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?

Except that the OP acknowledged that her father had given permission to the neighbour to let out the property and had been accepting payment. The contention here is that the op's father didn't give consent for long rentals, but all of this seems to have been verbal agreements etc with room for misinterpretation. I don't thinks it's cut and dry that this would be viewed as an invalid tenancy.

If the neighbour had permission to rent the place out anyway, IMo there should have been some agreement that he should clear all dates with your family first.

If there was no such thing, it does strike me that you don’t really have much of a leg to stand on. Out of courtesy you’d think he should have checked that it was OK anyway.

However I’m reminded of the seaside flat in Cyprus, owned by Dbro and SiL, who allowed some old friends of me and dh, who lived in Nicosia, to use it for the odd weekend etc., except that obviously they needed to check with them first.

But they once gave the keys, without asking, to some other mutual friends of ours - who let themselves in, only to find friends of Dbro and SiL asleep there!

Dbro was absolutely livid, and that was the end of the ‘friendly’ arrangement.

@ZiriForGood has nailed it. Absolutely this:

“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.”

The arrangement has almost certainly been illegal from all kinds of angles from the moment people were paying to rent the place. Going in all guns blazing is not going to help here and could make the situation a lot worse for your father. As someone said upthread, if you take that approach, not being able to stay there in June may become the least of your worries. The situation requires really careful unpicking.

But for a few years at least OPs dad has been taking cash in hand payments for rentals from this neighbour and presumably not declaring them to the authorities either in Spain or the UK.

So rather than involving a solicitor (who may have a duty to report illegal activity, I don't know?) I think the far better option is to deal with this quietly with the neighbour and think of it as a lesson learned to deal with rentals in an above board way.

I have huge sympathy for his health problems, and none of this is OP's fault but unfortunately pursuing the neighbour through any legal channels will shine a light on what sounds like non compliance with tax law from her dad. Which could result in at minimum fines to recoup tax owed, I assume.

That really isn't the tenant's problem
They have rented in good faith

But for a few years at least OPs dad has been taking cash in hand payments for rentals from this neighbour and presumably not declaring them to the authorities either in Spain or the UK.

Yes, this does rather bring to mind the people who had been massively under-declaring their income for years, pre-covid, to avoid thousands in taxes - and then were furious and in serious trouble when their covid support payments were based on their claimed income, rather than their actual regular income.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you may be looking at a years long process to remove the current tenants. Hire a Spanish solicitor asap.

It took a family member 3 years to evic tenants who stopped paying, I cannot imagine how long it will take you if they are illegally renting through no fault of their own or if they are classed as squatters. Things move at snail pace in Spanish courts.

I live in Spain.
The neighbour considers this his property now, simple as that and has been doing whatever the hell he likes with it.

You need to get out there quickly.
"bundles of cash" is normal in this situation and you will get a smirk and a laugh from any police or lawyer.

This is going to be an absolute nightmare TO GET THE HOUSE BACK. Let alone turf anyone out.

The very best of luck. Lawyers are cheap in Spain but not all are good or effective.

What province are you in? I may be able to reccomend a good lawyer (currently divorcing a husband (Spanish) who has turfed me and DD out of the home and changed the locks) "a civil matter". 2 years and counting...

If these tenants have a pet it is even worse (I kid you not)
Key question also: is neighbour Spanish of English? You will have better luck if NOT Spanish.

I empathise totally and utterly.
UK law and "solicitors letters" are absolutely irrelevant here.

Oh dear, I think you'll have to book a hotel and get over there asap to find out exactly what's going on.

If you're father's been receiving some rent money from the tenant via the neighbour, the chances are that the tenant has acquired some security of tenure and you'll probably have a long slog through the slow court system to resolve this.

You might need to offer the tenant a generous sum in cash to get them to leave and maybe even find them suitable alternative accommodation.

Leaving it and turning up in June on the off chance you can solve this on the doorstep is utter madness.

If you try changing the locks you might find yourself getting banged up instead! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Has the tenancy that's meant to end in January already started? Or is it possible to get there before they move in?

