Housing Law, which has been in force since 25 May, obliges owners to rent. living place To pay administration fees: fees charged by real estate agents for their brokerage work. Traditionally, in the most stressful markets, agents pass these costs on to the tenant, who in most cases takes on large payments—up to five months’ payments—to get into the flat of their choice. The new norm has come to change everything, but one week of life has been enough for them to emerge. cheats developed by some agency to keep everything the same and pay the tenant. The law was made, the trap was solved.
Pablo D., a young man from Madrid, found an apartment he liked. the day of the law BOE. It is well located, bright, has enough space to live with your partner and costs less than a thousand euros per month. They did the initial paperwork together and were accepted, showing payslips and other documents to prove their solvency. Happiness! First test passed. Then, as the realtor reports, pay the reservation
He said the reservation was just about paying. one more monthly payment VAT. The representative also requested a set of data to prepare a reservation document. Pablo asked if the monthly payment would be deducted from the rent, and the realtor said no. It was then that he realized that they had smuggled him in: in reality, That monthly booking fee + VAT has come to replace a lifetime agency month.
When he asked the agent for the bill, Pablo confirmed his suspicions and said, “After the contract is signed,You will be invoiced for the fees paid. Until then, the proof of reservation is your receipt.” This newspaper reviewed the conversation that took place on WhatsApp. “Wages are not discounted, they are our bread”comes to say agent.
“The subject of the reservation surprised us because it included VAT,” says the affected person in a conversation with EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA of the Prensa Ibérica group. “When they told us they weren’t giving discounts, we realized they had changed names to break the law. We go over the circle because the flat is fine and we already know how bad the real estate market is. But we want the invoice so we can claim it in the future.”
A “services provided” document
Paul’s story does not end there. In the days that followed – days after the law was passed – the real estate agent did not send the invoice or proof of reservation, despite the couple making the deposit. “We contacted them and they told us we should sign instead of booking. a paper that they serve us because the owner doesn’t want to pay fees”, to continue. “It seems that even they are not very clear on how to break the law.”
The paper came four days after the law went into effect. The agency (a franchise operating throughout Spain) offers a series of “Booking offers” “Services to be contracted by the customer”. They are eleven. Among others, “preparation of the report on the condition of the house”, “assistance to the customer in the evaluation of the warranty ‘score’ of his profile with the homeowner”, “consulting service in change” material ownership”, “management service and return of deposit”, “assistance in resolving incidents” service” and even “search and location service for another property due to change of leased property”.
In the economic terms article, the agency states the “cost of the service contracted by the customer” (the value of one month’s rental fee) and states that the parties “The property didn’t pay for the administration costs or the formalization of the contract, all borne by the landlord.”
Precisely, the law states that “the costs of real estate management and contract formalization shall be borne by the landlord”. Signing this, even if it’s not true, Pablo declares that everything is done in accordance with the law.
The young tenant is hallucinating. The only service he received so far was to see the flat before signing the contract and pay for a month. But accept it. The representative agreed that the fees were his “bread” and the landlord did not want to pay them, so If you want the floor, you have no choice. Signing the contract, he jokes, is like being scammed. “When we went to see this apartment, we calmly went, knowing that the new Housing Act had already been enacted and we wouldn’t have to pay an agent. But we immediately saw that they had found the trap.”
Unions: “Put a ‘fee’ on the bill”
Pablo’s case is not anecdotal. “A lot of them come to us,” confirms Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Barcelona Tenants’ Association. “The majority are people who are in the process of renewal. In Barcelona they pay 10% of annual income for each contract renewal. Now the landlord has to take over these. In some cases we negotiate, in others the Agencies have already said that the tenant has not paid,” he says. We have also given advice to those who want to sneak into the apartment. The recommendation is: Ask for an invoice and make it clear that these are fees. Don’t let other costs get in the way, or the claim will be very difficult.”
For Arcarazo, “The wording of the law is clear. If you have it and the concept of the fee is clear on the invoice, you can make a claim and they will eventually refund you”. He says the union already has experience with these cases because it has been covering costs since 2019. the lessor, it’s a legal person. “When we send them an email saying this is a legitimate scam, they send it back.”
José María Alfaro, president of the Federation of Real Estate Associations, points out the “complexity” of changing the law so abruptly. “We had several Draft Housing Laws. Some said it would be a transitional period, but it was eventually published and went into effect day by day. We caught contract agents at the marketing stage, others await signatures… As an industry of micro SMEs, it is normal for them to get caught in the wrong step. We don’t have data on how they adapt.”
Alfaro explains that the “most common” situation is that both parties pay fees, but acknowledges that it depends on the market. In large cities and where demand (tenants) is greater than supply (rentals), landlords are the “strong side” and it’s normal for the fees to be charged to the tenant. He declared his federation. finds this norm “unconstitutional” as it is against “freedom of enterprise” and that he was prepared to take him to the “political authorities” who condemned him.
This newspaper contacted several random real estate agents who contacted them as a potential tenant. The most common answer is the tenant pays the fees as it is seasonal and is not subject to the new rule. When contacted as the landlord they say that the fees have been theirs since the new law went into effect.
The tenants’ association predicts that the landlords’ obligation to pay wages will “extinguish” the market. “Realtors are the first to be interested in raising prices because they depend on it. It’s easier for us to come to terms with the owners when we disable the agency.” Alfaro believes the opposite: “He has neither a head nor a tail. Agents put measure and common sense in the market. This witch hunt will only result in loss of warranties and less accessibility to rental housing.”