Illegal Rental Fines

[Ivemovedon]

Thought a dedicated thread to the subject may provoke a better response.

Is anyone on the island in the process of being prosecuted for renting with no licence or for not having the correct paperwork?
Has anyone actually paid any money or been threatened financially or in any other way by the authorities as regards to renting?

If there is anybody in this situation kindly give us  the benefit of any information on the process being taken without compromising yourself any further..

Thanks

[woe10]

That's a good question stedge. There are people, but they seem to be keeping it to themselves 

[Ivemovedon]

thats what i'm finding so strange. In resorts and complexes where generally everyone knows everyone elses business within nano seconds of it happening, theres not one person knows anything or is willing to impart any knowledge they may have regarding themselves or someone else on the subject.


Yep mighty odd.

[Globetrotter]

Just a thought, these people may be too embarrassed they were taken in by promises from agents.

[Ivemovedon]

could be but i doubt it. That would only apply to those directly hit by it anyway. Wheres all the gossips who know what happened to the guy next door, the lady down the street or even the bloke on another complex?. Jesus i know when the guy over the road changes his toilet roll. If someone got a rental fine it would be the talk of the place.   

[Ivemovedon]

doesn't appear we are going to get anything on this.

perhaps they're all doing 6 months inside

[lander]

I too would like to know if anyone has any real details of actual fines.  We were there at Easter and most people on the Island aren't even aware that this is going on, the bar/restaurant owners we did mention it to could not believe that anything so stupid would happen, they said it would ruin most businesses who depend on this type of holidaymaker.  However take a look at this link because it does look like the authorities are that stupid!  It is all very worrying 

http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/spainnews/9992/spain-may-ban-private-owners-from-letting-their-properties-to-holidaymakers.aspx

[peejay]

I don't think there have been that many people fined on Fuerte yet, particularly not individual owners. But the inspectors have been over on Playa Blanca in Lanzarote, so I guess it's only a matter of time before they start coming over here.

[Ivemovedon]

just had a look on a few lanzarote forums. Question much the same as mine has been asked on them but as on here the ones i looked at,again nobody coming forward who has actually been collared.

[sean]

How do they go about checking? Are they just bangin on doors and hassling people on holiday?

[NorthernLights53]

How do they go about checking? Are they just bangin on doors and hassling people on holiday?

Exactly that - with a print out of the web-site advertising your apartment in their hands!!

However, just heard of a German Magistrate with an apartment in Majorca who has stated that it's his apartment & he will rent it to whoever he likes - & that any attempt to stop him is a breach of his Human Rights, & he will fight it in the European Courts!!!

Hope he wins ... ... ... 

[sean]

How do they go about checking? Are they just bangin on doors and hassling people on holiday?

Exactly that - with a print out of the web-site advertising your apartment in their hands!!

However, just heard of a German Magistrate with an apartment in Majorca who has stated that it's his apartment & he will rent it to whoever he likes - & that any attempt to stop him is a breach of his Human Rights, & he will fight it in the European Courts!!!

Hope he wins ... ... ... 

Well I'm out in June in a rented apartment via owners direct, so if I get the inspector bangin on the door does he fine me or the owner?

[NorthernLights53]

How do they go about checking? Are they just bangin on doors and hassling people on holiday?

Exactly that - with a print out of the web-site advertising your apartment in their hands!!

However, just heard of a German Magistrate with an apartment in Majorca who has stated that it's his apartment & he will rent it to whoever he likes - & that any attempt to stop him is a breach of his Human Rights, & he will fight it in the European Courts!!!

Hope he wins ... ... ... 

Well I'm out in June in a rented apartment via owners direct, so if I get the inspector bangin on the door does he fine me or the owner?

The owner - you haven't done anything wrong.

However, the owner, by bringing in tourists & therefore tourist money into local bars, shops etc. (which is virtually all that FV has to sustain it's economy) is breaking the law.

And you thought that our politicians were certifiable!! 

