Anybody know anything about Spanish debt law?

My client decided to retire to Spain and signed a 12 month contract for a villa jointly with his sister.  However after less than a month she changed her mind and came back to the UK and is now refusing to speak to him.  He could not afford the rent on his own so has had to return also.

He is now concerned that the lettings agency / landlord may seek the 12 months’ rent as per the contract.  Does anybody know what powers of collection they would have?  The contract is in Spanish and neither of us can read it - I have suggested he obtains a translation.

I have no idea if this is relevant but he said he started a process to apply for Spanish residency which involved him registering with the police and being given something called an NIE number.  He is worried this may give them more powers to collect, or to arrest him if he returns to Spain, or even to extradite him - seems a bit far fetched to me but without knowing Spanish law I just don’t know what they could potentially do to him.

I’ve no idea whether there is a criminal element under Spanish law, or whether he could be arrested there for a civil offence (although that seems unlikely unless their law is vastly different from ours).

On the civil side, there are reciprocal arrangements within the EU.  I don’t know the detail of how this works, but believe it could mean they get a Court order in Spain & then apply for it to be enforced by the Courts here.  Alternatively, they might sell the debt on to a debt purchase firm operating here.

I’d be surprised if they leave it so he could well end up being chased for it here in one way or another.  I’d suggest he avoids going to Spain until it is sorted out.

Note:  This all depends on the wording of the contract - he must get a translation.

‘he must get a translation’

Yup, that’s it in a nutshell!  Thanks Derek.

This will give you a basic idea of the civil produre for debt recovery in Spain.  The interweb has lots of info’ about getting access to legal advice for other European jurisdictions.

http://www.spanishsolicitors.com/study-of-the-possibilities-of-spanish-debts-recovery/