The rise in inflation and the government's measures to regulate rental prices are changing the landscape of the rental property market in Spain. Having security and protection guarantees when renting a home is important for the tenant and also for the owner.
The 'squats', non-payment of rent, deterioration of the property, illegal practices or seeing how the tenant sublets rooms are some of the concerns of the owners. How can these insecurities be reduced when entrusting a home to unknown people?
Rental contracts are a commitment for the fulfillment of obligations by lessors and lessees. Although there are situations in which the landlord is left unprotected, even without being able to dispose of his home despite the fact that the tenants have breached the contract in some of its clauses.
If you are thinking of renting out your home for the first time or are looking for new tenants without the relationship becoming hell, there are a number of aspects that you can take into account before and during the period in which you have rented the property:
From appliances to furniture, make a list of everything in your home that the tenant will be able to use while living there. Take photographs that serve to assess its condition if you have to claim damage to the furniture at the end of the contract. Include this document as an annex to the contract.
If you want to have the peace of mind that when choosing your tenant their profile will be verified, especially to avoid possible situations of non-payment, and that the contracting and any management during the duration of the rental will be done in accordance with the Urban Leasing Law, choose expert legal and rental management advice.
You can hire, for example, legal services to help you with any legal question or incident; Real estate advisers to know how to get the most out of your home or process the contract, or a person who acts as an intermediary and vouch for you to manage the relationship with the tenants and possible unforeseen events. Or, if you prefer, choose comprehensive rental management services to cover all processes and procedures from start to finish.
As a landlord, you have to establish what the tenant can and cannot do in your home. And you can start filtering this from the moment you choose the tenant, establishing a profile: for example, that they are non-smokers or that they do not have pets. Requirements such as not living with animals can be included as one more clause or condition in the rental contract.
Other clauses that will help you protect your home are the prohibition of subletting, so that the tenant cannot rent to a third party; establish the day of payment of the rent and the penalties in case of non-payment; agree on who is responsible for paying certain taxes such as garbage or IBI and, based on the list of assets in the property, what will happen in the event of damage or damage.
Before renting the house, decide if you want to keep ownership of the supplies or not, if they are not included in the rental price. If, as the owner, you want to maintain ownership, a safe option is for the supply contracts to remain in your name but the account number for payments will be that of the tenant. Thus, this person can directly pay the invoices.
Another option is to hire a company that is responsible for the payment of supplies in case of delay by the lessee.
There are different measures to help identify risks before handing over the keys to a tenant and avoid defaults. Among them is rental non-payment insurance: it is a financial product that protects the owner and tenant in case of non-payment and any eventuality that may arise both during the rental period and at the time of ending the relationship.
Hiring non-payment rental insurance can offer protection in the event of late payment by tenants, offer an advance on rental payments and even legal coverage to manage non-payments, as well as receive advice on any legal questions related to rent.
Although this type of insurance is not mandatory, it is recommended when you do not have information on the solvency of the tenant or when, as the owner, you do not have the capacity to manage the day-to-day rental of one or more homes.
