The Court of First Instance and Instruction number 7 of Parla declared insurance non-payment of rent illegal for the first time in Madrid tax on tenants to guarantee payments in the event of late payment.
This is stated in a pioneering resolution, in which it is partially estimated a lawsuit filed by a tenantdefended by the Center for Consulting and Social Studies CAES, against the closure of the contract linked to this issue.
Thus, the nullity of the seventeenth clause of the lease contract signed between the parties on March 2, 2015 and relating to “non-payment insurance to meet the payment of rent and other responsibilities arising from this contract.
The judgment condemns the defendant, Nestar Residencial Sociedad De Inversión Inmobiliaria SA, to pay the complainant 917 euroswith the corresponding legal interest from the moment the payments were made.
Violates rights
The judge considers that this clause violates rights recognized by law because it makes the tenant “assume an expense to pay the premium for insurance taken out by the lessor and which allows the risk to benefit exclusively to the lessor, thus breaking fair balance and proportionality between the rights and duties of the parties to a contractual relationship.
“Moreover, there is no trace in the registers of the terms of the insurance contract linked to the rental contract, the fees of which are the responsibility of the tenant. This clause must be declared null and void as unfair.“, sentence.
Lawyers Alejandra Jacinto and Javier Rubio detail on CAES social networks that “currently more and more rental companies impose on tenants a type of insurance in their favor for which they must pay.” an annual or monthly amount to cover an insurance policy in favor of the owner in the event of non-payment.
“This type of abuse is becoming more and more common. Vulture funds like Néstor, Fidere or other real estate companies impose this non-payment insurance in contracts,” they emphasize.
“The judgment annuls this clause and declares illegal the transfer of risks of the real estate activity to the tenant. This decision is pioneering and opens the door to thousands of tenants to assert their rights,” underlines the lawyer.
