ENERVATION & Spanish Real Estate Law: Eviction for non-payment of rent, utility bills, etc

CONSULTATION :

Dear lawyers,

Recently I rented a restaurant in Javea. I had problems paying the rent before the summer. I now have the money to pay the debt , however the landlord has told me that they have already claimed against me in Denia’s courts, requesting my eviction and the letting contract to be terminated, forcing me to leave the restaurant. They told me that now it is too late to pay. What can I do?.

Dear Reader ,

Thank you for your inquiry.

If you have the money to pay the debt, then as per the Spanish Law you can stop the eviction by paying all the debt, by means of a legal institution called enervation (enervacion).

Enervation is regulated in articles 22 and 440 of the Spanish Civil Litigation Process Act, and has recently been modified. Through enervation, respondents are able to terminate the court eviction process, if on the legal deadline (10 days from being served with the claim) they pay all the amount claimed for, plus any other amount owed at the time of this payment.

Enervation can only be used once, you should not have used enervation against a previous eviction. Also you should not have been requested by the owner (lessor) to pay the debt by a registered letter, thirty days or more previous to the landlord filing the claim.

If they do claim against you, once you get the claim served, the court will give you a deadline of 10 days, when you must vacate and leave the property , or pay the actor , or if want to enervate the eviction, to pay all of what you owe and ask the court case to cease due to the enervation, or to oppose the eviction action if you do not agree with the amount owed, etc.

If you have problems with your letting contract, and are being evicted from a home or business, or if you want to evict your tenant, we can help you.

The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.