GIPE Newsletter 30th January 2024

REAL ESTATE INTERMEDIATION:

Bought shortly after

The courts have recognized the right of a real estate agency to collect its fees for the sale of a home, even if the order has already been completed.

This is the case of an agency that visited the home with an interested party 15 days before the end of the order, and he made a purchase offer that was communicated to the seller, but immediately afterwards he backed out and decided not to buy.

A month after finishing the order, the person who had visited the house bought it. According to the Court, the temporal proximity between the sale and the visit carried out by the agency leads to the conclusion that the sale occurred thanks to the intervention of the agency, which is why the agency must collect its fees even if the order has already ended.

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LEASES:

The “Coliving”

Coliving is an emerging trend in the room rental market that makes better use of the space of the property and promotes coexistence and community in the city center.

Instead of being arranged in homes, the property is divided into rooms and is complemented with common areas (kitchen, living room, laundry room…) to cover the rest of the tenant’s needs.

You can use a multi-room home or an entire building for coliving. However, you must be consistent in the development of this activity, since some people try to pass off a rental of housing as one of rooms and that is fraud of law.

As there is no specific regulation of coliving, with the law in hand there are many arguments to affirm that the Urban Leases Law (more restrictive when it comes to making agreements) does not apply to these leases.

In coliving what is rented is not a home, but a room (with the right to use common areas). Furthermore, this space is not intended to satisfy the tenant’s permanent need for housing, but rather something specific.

If you are going to rent a property by rooms, specify that the contract is governed by what is established in its clauses and, failing that, by the Civil Code.

Regulate both the relationship between you and the tenant and that of the tenant with the rest of the occupants, and reiterate that in this case the Urban Leases Law does not apply.

Regarding taxation, the rental of rooms is exempt from VAT.

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TAXES:

Surcharges for unoccupied homes

A rule has recently been approved that clarifies what is meant by ‘vacant residential property’ and will allow a greater number of town councils to apply the surcharge established by the Real Estate Tax (IBI) for these cases.

For several years, town councils have had the power to apply a surcharge of up to 50% on the net IBI quota applicable to residential properties that are permanently unoccupied. However, the rule did not make clear what was meant by unoccupied property, which in practice made this surcharge difficult to apply.

The Law for the right to housing (in force since May 26, 2023) has established what should be considered unoccupied property, so it is possible that more municipalities will now begin to claim this surcharge.

To be considered as such, the property must meet the following two requirements: remain unoccupied continuously and without justified cause for a period of more than two years, in accordance with the requirements established by each town council, and belong to people who in turn own four or more properties for residential use.

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LAU 64 LEASES:

Can I sell it if there is an old lease?

If you are the owner of a home that is leased with an “old rental” contract and you need to sell it, you must clearly notify your intention to sell to your tenant. In this case, its tenant, as the holder of a right of first refusal and withdrawal, may preferentially acquire the property. If the tenant does not exercise the first refusal, you may sell, after which you must send him a copy of the deed.

If the conditions of sale are different from those notified or you did not notify your tenant and he discovers it, he may exercise the withdrawal (request that the sale be resolved and the property be transferred to him) within a period of 60 days. If the tenant does not buy, he stays. If you end up transferring the property to a third party, the tenant will have the right to remain in it until his death (unless he voluntarily renounces it). Furthermore, after his death, the spouse (or person with a similar relationship), children and ascendants may be subrogated to the contract.

Consequently, transmission may be difficult due to this fact. However, subrogation may be denied in certain cases; among others, if the owner needs the home for himself or his ascendants or descendants or if the tenant does not live in the home for six months in a year.