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Imagine you are renting an apartment in Spain; a normal deposit is already costly and in most of the cases, compulsory. Recently, The “Agencia Negociadora del Alquiler” has detected a loophole in the latest Spanish Royal Decree Law on rentals.
The latest regulation passed March 1st limits the additional guarantees (better known as security deposit) that landlords may require tenants. However, according to the Article 36, specifically in point 5, there’s a loophole that reads:
“The parties may agree on any type of guarantee of compliance by the lessee of their additional lease obligations to the deposit in cash. In the case of the lease of housing, in contracts of up to five years, or up to seven years if the lessor were a legal entity, the value of this additional guarantee may not exceed two monthly payments. “
What does it mean?
This legal vacuum implies, that there is a possibility according to law of increasing “with no limits” additional lease obligations to the deposit in cash. In other words, considering the new regulation, landlords will be able to demand greater guarantees from the tenants, and thus have the rental risk covered at their desire.
What does this imply for tenants?
Since the latest Decree clearly positions itself in favor of landlords, tenants should bear in mind:
If the contract was SIGNED for an initial long term duration of five or seven years:
You are on the safe zone.
The landlord could try to hinder your signed agreement, but still having to abide by the established deadlines.
If the contract was NOT SIGNED for an initial duration of more than five or seven years:
The risk could be greater.
The Landlord, could opposed to long term rentals, and therefore cutting you a shorter stay. Under the premise that, if there is no signed contract , the Landlord can choose to have a smaller duration on Rental agreements. Smaller contract duration would grant him under this decree, a greater margin of profit through cash deposits.
Want to know more about this Real Estate Decree?
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