Neighbour has rented out our property abroad without permission!

[unsurebut]

My father has a property in Spain. It's been in the family since the 70s as a holiday home. Until 3/4 years ago my father travelled there regularly and the place was occasionally used by other family. Then my father had a catastrophic stroke and wasn't able to travel for a while and the place wasn't used as much.

The neighbour there offered to keep an eye on the place in return for his family being able to stay there on the odd weekend/couple of weeks in the summer. He's a nice guy and has done a lot to modernise the property. My father then gave him permission to rent out the flat when it wasn't being used, again, for the odd weekend / couple of weeks in the summer, nothing permanent or long term and we were to be kept informed about who was staying there and when in advance of it being rented out.

Fast forward to this year and my father has recovered enough to travel. We've booked to go there in June, all very excited. My father emailed the neighbour, only to be told that it's not possible because he's rented the property out until January! Not only is this not permitted, we weren't even told! I am absolutely outraged and my father is very cross. He's emailed the neighbour to say that we will be arriving on said dates and that's non-negotiable, the neighbour has replied to say that he's away this week so will respond next week. Meanwhile, flights have been booked, all on the assumption that we were to be notified in advance of it being rented out.

There's communication between my father and the neighbour referring to the agreement, but no specific contract or anything, and the arrangement has worked well until now. I think what has happened is that the neighbour has become used to us not using it and has been renting it out far more than we were aware.

So what do we do now if he refuses to get the 'tenants' to leave?! Surely their contract with the neighbour is null and void because he doesn't have permission to rent it out on this basis? The neighbour DEFINITELY knows this.

AIBU to demand the people leave so we can use the flat as and when we want?

Illegal to do so in spain

What a mess.

But there is time to get a local solicitor involved and give the current residents notice to be out by the end of May

No idea what rentals are like in Spain but even had it been legally done a date of January sounds as if it was a short term / fixed term arrangement.

It’s frustrating but in truth the casual way this has been handled by your Dad has contributed to the situation and over the years it sounds as if the neighbour has kept the place from rack and ruin. It could have been rented out through an agency with associated costs, taxes etc.

Hopefully notice can be given and the place vacated without too much further drama.

I'd the neighbour Spanish National living in Spain? British National or other Nationality with Spanish citizenship living in Spain? or British national living in UK.
If is the first or the second may be easy for you and your father to sue him once you know what is the truth of what us going on.

Can you link it please

So your father IS aware its being rented then...

Surely suing the neighbour isn't wise when they are in the know about the degree of tax evasion, licensing, H&S stuff etc?

I think the best option would be to find out exactly what has been agreed with the current tenant (is it the same people who are due to stay til Jan, or has he booked in lots of shorter stays between now and Jan) and confirm how much money that will make your dad, so the neighbour can't skim off more than his dues. Instruct the neighbour that there will be no more letting out after Jan.

If I were your dad I would have to declare the income for tax, but that's because I'm a worrier and I believe in paying tax.

What a stupid thing for your dad to have done, OP, I feel for you.

Father has been accepting rent, so they're renters not squatters.

Oh dear, what a mess! I think you need professional advice asap

The tenants are currently NOT squatters, they're rent-paying tenants.

This kind of approach is a quick way to turn them into squatters.

Add in the facts that both OP's dad and the neighbour have been acting illegally for many years, scamming tax in both jurisdictions, and most likely have not met the legal duties of a landlord ... and you really don't want to be escalating this, because you will lose.

Even in the UK, the tenants could take both owner and neighbour to the cleaners. In Spain, if antagonised, they could do that while invoking their right to stay in the property - and OP's dad would still be obliged to ensure they are safely housed there.

Best bet's going to be a quiet collaboration with the neighbour, tying up the many very messy loose ends and working how much income to declare for tax purposes in both countries.

First, you'll need a deep dive into the facts, @unsurebut! Good luck 😬

@Kirstk illegal to change the locks on THEIR own property?

God, what a mess. Is it being rented out as a family home or a holiday let? Do you know if it's been done through an official company like Air BnB or informally - ie not above board and all paid cash in hand?

