Just a few months ago, Antonia L. left behind half a century of memories in his rented flat Sec Town, with her heart in her fist, the fear of a change of home and address at 73 years old, and a feeling of helplessness that had been consuming her for months. The woman calculates that she would have paid several times the value of the house, since many years ago the administrator updated the rent. After so much time, she paid almost 900 euros for one hundred square meters almost of origin, she assuming any repair and without the fee stopping growing: what if a percentage for continuous spills, what if the corresponding part of the goal (even after it disappeared), what if the IBI, elevator and all kinds of possible supplement. In the end she threw in the towel, when that income was about to ruin her.
It was useless to claim the documentation on the surcharges, as recommended in the Union of Llogateres, where she discovered that she was not alone, and that the abuses – often based on old clauses and complex contracts – were a constant by some multi-owners who disassociate themselves from the properties by putting them in the hands of soulless administrators. “That administrator is the worst & rdquor ;, they warned him in the entity. “They answered me that the term to request the papers had prescribed & rdquor ;, she points out. With a widow’s pension that left her no room to subsist without help from her family, she opted for begin to rewrite his life in the Garrafnear his daughters.
The last stage was the worst, the farm had been filled with “hot beds & rdquor ;, flats where numerous immigrants lived who paid even more for unrenovated homes, living in groups, with the consequent bustle of slamming doors and noise day and night. They had no insurance, and Antonia was pushed to the limit after two serious leaks in the bathroom and a sign announcing the rooms on the same stairs.
When he closed the door of the home where one day he was so happy with his family, he buried a past and even his youth furniture to reduce expenses. “It was impossible to find anything in the neighborhood, not even in Barcelona”. For 600 euros there was only option to reinvent itselfa mission in which today he puts all his efforts, in a small municipality.
Accessing legal support is not easy. And win the battle less. But in the sleepless stories of tenants and tenants, villains and innocents are on both sides. Legal defenselessness affects both parties. It is one of the reasons why rent non-payment insurance has skyrocketed.
mystery tenant
Alejandro M. opted a few years ago to become independent and buy a small apartment, within reach of his pocket. Calculator in hand, he knew he couldn’t be downtown, but he chose the neighborhood of Verdum (Nou Barris)) for their prices. He invested 20,000 euros to completely renovate it, but some time later he began to live with her partner in another address and decided to put it up for rent. In the last quarter, the average price in the area was 647 euros, but the apartment looked so good that she rented it in just a few days for 700, she says. “The tenant seemed perfect, he earned more than 3,000 euros a month with a fixed contract & rdquor ;, he says.
The real estate agency requested the payroll of the supposed official, along with his income statement. The first month he paid the rent, the deposit and the mediation commission. The second no longer showed signs of life. He began a period of “stress, impotence, insomnia, anguish & mldr; & rdquor ;, says Alejandro, because the mysterious individual neither picked up the phone nor had he ever been seen by a single neighbor.
In the last three months, the young owner spent long afternoons stationed at the door of the block, avoiding the temptation to go in and see what was happening. “It affected my health, I did not rest, I could not pay the mortgage and on top of that I did not know what had happened & rdquor;bill.
Coming to think that the tenant had died, he hired an investigator who found out that for weeks there had been a great transfer of food deliveries to homes. His conclusion is that the tenant –who seems already absent– was hiding from someone, because never worked in the public entity whose payroll he presentedAnd he had a shady past. “I can’t get into my apartment, I don’t know how it is or what it has taken. We have denounced it but it is a slow process.
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Experience has convinced him that as soon as he resolves the situation, he will sell what was his home. “I understand that there are vulture funds and that many tenants suffer contract abuse or poor housing conditions, but the small owner is very alone,” he reflects, “justice should speed up this type of case or mafia occupations.”
The cases for not sleeping are many, but fortunately a tiny part among the thousands of contracts (167,842 last year in Catalonia), underline the Association of Real Estate Agents of Catalonia.