PS From now on write anything in Spanish or you will face hefty translation fees and notary fees and delays.

English will not count.

If the neighbour is Spanish, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. The tennants would have known EXACTLY the situation. Please believe me on this.

Yes, that makes it even worse. As he has been receiving rental money in cash, not declared, and no taxes paid. Ouch.

Honestly, find a friend who speaks Spanish fluently, or get on a local expat site to find someone who does, and get out there ASAP. You can't deal with this via internet.

adding to that DO NOT SEND A THREATENING LETTER BEFORE TALKING TO A SOLICITOR as it might be much easier, much shorter and thousands of euros cheaper to wait until they leave in January (if they do)

Somehow I don’t think the neighbour has let it go to wreck and ruin as has been suggested. I think he’ll have kept it in good order. Why wouldn’t he? It’s a nice little earner for him. He’s had more or less free reign for the past three or four years, no formal agreement or booking plan in place, lobs a bundle of cash to ops dad when he sees him, that pile of cash must be getting quite high now but he’ll have pocketed an even bigger pile for himself.
OP, wait until he’s back from his holiday and go over yourself, without letting him know and book into a cheap hotel and find out for yourself. Take dad with you if he’s up to it and take it from there.
Your dad is in a precarious position here but so is the neighbour , he won’t have declared these earnings either.

Somehow I don’t think the neighbour has let it go to wreck and ruin as has been suggested. I think he’ll have kept it in good order. Why wouldn’t he? It’s a nice little earner for him. He’s had more or less free reign for the past three or four years, no formal agreement or booking plan in place, lobs a bundle of cash to ops dad when he sees him, that pile of cash must be getting quite high now but he’ll have pocketed an even bigger pile for himself.
OP, wait until he’s back from his holiday and go over yourself, without letting him know and book into a cheap hotel and find out for yourself. Take dad with you if he’s up to it and take it from there.
Your dad is in a precarious position here but so is the neighbour , he won’t have declared these earnings either.

That’s a really good point, I’m not sure what the rules are around reporting that kind of activity and rental taxation as we never benefitted in our situation. Really interesting point.

I wouldnt worry about the rent money. It is in cash deliberlatly. You can prove nothing. Absolutely nothing. It will be irrelevant. Just drop that aspect.

Law is very similar with a legal tenancy arrangement in quite a lot of countries. You can't change your house locks in UK if you got a legal tenancy agreement with a third party, a bit of sarcasm was in my sentence here.
Illegal occupancy of a premise is treated differently in different countries, even if this is OP case, hopefully not, you also can't change the locks in Spain. As a victim of squatters myself load of annoyance was in that part of the post.
There is been some changes in recent year that protect the owners rights, however they are not quite there yet.

Yes, @Epidote. I meant to tag @BlondeFool in my reply, sorry.

An idea: Look on websites for your property, like idealista, local estate/rental places/local facebook/ wallapop and get someon/yourself to try and book it.

Book it and voila!

It would be lucky but worth a shot.

Defiantly get someone out there to change the locks immediately anyone that's in the property now needs to be informed they are without any permission from the legal home owners they've been scammed and need to vacate the property.

Wow I wouldn't have trusted the neighbour and would have immediately said no to the whole letting it out for a few days weekends etc it had trouble written all over it right from the start give someone an inch and they take a mile.

I bet he was hoping for a nice earner thinking your poor Dad wouldn't be going out there for a very long time if ever again.

I would certainly get out there sooner than when you are all due and get locks changed.
And if possible have someone stay there until you are all out there so the cheeky neighbour doesn't change the locks himself or break in to allow people to stay.

Good idea.

Plus, if it's not available for booking it tells you that there is a longterm rental in there.

Mexican house thief was a comment by @weareeternal on this thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/1735637-Have-you-ever-encountered-anyone-this-cheeky?page=6

Screen shots attached! (Hopefully in order)

@unsurebut just call the guardia, explain the situation and turn up before June to make sure the "tenants" leave promptly!

They will not help. Unless you are there.