The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 has opened an investigation into several real estate agencies, in charge of managing rentals, for carrying out abusive and illegal practices, as El País has reported and elDiario.es has been able to confirm. Specifically, according to the department headed by Pablo Bustinduy, these companies force tenants to pay a commission for the lease, to sign temporary contracts for habitual residence use or included other types of abusive clauses.
Charging a commission to tenants, the so-called agency month, was prohibited with the new State Housing Law, but several companies use subterfuges to circumvent the rule, such as claiming rent non-payment insurance, which benefits the owner, or charge the bill for other services. Precisely, several sentences have already declared the nullity of these assumptions. From Consumption, they remind that “transferring the costs of real estate management and formalization of the contract to tenants is an expressly prohibited practice.”
It is also important, the ministry points out, “the signing of temporary contracts in which the temporary nature is not justified.” This type of contract is the formula that many owners are using to circumvent the limits on price increases established by the Housing Law. This requires that residential use contracts have a minimum duration of five years, in which price increases are limited. The Ministry of Housing is also working on regulations to prevent this practice, except in cases where it is justified by the needs of the tenant.
The investigation launched by the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs, which does not indicate which companies it affects, has been opened after learning that several real estate companies would be carrying out these irregular practices, through various complaints. The ministry indicates that they could be classified as serious infractions, with fines of up to 100,000 euros, or very serious, with up to one million, of the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws.
Specifically, the imposition of commissions or charges for unsolicited services, as well as the use of unfair commercial practices carry fines of up to 100,000 euros. And the introduction of abusive clauses can lead to a million.
The investigation, the Ministry points out, “is part of the priority action of protecting the rights of consumers in access to housing.” This department already sent a warning to several real estate agencies at the beginning of the year, reminding these companies that charging a management fee to people interested in renting a home is illegal. “The expenses of real estate management and formalization of the contract will be borne by the lessor,” the note stated.
In recent months, tenants or people interested in renting an apartment, but unable to do so, have been denouncing not only the very high prices, but also practices such as a charge simply for visiting the home.
Minister Bustinduy recalled that “housing is a right and a basic necessity, protected by the Urban Leasing Law, a regulation that prevents real estate agencies from including clauses or practices that violate the rights of tenants.”
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