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Published on Leave a comment on Popular Party blocks key elements of draft eviction bill

The Popular Party (PP)'s refusal to back a popular initiative for the concept of dation in payment, whereby a homeowner unable to meet mortgage payments can cancel the debt with the bank by handing over the keys, was met with indignation by the Mortgage Victims Platform (PAH).

Flats - Popular Party blocks key elements of draft eviction billOn Tuesday the government presented its amendments to the so-called Popular Legislative Initiative, which reached the lower chamber on a wave of public support that included 1.5 million signatures.

The rest of the parliamentary groups accepted the basic points of the proposal: universal and retroactive dation in payment; a halt to evictions; and the creation of a glut of social housing to support those who have lost their homes.

The PP, though, stated that "not now, nor during the parliamentary process" of amending the proposal will it entertain universal dation in payment. "It is an insult to the people affected," said PAH spokeswoman Ada Colau on Wednesday. "The PP has caved to the bullying of the banks." The government, she added, has destroyed the spirit of the bill by quashing its main objectives.
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Published on Leave a comment on European Court rules Spanish mortgage law is abusive

The European Court of Justice have ruled that Spain’s mortgage law is incompatible with a European directive on abusive practices in consumer contracts, opening the door to more legal protection for households facing eviction from their family home.

mortgage news 300x219 - European Court rules Spanish mortgage law is abusiveThe ruling comes in response to a question posed by a Barcelona court in connection with the eviction of Moroccan immigrant Mohammed Aziz from his home in January 2011, after he failed to meet mortgage payments on a 138,000-euro loan granted to him by savings bank CatalunyaCaixa in July 2007.

The ruling will apply to all eviction cases now being processed across Europe but might not be applied retroactively, as pressure groups have been calling for. Amendments to the mortgage law, which is more than a century old, are now going through parliament, and it appeared as if the government was waiting for the Luxembourg-based court’s judgment before proceeding with the passage of the draft law.
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Published on Leave a comment on Rental Market Flexibility Law: Debtors’ Register

Via an amendment to the Rental Market Flexibility Law, the Public Works Ministry plans to set up a register of people who have been sentenced for breaching their obligation to pay rent. The idea behind the proposal is to increase the number of homes on the rental market by reassuring owners who might wish to let their properties but fear the possibility of an encounter with tenants who are conflictive or do not pay their dues.

Rental Register - Rental Market Flexibility Law: Debtors' RegisterThe government has suggested that the data on the register would be cleared after six years and that homeowners would only be able to consult the list when they are in the act of drawing up a rental contract.

A debtors’ register is a risky idea, one that sounds simple enough to set up but which in fact is hard to operate with accuracy. First off, there could be difficulties as regards the Data Protection Law unless the appropriate safeguards are introduced to make sure the information remains private and is not published elsewhere.

But the biggest threat in practical terms is that errors on the register are not corrected swiftly so that blameless individuals suffer the effects of doubts over their reputation when they attempt to rent an apartment or apply for a bank loan.
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Published on Leave a comment on Green light to Coast Law reform to save seaside homes

The Cabinet on Friday approved a reform of the Coast Law extending an amnesty for the owners of beachfront properties that would otherwise have to be demolished.

Owners of properties that were in breach of the current legislation, many of them foreigners, were given a 30-year concession of use that was due to expire in 2018.

IMG 1478 300x225 - Green light to Coast Law reform to save seaside homesThe overhaul of the current law, which has been in place since 1988, also creates a special regime for 11 areas, which will be taken out of the public domain. It also established four-year concessions for beach bars and restaurants.

The surface easement limits, or protection areas, for rivers could be reduced from 100 meters to 20 meters.

The text of the draft reform said the current legislation “has tolerated outcomes that are not acceptable in environmental terms,” adding that “time has consolidated certain situations,” and that the law has “prompted mistrust and uncertainty.”

“The aim of the reform is to avoid the risk of homeowners losing their property rights in the short term, and particularly bearing in mind the difficulties this could create for foreigners,” the text also says.
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