The new Law 19/2009 about “Measures for Promoting and Speeding up the Renting Procedures, and the Energetic Efficiency in Buildings” - Spain

On December the 23rd 2009 the new Law 19/2009, approved on November 23 about “Measures for Promoting and Speeding up the Renting Procedures, and the Energetic Efficiency in Buildings” came into force in Spain.

This new rule is enacted as Spain leads one of the last positions in house renting. In fact the number of houses bought nowadays in Spain is higher than the ones rented. This Law is an example of the efforts of the Spanish Administration to change this fact.
The Law 19/2009 modifies three previous laws: “Law of Urban Renting”, “Civil Procedure Law”, and the “Law of Horizontal Property”.

Regarding the changes in the “Law of Urban Renting”, owners from now on will be able to recover their property under more circumstances. Please note that the appropriate clause has to be included in the rent agreement.
The cases for recovery considered by the law are the following ones:

• Recovery of the property for the owner himself
• Recovery of the property for parents or children (i.e. relatives in direct line)
• Recovery of the property for the spouse as a result of a judicial divorce ruling, or when the marriage has been declared void

On the other hand, the 19/2009 Law amends the “Civil Procedure Law” in order to speed up the eviction procedure. Some of its articles modify the deadlines for the legal action of eviction, or the payment of the procedure costs on the tenant if the legal action of eviction is left without effect. An important change is the new possibility of attending a judicial oral procedure for the claim of pending amounts. It is not more necessary to accumulate this claim to the action of eviction.
Another change has also been introduced when the claim of pending amounts is accumulated to the legal action of eviction. From now on, not only can be claimed pending amounts but also future incomes as long as the property has not been returned to the owner.
The changes in the “Law of Horizontal Property” affect the majority needed in homeowners meetings for the adoption of resolutions. The most significant one concerns the installation of recharging switches for electric cars, that will only require a notice to the homeowners assembly (all costs of the installation on the account of the owner).