Neighbour has rented out our property abroad without permission!

No, in the one they left empty for a few months before they started refurbishing it. They have even removed the roof on the first floor for two years and the squatters are still there!

@NotAgainWilson

I know of another Spanish person that got squatters in the ground floor of their property.
Whaaaat? In the property the owners live in?

My point exactly, you better wait 6 months for them to move out than creating all the drama and resentment that could lead them to seek protection under squatters’ rights.

if they do, it will take years. I know a Spanish person whose tenants claimed this, took her more than 3 years to get them out, totally destroyed the house and naturally, they stopped paying rent during all that time.

I know of another Spanish person that got squatters in the ground floor of their property. They have been having very noisy construction work for 5 years, literally rebuilding the house around them for 6 years and the squatters are still there. I suppose noise is not a problem if you are at the office during builders working hours.

I think you need legal advice OP. Squatters rights are strong in Spain. You have to get a court order to remove squatters and there is currently an 18 month backlog, or thereabouts.

Any update OP @unsurebut

Id be interested to know. Theproblem is there are somany local websites andlocal facebook pages and a thing called "wallapop" where you privately rent your Spanish home. Literally everyone is at it.

This thread is long…did we ever determine whether the apartment is currently listed on the holiday rental websites?

OMG Malaga, in that case, he is renting it out over summer and making an absolute fortune. Summer is practically 4 months. Plus Easter, Christmas older people in October etc etc.

This is no "long term rental"!

Get out there, turn up at the flat, breezily and confidently explain to the Easter renters that it is not there fault, but it has been illegally rented out, that you need to change locks. No further implications for them, they do not need to return any money and take back this very lucrative property. Smile, smile, smile and apologise for inconvenience. They will not care if Spanish, if UK they will empathise and be horrified.

He is in trouble, he has rented this and taken deposit money. He will have to pay it back now.

Beat him at his own game. He is relying on your Englishness. Like every other bugger out here. Do not email. Tell him nothing.

I repeat. Do do not worry about tax. Not your problem and irrelevant utterly untraceable at this point. You are a victim. As a PP said earlier it is a law unto itself out here. That is true.

Just get out there and dont panic. I have a feeling all will be well.

You poor thing having to go through this though. Good luck.

My Spanish bilingual cousin lives in Malaga. If you need further help later in the week let me know.

Are you talking about the Spanish Tax position here?

(My comments have only been from the UK Tax perspective.)

Honestly, I agree with all that except sending an email saying he owes you money. Tell this fucker nothing.

The money he has made is your bargaining tool.

The key is: as soon as temporary renters have left/before they arrive, when property is empty - change the locks.

Yeah i also suspect he’s rented it out during the summer holidays and has pocketed the cash! Probably already spent it on the holiday he’s just been on and his new house!! He’s probably shitting himself now that he’s been caught with his pants down ripping your dad off for thousands!!
I’d email him and tell him he must owe your dad hundreds of thousands of pounds if he’s been renting it out and give him bank details to transfer the money over to!! Cheeky fecker!….
id book a flight asap and fly out there and try the locks … get them changed if empty and then message him saying he no longer has access and needs to cancel any let’s he’s made!!
I’d book just a cheap B&B encase he does have tenants in there but it’s worth checking out yourself in person I reckon

OP Schools break up for Easter holidays on Thursday: I would 50% expect someone to be there/family rental for Easter maybe. Important thing is to find out when they leave and to reclaim your property.

Change the locks and give them a key, ask for it back on day of vacating property.

If he has moved away, it is far, far more lucrative for him to be doing weekly etc rentals, he would be making a fortune. All money cash in hand and untraceable.

People dodge tax here as second nature. If he is older, even more likely.

Are you sure he's not living in it himself?

OP.

Honestly, I believe he has not rented it out. I believe he was planning on making a good weekly profit from June - December Schools break up in June and go back 2nd week ofSeptember and rentals are full for this time. (he could expect at least, at least 12,000 euros) I believe he has already taken bookings for summer and this is the issue. I imagine you are in a touristy/beachy place.

Excellent that you are going out there.
Do not prewarn him. Just turn up at the flat. Try the lock. I bet he changed it or is changing it. Call a locksmith and change it back if nobody is living there.
Take your proof of ownership with you (obs)

Also, (IMO) should it be a "long term" rent. It will be for migrant workers. It will not be a family. Trying to get into schools here is just as impossible as UK.You cannot simply rock up and register with a school, get registered with the town hall etc etc. You would have to have a contract to do this plus proof bills are in your name.

This is just my (extensive) experience. But it would help to know vaguely what communtity you are in...Murcia Valencian, Alicante etc?

OP HERE, NAMECHANGE.

Oh oops, yes!

Name change Op @Gracelet ?

So, my dad has written this chap an email laying out what we want - tenants out, keys returned, all of the accounts for the past five years so we can work out how much money my dad should have been getting and then take it from there. The man has acknowledged receipt of the email but said nothing else.

I saw my dad over the weekend and he's getting crosser and crosser about it. In the interim of me posting the OP and now, he's unfortunately been told that he probably has skin cancer, so that's another thing to worry about. Puts everything into perspective though.

Will update when the neighbour replies, but I'm provisionally thinking to go out to Spain a week on Saturday for a night or two. Either to deliver a letter from the lawyer, or just to turn up and see him to put some pressure on him to sort this out and see exactly how the land lies.

There are many uninformed comments about OP's DF tax situation.

As a foreign, non-resident , home owner, tax is charged on a notional rental income, based on the value of the property.
It is iniquitous, but unavoidable.

I'm sorry, I didn't read all 16 pages of the thread so my contribution may be redundant.
I have a property in Spain and experience with evicting tenants so here is the gist of the law: regardless of the neighbour's right to rent the place, the law is on the side of the tenants. Tenancy agreements (even verbal ones) are very strong, you cannot end the agreement before the due date and cannot increase rent in the first three years of the tenancy and, once someone's been to your house for 48h they legally become your tenants. You can only evict them through court (if they don't agree to leave voluntarily). If you attempt to enter the property, change the locks or disconnect the utilities, the police will charge you with breaking and entering.

Brings back the whole Mexican house theif.CF neighbour!