Housing

Suspension of eviction can be requested by all tenants who are in oral hearings for rent claims or expiry of rental contracts in which the landlord intends to recover the property. The tenant can request the extraordinary suspension of the eviction as long as they are in a situation of sudden economic vulnerability due to Covid-19 and do not have any housing alternative.

This sudden economic vulnerability can be due to:

• Being unemployed.
• Having suffered a Temporary Redundancy Plan (ERTO).
• Having their working day reduced to care for children or elderly people.
• Other circumstances that involve a substantial loss of income.

The first final provision of Royal Decree Law 1/2021 that came into force on 21 January also establishes that these circumstances are also applicable to people living in the property without permission.

The suspension will be applied to evictions that comply with all these requirements:

• Arising from legal eviction proceedings that are underway, for the habitual residence.
• The eviction must originate from a property lease contract subject to Urban Leases Law 29/1994, of 24 November.
• The tenant must accredit that they are in a situation of sudden economic or social vulnerability due to Covid-19 and does not have any housing alternative.

The tenant is considered to be in a situation of sudden economic or social vulnerability when they accredit that all the following requirements are met:

• That the person obliged to pay the rent becomes unemployed, is included in a Temporary Redundancy Plan (ERTO) or has reduced their working day to care for someone, in the case of entrepreneurs, which implies a substantial loss of their income.
• That the whole income of the family unit, calculated in the month prior to the application for the moratorium, does not exceed the following limits:
  • 3 IPREM monthly (€1,613.52). This limit will be increased 0.1 times the IPREM for each dependent child (in the case of single parent family units, it will be increased by 0.15 times the IPREM per child), and by 0.1 times the IPREM for each person over 65 years old in the family unit.
  • 4 IPREM (€2,151.36) monthly if one or more members of the family unit has a declared disability greater than 33%, is in a situation of dependency or illness that is accredited to permanently incapacitate them from working. This limit will be increased 0.1 times the IPREM for each dependent child (in the case of single parent family units, it will be increased by 0.15 times the IPREM per child).
  • 5 IPREM (€2,689.20) if the person obliged to pay the rent suffers cerebral palsy, a mental illness, or intellectual disability, with a recognised degree of disability equal or greater than 33 %; or has a physical or sensorial disability, with a recognised degree of disability equal or greater than 65 %; or has a serious illness that is accredited to incapacitate them, the person or their carer, from working.
• That the rent, costs and basic utilities (electricity, water, gas, heating fuel, telephone, community fee) are equal or greater than 35% of the net income of the family unit.
• That no member of the family unit who resides in the property is the owner or usufructuary of any property in Spain. This requirement will not be applicable when any of the following circumstances arise:
  • When the right falls upon a proportional part of the property and this has been acquired by a transfer upon death.
  • When the members of the family unit, despite being owners of a property in Spain, cannot use it due to separation or divorce, or for any other reason beyond their wishes.
  • When the property is not accessible due to the disability of the owner or another member of the family unit.

• To accredit unemployment:
  • If you are unemployed, you must present the accrediting certificate from the Spanish Public Employment Service (SEPE).
  • In the event of self-employed workers ceasing trading: the certificate issued by the AEAT or relevant body in the Autonomous Community.
• To accredit the number of people who are permanently resident in the property:
  • Family book or document accrediting the civil partnership. This can be requested from the Civil Registry of Barcelona.
  • Certificate of registration of the people living in a property, which can be requested from Citizens Services Office, requesting an appointment previously by calling 010.
  • Pension certificate from Spanish National Social Security Institute (INSS), if relevant.
  • Declaration of disability, dependence or permanent inability to work, if relevant. This can be requested from the Social Welfare Office of the Generalitat (Government of Catalonia).
• Ownership of property: certificate from the Land Registry for all the members of the family unit.
• Photocopy of the identity document
• Statement of compliance of the debtor(s) relating to compliance of the necessary requirements.
• Application addressed to the landlord.

