De Nuncia?

[Janet Humphreys]

Does anyone know if one can Denounce a landlord/lady and on what grounds ?
She owns various properties and we were victim to a non returnable deposit. She backdated the community fees even thou on the last 11 month contract it had been crossed off. She also deducted utility bills, which she told us hadn´t been paid, I found out on returning home when I checked our statements that they been paid but she refused to give us back any money.

Now she is doing the same to two other tenants that happen to be friends.

She is insisting that rent is paid until the end and then she will return said deposits(2 months) which of course by this time its too late....

[malagaman2005]

I would suggest you cancel the last payment of rent and tell her to take it out of the deposit then at least the worst scenario is that you will only lose 1 months deposit.

[Mariamartinez]

Is there any mention about the deposit in the contract???

[silver]

Did you get a factura with IVA and a NIF number for the payment of this deposit ...if not report her to Haciendas.

[ian.wilson]

I don`t understand why you would be paying the Community Fees as they are the responsiblity of the owner. Sounds like she needs sorting out good a proper. Here is the definition of a denuncia thanks to andalucia.com:-)

Sometimes it is necessary to make a “denuncia”. Other times you will be denounced. It is important to know how this functions. The denuncia is the declaration, verbal or written, where you communicate to some authority any act that may be a breach of law. If you know about any such presumed breach of law, you are even obliged to denounce it. o¬n the other hand, the person presenting the complaint has no special responsibility and need not prove the breach. However, a person presenting a false denuncia may be punished.

A denuncia may be presented
- at the Municipal or National Police, or the Guardia Civil
- at the Juzgado de Paz in your municipality or the nearest Juzgado de Instrucción
- at the Public Prosecutor (Fiscal)

You will be asked to identify yourself, describe the case, submit any documents and name the person you denounce. A report will be written and you will be asked to sign it. Any minor infractions must be denounced within six months of the incident.

If you are the victim or perjured by the offence, you have the right to be informed about
- your right to be part of the process
- your right to free justice
- your right to damage and restitution, as well as compensation for damages
- your right to be informed about the case

How is the complaint processed?

If you present a complaint at the police, they normally will make preliminary investigations and gather testimony from possible witnesses.
If it is presented at the public prosecutor, they also make preliminary investigations and if they see that indications of a criminal offence exist, they will send it o¬n to the court.
So all denuncias land in the end in the Juzgado de Instrucción
There the judge will examine the case and decide;
- to file it (archivar), if he considers there is no proof of infraction
- to put it o¬n hold (sobreseimiento provisional), if there is an apparent penal act, but it has not been possible to identify or locate the person responsible
- to send it o¬n (trasladar) to another court or to proceed with the case

[spanish hopes]

Copied from the 'Six Months Trial' thread:

since last year in your yearly income declaration you are obliged to justifiy where you are living by giving the registry number of the property where you live, so if either the lanlord or the tenant provides the catastral number then the other party is on their records.

Just a point, has your landlady declared the income? If not she will be illegal anyway and you may not get money returned but you could get a lot of satisfaction by dropping her in it.

[Janet Humphreys]

Thanks to all replies, and a very informative one from Ian. We are probably too late to get our deposit back as we left at the begining of December. I still have all my contracts, each is typed under the name of her company(S.L.) with her name and DNI no and our names and passport nos. There is no mention of IVA, however the amount of deposit is listed. I went to the equivilant of the citizens advice bureau at the time, the paragraph which included community fees etc was clearly crossed out and I put my initials and as I thought at the time she put hers.The advice given to me was that in effect she had written "estoy" which translates as "I agree" in Spanish and therefore wasnt the same. Ironically I have since found out that she hasnt paid any community fees as the community is now thinking of sueing her!
I believe she is not declaring any of the income, so it may be worth a trip to the hacienda. My only reason for not doing anything before is the fact that they (the landlords) have a reputation for being "banditos" and I would not like any repercussions.
The other tenants are refusing to pay the last months but it makes my blood boil to think that she is doing the same thing to them.
Aprox 1150 per month rent per apartment she is raking it in. In total we paid her aprox 40,000 € over 3 years I wonder how much tax she may be liable to?
Jan

[spanish hopes]

(the landlords) have a reputation for being "banditos" and I would not like any repercussions

It is with intimidation that this sort of scum survive and thrive, until someone makes a stand.

[silver]

I wonder how much tax she may be liable to?

A lot more than she would wish to pay...(more than 10.000)and all her funds would be revised...

My only reason for not doing anything before is the fact that they (the landlords) have a reputation for being "banditos" and I would not like any repercussions.

seeing that you have her name and number you could a least try an anonymous letter saying you have reason to believe she is tax dodging but do not wish to disclose your identity because of.... I don't know if this would work as denuncias normally require a name...but I am sure they would take a deeper look into her declarations...that could cool your blood a bit...

[John M]

I had a friend who was 'sacked' as the (English) employer said he did not have funds to pay him, in spite of a written contract. The employment agency here in Spain took the employer to Court, obtained back payment plus compensation AND THE EMPLOYER WAS FINED 100,000 Euros for not paying the Social Security for his THREE employees. Scum will always rise to the surface, then it becomes visible to all.

Good luck with sorting this landlady (I use the word lady loosely) out.