I am just sharing my recent experience with other readers, despite knowing there is nothing that can be done for me now.
We have a property in Almoradi on the Costa Blanca and have rented it out since April 2007. Our first tenant was a Spanish guy who left after 6 months as planned and left the place looking like the day he moved into 6 months before.
With our second lot of tenants we were not so lucky. We rented, via an agent, to a German couple. The agent took one month's rent as commission and for that, supplied the contracts and checked all went ok on move in day. As soon as the tenants were in, their involvement and responsibility to the property came to an end (so therefore I admit they are not to blame).
On the whole, during their stay I was not aware of any problems as they paid their rent each month and remained in contact. On the day they moved out a friend was around to collect their keys and what they found was a real shock. The place was filthy. Not usual end of the week dirt but deep set dirt like they had not cleaned once in 11 months. Everything was covered in cat and dog hair / pee and a sticky grime on all walls and light sockets, blood on the walls and floors, windows and curtains were badly stained from nicotine smoke (despite it being rented as a non smoking apartment). The doors to both bedrooms were off their hinges as were all wardrobe doors, there were numerous holes in the walls and the shutter pullies were broken. The bed in the spare room was dismantled and about 250 euros worth of items were missing (ironic as this included our hoover and all cleaning equipment which was odd as they obviously do not enjoy cleaning). They had aged our apartment 10 years in 11 months.
When trying to run a rental from overseas, the landlord's hands are somewhat tied and when the tenants didn't pay their last months rent (because they assumed we would use the 'deposit' for it - of couse we had given this to the agent) there was not an awful lot we could do.
I emailed the tenants who denied everything and said that they left the apartment as they found it and they had taken nothing. I have copies of their passports and would love to 'name and shame' them but not sure where I could do this. Mainly as a warning to other landlords. I know they are now renting a place in La Mata, but that is all I know about their whereabouts.
In total, the loss of the deposit, the last months rent, the cost of cleaning and replacing all damaged / missing goods and cost of repainting and fixing of the walls, we have lost nearly 2000 euros. We will now not rent our place again unless we know the tenants.
Lessons to be taken from this experience:
- get references
- check out your agents involvement in the property, have them maintain an arrangement with the tenant so that all rent is paid and the place is checked occassionally and on departure
It has been a hard and expensive lesson to learn and please be aware of the pitfalls of potential 'bad tenants'. Obviously, not all tenants are bad, we rent ourselves in another country and would never treat another person's property with such disrespect.
If this message helps one other owner, then I will be happy...and if anyone knows of a German couple who have just taken a rental in La Mata, please let me know!