• Send a petition to the court accrediting compliance of the requirements and accompanying it with all the corresponding documentation.
• Request a report from Social Services. If the situation of vulnerability is accredited before the court, the lawyer must inform social services.
• Present a document alleging the situation of economic vulnerability which will imply consent to its transfer to social services and for them to act if necessary.
• You will receive a ruling from the Department of Justice lawyer.

a) If the legal proceedings are in the enforcement stage with a stated date for eviction: the court-appointed lawyer must file a petition with the relevant court attaching all the documentation mentioned in article 6 of the Royal Decree Law 11/2020 to accredit this situation of sudden economic or social vulnerability.

When they receive the application for suspension, the Department Lawyer will inform Social Services and, if the court determines that the circumstances envisaged by Law arise, will make a ruling where the extraordinary suspension of the eviction notice will begin, of a retroactive nature, from the moment the fact occurred and will determine the length of time that is strictly necessary bearing in mind the report from Social Services.

b) If the legal proceedings do not have a stated date for eviction, either because it is at the stage of requesting the appellant choose any of the channels contemplated in Article 440.3 LEC [Spanish Civil Procedure Law] within 10 days, or because the hearing has not been held. In these situations, a petition is also filed with the court attaching all the document mentioned in Article 6 of the current Royal Decree Law and requesting suspension of the date or hearing until Social Services take the measures they deem appropriate. The court will make a ruling suspending the proceedings, of a retroactive nature from the moment the circumstances arose and will determine the length of time that is strictly necessary.

These suspension measures, which are of a temporary and extraordinary measure, in any case, will no longer be effective on February 28th, 2022.

Landlords and Property Owners will be entitled to request compensation when the relevant administration, in the three months following the date on which the Social Services report is issued that states the suitable measures to deal with the accredited situation of vulnerability, has not adopted said measures. To request it, they must formulate reasoned and justified grounds for the compensation that they deem appropriate according to the established criteria.

Compensation will comprise the average value that would correspond to a property rental in the area the property is located, determined by indexes of reference for property rental prices or other representative objective references for the rental market, plus the current expenses for the property that the tenants accredit they have taken on, for the time that passes between the suspension being agreed and the moment the Court lifts it or the State of Emergency ends. However, if this value is greater than the rent being received by the landlord, the compensation will be the rent plus current expenses.

The application for compensation can be filed up to one month after the validity of the State of Emergency declared by Royal Decree 926/2020.

All family units undergoing an eviction process from the habitual residence can request suspension of the eviction, whether due to mortgage proceedings or failure to pay, end of the contract and occupation, being in a situation of vulnerability and the owner is a large property owner as per the definition in Law 24/2015.

Suspension of eviction can be requested for properties that are rented, with a mortgage, or that are occupied without permission that meet the following requirements:

Rental: suspension of eviction can be requested before the Courts of First Instance that have heard the legal proceedings.

• The owner must be considered a large property owner. Large property owners are deemed:
  • Financial institutions, the real estate subsidiaries of these institutions, investment funds and asset management funds, including those arising from bank restructuring, in accordance with business law.
  • Legal persons that, on their own or through a corporate group, are owners of more than fifteen properties in Spain, with the following exceptions:
    • Social promoters.
    • People who have more than 15% of the usable surface area of property qualified as social rental housing.
  •  Venture capital and asset securitization funds.
  • Natural persons who own more than fifteen properties, or co-owners if their participation share in the community represents more than 1,500 m2 of land allocated to living quarters, in properties in Spain. The same exceptions are established as those for legal persons.

Mortgage: It can be requested at any time. The owner must be considered a large property owner in accordance with that set out above.

Occupied without permission: Suspension can be requested when the following requirements are met:

• The owners are: financial institutions, real estate subsidiaries, investment funds, asset management funds and venture capital funds.
• Entry into the property must be prior to 25 October 2020 and they cannot have rejected an offer of social rehousing within the last two years.
• They must have a favourable social services report and the property must come from a foreclosure or have been empty for the last two years.

In accordance with Law 24/2015, suspension of the executions of judicial rulings that involve eviction can be requested by the individuals or family units that have the following income:

• Individuals: 2 IRSC (Catalonia Adequate Income Indicator)
• Family units: 2.5 IRSC
• People or family units with disability: 3 IRSC