[sean]

How do they go about checking? Are they just bangin on doors and hassling people on holiday?

That's ok then 
Exactly that - with a print out of the web-site advertising your apartment in their hands!!

However, just heard of a German Magistrate with an apartment in Majorca who has stated that it's his apartment & he will rent it to whoever he likes - & that any attempt to stop him is a breach of his Human Rights, & he will fight it in the European Courts!!!

Hope he wins ... ... ... 

Well I'm out in June in a rented apartment via owners direct, so if I get the inspector bangin on the door does he fine me or the owner?

The owner - you haven't done anything wrong.

However, the owner, by bringing in tourists & therefore tourist money into local bars, shops etc. (which is virtually all that FV has to sustain it's economy) is breaking the law.

And you thought that our politicians were certifiable!!

[Blueboy7]

Why should anyone be aware if they have a fine when they can do what Fi Fi has already posted? I new nothing about this method of how you can be fined without having any physical contact or postal notification? or have I got that wrong? is it for a certain type of business set-up rather than an individual. If it can apply to the individual they surely all they have to do is fine everyone advertising on the web (not hard to check against their licence records), post it on the gobcan site,  wait until the 21 days is up, then put the fine on your property, once the interest has built up on the fine, say after a year, send them a reminder (or heart attack). Or they can just wait until you try and sell your property, another shock.

The one thing I have learned about the Spanish, contrary to what loads of Brits believe, is they are far from stupid. If the Brits who have Spanish residency gave the Spanish Tax Office a breakdown of their UK asset's, then getting the money (Their Fine) wont be to much of a problem, they have just signed a treaty with the Brit government for sharing information.


Hi Northernlights, the fines which have not been personally received by owners are shown on the Gobiernos website . Here is an example of 6 properties which were fined in Caleta. http://www.gobcan.es/boc/2012/202/014.html

[fourthwisemonkey]

Cannot go into details as to where or who but I can confirm the inspectors have visited fuerteventura and I know of 1 property they visited and ´persuaded´the guests to sign a statement about being holidaymakers renting for a week. The inspectors visited because very kindly the other owners (who are not resident on the complex but only visit for holidays or only allow friends and family to use the villas) reported the guy to the inspectors ( not just once but numerous times) as quote´we dont want tourists near us´ Not sure what these people consider a tourist but surely as they are non resident and only visit on occasions, are they not tourists as well?

Have not heard if the owner was fined or not and he probably does not know either unless he checks the boletins etc.

I know for a fact the owner was declaring all taxes etc and also his property managers were legal and declared their earnings.

Hi tourists....welcome to fuerteventura..........just dont rent anywhere near us.....stay in your hotel and then  ?$%& off.

[Ivemovedon]

I would have thought the big supermarket chains would have something to say about all this nonsense.A big chunk of their business must come from self caterers renting private villas and apartments especially in the more rural locations.

Love to see that little scenario... Supermarkets, car hire firms and cab drivers V the big money grabbing hotel chains. Clash of the titans.

[lander]

Problem is Stedge that at the moment business owners in Fuerteventura don't seem to be aware that this is happening.  All those I spoke too thought I meant not paying taxes, when I explained the crackdown was about renting to tourists they generally just shook their heads and said that won't happen here we all depend on this trade too much!  I think the Banks should be worrying about this too, if they really were to stop people like us renting then there would be a lot of house keys going back to Banks, the last thing they need at the moment.    

[richelworthy]

Question
Why would Ryanair or any other company want to fliy to any part of Spain or the Islands if this law comes in ?
The AI people would be no help to Spain or the Islands.
The banks would want to put a big skip in reception area with the letters  Please  Q this way for RETURN KEYS ONLY !.
Cushions in the skip to stop the noise of the keys .
The amount of business that would go within weeks.
Simple ask owners to have a renting lience , be of a standard and pay the renting  tax.
All happy then !

