What will happen to evictions from 2021?
On May 9, 2021, the State of Alarm ends. Due to the health emergency situation due to COVID-19, evictions were suspended to try to alleviate the economic consequences, that is why Royal Decree-Law 37/2020, of December 22, of urgent measures to face the situations of social and economic vulnerability in the field of housing and transportation. The Decree suspended evictions for lack of payment and occupation of people who had situations of social vulnerability.
What does the Decree regulate?
Said decree establishes:
The introduction of a period of suspension of the eviction procedure and of the releases, when they affect vulnerable tenants without a housing alternative;
The possibility of taking advantage of an extraordinary extension of the housing lease contracts that end in this period, under the same terms and conditions; in situations of vulnerability,
An extension or reduction of the rent when the tenant is a large holder; a line of temporary financing aids, based on a line of guarantees guaranteed by the State through the ICO, which makes it possible to cover the payment of up to six monthly rent payments;
Endowment of the current State Housing Plan 2018-2021, incorporating a new aid program and making the management of the Plan more flexible so that the autonomous communities can provide solutions, in an agile way, to situations of vulnerability in the field of housing.
As described by the specialist lawyers of Forcam Abogados, it is important to emphasize that these measures have progressively evolved and adapted to the reality and evolution of the situation, extending their material and temporal scope, in order to maintain and reinforce the protection of the most vulnerable, among others, through Royal Decree-Law 26/2020, of July 7, on economic reactivation measures to face the impact of COVID-19 both in the housing field and in the case of Royal Decree that concerns us also legislates in the matter of transport.
The Spanish Constitution establishes that the public authorities will guarantee the defense of consumers and users, protecting their safety, health and legitimate economic interests through effective procedures.
Suspension of evictions until May 9, 2021?
As described in article 1 of the Royal Decree: Suspension during the state of alarm of the eviction procedure and launching of tenancies in the case of economically vulnerable people without a housing alternative.
From the entry into force of this royal decree-law and until the end of the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 926/2020, of October 25, which declares the state of alarm to contain the spread of infections caused by SARS-CoV-2, extended by Royal Decree 956/2020, of November 3, in all verbal trials that relate to claims for rent or amounts owed by the lessee, or the expiration of the term of contracts signed in accordance with Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, which intends to regain possession of the property, whether or not the process has been previously suspended in the terms established in section 5 of article 441 of said law, the tenant may file, in accordance with the provisions of this article, an incident of extraordinary suspension of the eviction or release before the Court for being in a situation of economic vulnerability that makes it impossible ite find a housing alternative for himself and for the people with whom he lives.
It is necessary that the person who claims to be in vulnerability of payments, certify it before a Lawyer of the Administration of Justice, who must immediately transfer all the documentation to the competent social services and will request a report from said services, which must be issued within the term maximum of ten days, in which the vulnerability situation of the tenant and, where appropriate, of the lessor is assessed, and the measures to be applied by the competent administration are identified.
What will happen from the date of May 9, 2021?
As described in Forcam Abogados, they implement four types of protection measures in situations of vulnerability in housing matters, by extending the rent moratorium and suspending evictions for vulnerable groups, in arts. 7 and 8 RDL 8/2021:
- The extension until August 9, 2021 of the term to request the moratorium or partial forgiveness of the rent, when the landlord is a large holder or public housing entity, in the terms established in Royal Decree-Law 11/2020. This is intended to combat certain situations of vulnerability that may occur beyond May 9, the current end date of the state of alarm, as a consequence of the situation derived from the evolution of the pandemic, and that it is a measure that does not affects small homeowners.
- The extension, also until August 9, 2021, of the housing lease contracts that can benefit from the extraordinary extension of six months, under the same terms and conditions of the contract in force, provided that an agreement had not been reached different between the parties and that the owner, a natural person, had not communicated the need for the home for himself, in compliance with the terms and conditions established in art. 9.3 LAU.
- The extension until August 9, 2021 on the protection measures that were approved for those vulnerable households that face eviction procedures from their habitual residence, with the coordinated action of the judicial bodies and the competent social services, including those households affected by procedures for the launch of their habitual residence, which do not derive from lease contracts, when there are dependents, victims of violence against women or minors in charge.
- Finally, the term is extended during which the landlords and owners of the home affected by the extraordinary suspension provided for in the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31, may submit the request for compensation provided for in the second additional provision of Royal Decree-Law 37/2020, of December 22, on urgent measures to deal with situations of social and economic vulnerability in the field of housing and transport.
Said period was 1 month from the end of the validity of the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 926/2020, of October 25, therefore, with the 3-month extension foreseen for these measures, the new period until the That such application may be submitted is set on September 9, 2021.
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At Forcam Abogados we have offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Reus.