How long does it take to evict non-paying tenants?
Tenants who don’t pay their rent are a nightmare for landlords everywhere. But in Spain the problem is exacerbated by the long time it takes to evict tenants who don’t pay. On average it takes almost a year.
According to research by a legal firm called Pluslegal Abogados, it takes on average 347 days to evict a non-paying tenant in Spain. The actual time varies, however, depending on the place where the eviction takes place. The legal firm analysed data from 12 provinces including the largest in terms of inhabitants.
They found that Seville and Murcia are the provinces where landlords have to wait longest between the tenant not paying and eviction. In these two provinces, it takes a whole year.
The next provinces where the time between non-payment and eviction is longest are Malaga, Cordoba and Barcelona, where it takes 359, 354 and 352 days, respectively, so around eleven and a half months.
In the case of Madrid, it takes up to 347 days, in line with the national average. In the Comunidad Valenciana, it’s almost a week shorter – 342 days in Alicante province and 341 in Valencia.
Eviction times are quicker in A Coruña (338 days), Vizcaya (322 days), Zaragoza (320 days) and Alava (317 days), where the process is completed in less than 11 months.
However, there is now some good news for landlords in Spain, as the Government in Madrid is preparing new legislation to make it easier and quicker to evict squatters and tenants who don’t pay their rent.