The illegal occupation of homes is a concern for homeowners who fear putting their properties on the rental market and suffering a case of non-payment, or that the home may be illegally occupied. In this regard, home occupations have decreased in 2024 compared to 2023 and affect around 15,289 properties throughout Spain, out of a total of 26.6 million homes. To provide security for property owners, the so-called new anti-squatter law has been developed. In this article, we analyze the content of the new regulation and whether it will really be possible to evict squatters more quickly.
Anti-squatter law: is it a solution to the problems of illegal occupation?
The new regulation is part of Organic Law 1/2025, of January 2nd, on measures regarding the efficiency of the public justice service, and modifies the Criminal Procedure Law so that the crimes of home invasion and usurpation can be processed through the fast-track trial procedure. We explain it in detail:
The Penal Code regulates two crimes under which the illegal occupation of housing can be classified:
1. Crime of home invasion. It is regulated in Article 202 of the Penal Code, which establishes the following:
- – Refers to cases in which a person enters someone else’s dwelling and remains there against the resident’s will. The penalty is imprisonment from six months to two years.
- – If the occupation is carried out with violence or intimidation, the penalty will be imprisonment from one to four years and a fine of six to twelve months.
2. Crime of usurpation. It is regulated in Article 245 of the Penal Code and establishes the following:
- – In this case, it involves a person who occupies another’s property with violence or intimidation against individuals.
- – The penalty will be imprisonment from one to two years.
- – Whoever occupies another’s dwelling that is not someone’s residence and remains there against the owner’s will shall be punished with a fine of three to six months.
The new regulation introduces two major reforms in the Criminal Procedure Law (which governs criminal proceedings):
The crimes of home invasion and usurpation have been classified as flagrant offences; that is, crimes that are being committed or have just been committed, and the offender is caught in the act.
The illegal occupation of property (specifically, the crimes of home invasion and illegal usurpation) has been included among the offences that can be subject to a fast-track procedure or expedited trial. This means that the investigating court can order eviction quickly—before the trial—if the property owner has requested eviction as a precautionary measure (i.e., the occupant’s removal). In practice, this would allow the squatter to be evicted in roughly one month.
What steps must be taken in the event of an illegal occupation?
We have already seen that the applicable procedure is the fast-track trial, and the phases are as follows:
- – First, a complaint must be filed with the police. It will be forwarded to the competent court so that it can decide to initiate the fast-track procedure and achieve eviction.
- – The accused and the property owner will be summoned to testify in court within a period that may not exceed 72 hours.
- – The trial will be held within a maximum of 15 days. During the trial, witness testimony will be heard, and each party must defend its interests.
- – Once the trial has been held, the judge will issue a judgment in which they may order the immediate eviction of the dwelling. An appeal may be filed against that judgment within 10 days of notification.
What if it’s a tenant who stops paying?
In addition to cases of squatters who illegally enter homes, there are situations where tenants sign a rental contract with the owner and then stop paying the rent. In these cases, they are called “inquiokupas”.
The new regulation does not apply to these scenarios because they are handled through civil, not criminal, proceedings, and the eviction for non-payment of rent provided for in the Civil Procedure Act applies instead. This has several consequences:
- – Claims filed in civil courts usually take a very long time to process due to the large number of cases handled.
- – The announcement of the new Law on the efficiency of the public justice service triggered a flood of new claims that further overwhelmed the courts, and it is taking months for each claim to be distributed and assigned to a specific court.
What can be done about a tenant who doesn’t pay?
In the case of a tenant who stops paying the rent agreed upon in the contract, the process is different. The following actions should be taken:
- – First, verify the existence and amount of the debt. It is important to review the payments received in the bank account to know exactly how much the tenant owes.
- – Next, contact the tenant by phone to inform them of the debt amount and request payment. It is important to set a payment deadline by which the tenant must settle the debt.
- – If the debt is still unpaid, send a burofax with acknowledgment of receipt and certified text, indicating the debt amount, the items owed, the deadline for payment, and the initiation of legal action if payment is not made within the specified period.
- – If payment is still not made by that deadline, a civil eviction claim for non-payment must be filed.
- – The court will admit the claim and set a trial date and a date for the eviction (the moment when the tenant is removed).
The process is usually not quick (it can take months) due to the backlog of cases in the courts, so the debt often increases.
How can you avoid non-payment of rent?
To prevent these non-payment situations, measures can be taken before signing the rental contract, such as the following:
- – Verify the tenant’s solvency by requesting their employment contract, recent payslips, and tax return. If they are self-employed, you can request VAT returns and, in the case of a company, the corporation tax return.
- – Request payment guarantees. In addition to the legal one-month deposit for dwellings, you can ask for several additional guarantees such as: a bank guarantee, a security deposit, a guarantee from another solvent person, or non-payment insurance.
As we have seen, the anti-squatter law represents a significant change in the regulations aimed at processing evictions more swiftly. We will have to wait and see whether time proves the rule effective.
If you want to rent out your home safely, contact our team of real-estate advisors so they can guide you and find the right tenant.
