What to do if
they occupy your property?

According to data from the Ministry of the
Interior, between 2015 and 2019 illegal occupations in homes in our country
have increased by up to 40% , and currently, the number of occupied properties
in Spain is 12,214, with an average of 33 daily cases .

In addition, in the occupation of this type
of property, jurisprudence is slower , both from the civil and criminal point
of view: the approval of the so-called " express eviction law ",
approved in 2018, was made only for properties owned by natural persons and for
habitual residences.

Eviction lawsuits related to squatting at
home or an occupation when owned by banks or businesses can take more than a
year to resolve . When the owners are natural persons, on the other hand, the
current regulation allows to evict the precarious (person who lives without a
contract in a property that does not belong to them) in less than six months ,
although this period depends on the particular circumstances of each case .

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Even so, more and more people are afraid of
the occupation of their properties and wonder what to do if they find squatters
at home or what kind of legal actions they should take to file a lawsuit for
occupation of the property.

The main problem, in all cases, is that
many squatters are people in vulnerable situations who turn to the mafias to
get a home .

On other occasions, these are large-scale
scams: after occupying the house, squatters change the lock and make a false
contract with a third party , who supposedly rents the property to them. The
result is that people who come to live in the house paying rent also turn out
to be victims of scammers , being totally defenseless before the law.

Squats at home: what to do and how to act
in each case

When squatters enter a home and make it
their home or habitual abode, the owner can no longer access it due to the
principle of inviolability of the home , set forth in article 18.2 of the
Spanish Constitution, which recognizes that any home is " inviolable «.

 Can
I access the house when it is already occupied?

Faced with an occupation, a judge must
order that the property be returned to its legal owner.

If we decide to enter the occupied
dwelling, even if it is ours, we would be committing a crime of trespassing ,
typified in article 202 of the Penal Code.

 When
can the police intervene to evict the squatters?

The police cannot violate the principle of
inviolability of homes. Agents can only access an occupied home if they have a
court order or if a flagrant crime has been committed , that is, if the
occupation has just occurred (or has occurred in the last 24-48 hours) and
there are witnesses willing to declare that they have witnessed the usurpation
, although such situations are rare.

How to kick a squatter out of your house to
get your property back?

The options we have to get a squatter out
of our house are:

File a civil complaint for occupation of property
. A judicial procedure is initiated to claim possession of the house with the
services of a specialized lawyer.

Filing a complaint or a criminal complaint
. This type of complaint can be filed with the police or before a court on
duty. In this case, it is essential to present to the police all the
documentation available , as well as proof that the property is our property
(utility receipts, deeds , registration…). It is also recommended to require
that precautionary measures be adopted to prevent the crime from continuing.

Hire the services of a specialized company
to vacate the house .

 Can
the neighbors report the occupation of the house?

Yes. In fact, when a home is occupied, it
is recommended that the owners go to the neighborhood community to file
complaints for inconveniences that may speed up the procedure to evict the
squatters. In fact, the community itself can file a lawsuit for cessation when
the inconvenience generated by the people who occupy the property (tenant,
usufructuary, squatter ...) are repeated.

What does the Law say about the eviction of
squatters? What penalties do squatters face through criminal and civil means?

The occupation of real estate is included
in our jurisprudence, although there is no specific legislation that regulates
illegal occupations.

In any case, the occupation of any property
is a crime and we can resort to criminal or civil law.

In the case of the occupation of a habitual
residence, a crime of trespassing has been committed (article 202 of the Penal
Code), with penalties of six months to two years that can be aggravated if the
existence of violence or intimidation is proven.

If the occupied property is not the
habitual residence where the owner or tenant resides, the illegal occupation
can be classified as a crime of usurpation of property (included in article 245
of the Penal Code), where only fine penalties are provided.

To these crimes could be added others such
as robbery, theft or material damage .

→ See also : Home insurance: is it
necessary?

Regarding how to evict a squatter from your
house by civil means, the most common is to resort to eviction due to
precariousness or to verbal judgment, two procedures that have the sole
objective of recovering possession of the property as soon as possible.

Tips from Deplace to prevent squatting at
home

Given the increasing number of occupations
of homes and real estate, real estate companies like Deplace, we are obliged to
give our clients advice to reduce the risk of encountering squatters at home.

Some of these tips are:

Rent the house. In addition to achieving a
financial return, some countries, such as Denmark, fine homeowners who have
uninhabited homes.

Have the help of neighbors . A good option
to reduce the risk of property occupancy is to speak with a neighbor to raise
or lower the blinds and to collect the mail, so that it appears that people
reside in the house to reduce the risk of occupancy.

Install alarms . Alarms act as a deterrent
to entry, preventing break-ins and occupations.

Putting "anti-squatting" doors .
These are steel doors that are placed temporarily and whose locks cannot be
changed. The objective is to avoid the assault on the houses while they are
empty. Still, remember to protect not only the front door , but also the side
doors and windows.

Have a copy of the documentation of the
house . It is always advisable to have a copy of the property deeds, the lease
contract, the registration, direct debits, etc. In case they occupy our house,
these documents are essential when filing a complaint.

Make videos of the state of the property .
Having videos of our house can be interesting for, when the moment of the
occupation and the judicial process has started, to be able to check the state
of our home or second residence before the occupation to claim damages. 

And you? Are you thinking of selling your
second residence? Tell us your priorities and we will help you manage the sale
and purchase of your property.

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