracias a todos...
Amanda

Hi Amanda
OMG
Had no idea your situation was so bad. The best thing would be to talk to a lawyer. I'm trying to think of who could advise on this. Will be in touch.
Love
Valerie

Hi Valerie, yeah unfortunately the situation has progressively worsened this week, with things set to get worse in very near future as even more work starts. Thanks un montón for all the information, i will spend the weekend poring over what you sent me! I really appreciate it.

A catalan friend of mine also told me to go talk to OCU, which deals with consumer affairs and have free lawyers who will fight for your case. also, i was told by the ayuntamiento today to head over to OMIC, also consumer affairs so i am a little confused, but pleased i can have my pick of support!

i will update here if anything interesting happens, hopefully it could help anyone else who may have apartment issues.

un fuerte abrazo!

For anyone in this situation:

The law stipulates that

The landlord must give the tenant three months notice of their intention to carry out repairs that may affect the health, hygiene and comfort of the property. In this case the tenant may terminate the rental contract within 1 month from the notice. If the tenant decides to stay, the tenant may get a reduced rate in relation to the parts of the dwelling that cannot be used due to the repairs.

I have paraphrased this from a Spanish legal site.

Tenants have traditionally enjoyed great protection under Spanish law, as did workers (Franco passed a lot of protectionist legislation, unlike other capitalist dictators). Now tenants' rights have been modified in order to give more protection to landlords (it works both ways!)

Valerie

Are rental properties so difficult to find in Barcelona that you can't move to somewhere without all that hastle. Where I live, there are hundreds of properties to rent.

CD

Thanks for the replies, it is all sorted now with the landlords being very reasonable and allowing us to end the contract early without any problems (which is what i was concerned about, as the law dictates here that for 12 mth contracts if you leave early then you still have to pay for the entire rental period, something we cannot afford!).

I did consult my lawyer who explained the laws and regulations on rental contracts here in Catalunya, and she recommended, por si acaso, for both parties to sign a ¨contract¨ that would state that the rental contract was dissolved by agreement on both sides and that from x day, the apartment would be returned in good condition to the owners with all bills paid etc, and that they will return to me the full deposit. (basically, whatever agreement we had between us translated into a legal document so that the landlords cant come back in a few months time and demand money from us for leaving early- esp if they cant rent out the apartment. not because we think they will do it, but always good to be protected.)

We also did manage to find another (wonderful and quiet!) apartment (this is in response to CDThader´s posting).
It wasnt so much that we couldnt find another place (there are tons on the market, for sure) but we were concerned about the legality of breaking our contract, and also the expense of moving again after 3 mths, as we have a fairly limited budget and now it is super competitive to find something in our price range and without at least 6mths of fianza/aval. Plus movers in Barcelona (also because we have alot of furniture) cost 1600-2000 euros each time. Not an easy or cheap decision to make, but in the end completely necessary for our peace of mind. Having said all that, we were lucky to have reasonable landlords who let us leave (and give us the last month for free), and we are totally appreciative of this.

oh, i did go to OMIC a few wks ago and they were useless! Although it was the ayuntamiento who sent me there, they said it had nothing to do with them and i have to talk to the ayuntamiento! there is a housing office run by the ayuntamiento that was very helpful (they also offer free legal assessment by appt)

I think OMIC would have had more to do if the obras were going on outside the legal times, but in our case the guy thought i was mad to complain.

So glad it all worked out.

Valerie