[Ivemovedon]

Lander i think you have a good point there. If i didn't have a look at this forum i would be none the wiser about any fines or rental problems myself. And as i've been informed by friends who live there it only seems to be the British who are getting in a lather over this. Other nationalites appear to know nothing about it, and if they do happen to know couldn't care less.

[peejay]

Most of the alleged 7,000 or so fines have been raised against properties in Tenerife. Only those denounced by others in Fuerte seem to have been fined. There has not been the big crackdown here - yet - so not many people are aware of what is going on. In Tenerife though it is a huge issue and owners are appealing the fines through the courts - which could take a long time. Until we know the outcome of these appeals it is difficult to paint an accurate picture. But, this is not a new law - this is the 1995 letting law, that has pretty much been ignored until the end of 2010, when they started the crackdown in Tenerife.

While Tenerife tourist numbers are holding up fairly well, Fuerte's tourist numbers are in freefall. Over the last 6 months or so, there has been an 11 percent drop in tourists compared to the same month in the previous year. This may or may not explain why the inspectors have not been so busy over here - do they want to make things even worse by fining property owners who are still bringing tourists in? We will have to wait and see.

Unfortunately this whole issue seems to have gone over the heads of local businesses who are likely to directly suffer from the drop in tourists staying in 'illegal' accommodation. The way the Canarian government present it - the owners of illegal tourist accommodation are siphoning money out of the local economy, not bringing it in - so it's a case of no questions asked.

[Ivemovedon]

 I've always held Spanish civil authorities and police organisations in pretty low regard and i'm inclined to think there is a more sinister reason for the clampdown. If you wanted private renting to pay its way its so easy a 5 year old could work it out. Income from license provision with yearly renewals along with the standards inpection costs and other associated expenses would bring in mega euros. Plus jobs are created in the process to run it all. Something smells a bit fishy to me.

last time i noticed that smell was around coppers were caught on the take.

[woe10]

I've always held Spanish civil authorities and police organisations in pretty low regard and i'm inclined to think there is a more sinister reason for the clampdown. If you wanted private renting to pay its way its so easy a 5 year old could work it out. Income from license provision with yearly renewals along with the standards inpection costs and other associated expenses would bring in mega euros. Plus jobs are created in the process to run it all. Something smells a bit fishy to me.

last time i noticed that smell was around coppers were caught on the take.

Stedge, that's called LOGIC.  When you've lived here long enough, you'll find that the word doesn't exist 

[Spike On Q]

I suppose if you are so opposed to the current situation you could always stand as a prospective Member of Parliament or form a lobby group to change the policy. I don't think writing bits on the forum will effect any changes to the situation. As already pointed out the indigenous population seem to have little or no concerns at present so pressure to make changes to the legislation are unlikely unless the general population can be convinced any change would not just benefit a few foreign property owners trying to make a buck to the detriment of existing legal holiday providers

[Blueboy7]

I think more than a few........ in fact a very large number, contributing, and are still contributing a very large amount of money to the Spanish economy. Your right, little will be achieved posting and discussing the subject on the forum, as with 99% of other subjects posted on millions of forums across the net, it just makes us feel better and learn a little, in my case, to late.

[Ivemovedon]

When the Spaniards raid the countries banks which looks a foregone to me, the so called illegal renters might be proper glad they've got no money in their accounts. With no foreign property owners left trying to make a buck they will have to take a bigger slice out of the likes of spikes account instead.

[Spike On Q]

I know that ALL the forum members will gather around and help me out when the time comes!

Anyway 15% of €0.00 = €0.00

[Ivemovedon]

I believe you spike.

But its not me you'll have to convince.

[lander]

Just like I believed the Estate Agent, the Bank, the Developer and the Lawyer who told me (in writing) that I could rent out my property for short term holiday lets, look how that turned out!

[woe10]

Just like I believed the Estate Agent, the Bank, the Developer and the Lawyer who told me (in writing) that I could rent out my property for short term holiday lets, look how that turned out!

You forgot to mention the "Timeshare Touts" that said there was going to be a "Disney World" built in Caleta 

Who fell for that one