If I was you, I'd sell the place. You can't continue to live next door to someone who has undoubtedly been scamming you, and your dad could be in trouble for all the cash-in-hand payments that he's presumably not been declaring. Better off getting rid and buying something else if you still want a place abroad.

While a short consultation with Spanish lawyer might be useful for understanding the situation, I would recommend to stop and think whether going fully official is going to improve the outcomes.

Speak to the neighbour. Surely the unexpected accrued rent can cover another place to spend your holidays. Keeping it civilised with the neighbour and finding a way forward together sounds like the best option.

Changing the locks and giving the tenants new keys, probably fine. Changing the locks to exclude the tenants and making them homeless, that's going to be illegal isn't it?

It's not the changing the locks that is the issue it's the kicking someone out of the home that is the concern.

Yep, sounds crazy innit! however if someone is living there, legally or illegally, and as it is not the owner first residence, the occupiers rights to an accommodation trumps OP father rights as owner.

I rent in Spain, the flat I live in belongs to my landlady (and a few other flats too). If she were to come in when I am away and change the locks, I´d report her to the police and start a denuncia, and take her to the cleaners. Just saying.

Not sure how it works abroad but even squatters can't just be turfed out here. You need to go through the courts. You may not just be able to make a family homeless with no notice.

Yes, how would you feel if you were renting a place and came back from a day out to find the locks had been changed??

Not just broken Spanish property laws, but probably he and the neighbour have been defrauding tax authorities in both countries.

I'm not a tax expert, but I have an idea that HMRC frowns on people being handed "big bundles of cash" without any provenance.

@canyon2000 @LaughterLentil
I think the OP means her father was supposedly Getting the money but it's become apparent that the neighbour has rented it out far more that admitted and pocketed the money himself.
^
The agreement was occasional rental which he was given cash for when he went over but the neighbour has been renting it out on an almost permanent basis instead and keeping the money.^

@Katiesaidthat

I rent in Spain, the flat I live in belongs to my landlady (and a few other flats too). If she were to come in when I am away and change the locks, I´d report her to the police and start a denuncia, and take her to the cleaners. Just saying.

Even if the flat wasn't rented out to you by the owner but illegally by some random person?

@ButterCrackers that is far too knee jerk and really bad advice. Her father is complicit in this mess, if the neighbour is in trouble then so is the father.

The best thing you can do is forget about having a holiday there but go out to gauge the situation. If possible let the the tenants stay still January, then change the locks and you as a family organise proper management of the property. I really wouldn’t get officials involved as you dad is far from blameless in this.

Excellent advice.
sort it out as quickly and quietly as possible and hope there are no repercussions

This won’t be easy to deal with unfortunately. As Pp have said, the law in Spain is quite different and favours the occupant rather than the owner at times. We have just ended up selling our family holiday home to the family occupying it, similar to yourselves we hadn’t been there in a while and a random scam rental company had rented it to a young family and been collecting the rent!
As the couple living there had a young baby and another on the way, the solicitors advice was that it would be very expensive and time consuming to try to remove them. The law protects mothers and children (a good thing I suppose but difficult in our situation).
If you’d like to PM me I would be able to provide our solicitors details to see if it may help. Might be a different situation if the occupiers don’t have kids or as you know who has rented the place out without permission.

We really don't know this - and nor does the OP. She just knows what her father has told her.

It seems this neighbour has also been (physically) working to improve the property - which the father has paid for, and can honestly say that he has been given permission to rent it out in the family's absence - and there is nothing in writing to say how long for or at what rate etc. He could very possibly claim that he is an employee/ agent of the father. For all we know he hasn't "scalped"the father at all - has just taken his commission.

I'm wondering if the father has been renting the property out forgot longer than *OP realises - long before his stroke. The whole thing is a nest of rats if you ask me - no-one seems to have clean hands except perhaps the *OP. and the tenants.

Edited to add "tenants" bit at the end

Think you need to play a longer game and nicely with the neighbour as your father is on dodgy tax grounds. Keep a cordial relationship with him. Be clear to the neighbour that you will be taking back possession of the property in January and no further letting can happen after that. Realistically, you won’t be staying in it until then so cancel the trip or go out and see the neighbour and the property, staying somewhere else.