Landlord harassment

CONTEXT

Article 45.3 c) of Law 18/2007, of 28 December, on the right to housing, defines landlord harassment as any action or omission resulting in the abuse of rights with the aim of disturbing the harassed person in the peaceful use of their dwelling and creating a hostile environment for them, which may be in the material, personal or social scopes, with the ultimate aim of forcing them to adopt an unwanted decision in relation to the right that allows them to occupy the dwelling, the objective of which is, in the majority of cases, to force them to move out and/or make more profit from their rented properties.

Harassment is considered to be any of a number of actions that, directly or indirectly, affect the health of its victims. Some of the most frequent actions suffered by people in a landlord harassment situation are:

Actions related to the payment of rent: economic abuses related to the monthly payment, rent increases, or refusal to collect the rent, among others.
Actions related to the condition of the building: lack of maintenance of the building, leading to its deterioration; wilful deterioration of the building (using methods like opening the windows of empty dwellings to allow water to enter, direct actions, etc.); or never-ending construction work with major effects on the residents.
Actions related to a lack of attention or the attribution of high levels of conflict to the renters: ignoring people and their requests, refusal of communication with the occupant, discriminatory treatment, attempts to make the occupant seem stupid or insinuations that they have psychological problems, among others.
Verbal and physical violence: verbal threats, disparagement, abusive telephone calls, threats of physical violence, minor acts of violence (normally through third parties), etc.
Spreading malicious rumours: possible evictions, sale of the property, demolition plans, etc.

Victims of landlord harassment, like people in other situations with the possibility of losing their home such as evictions, may suffer heart problems, diabetes, depression, stress and anguish.

OBJECTIVE

Guarantee the right of the public to have decent housing.
Ensure there is quality housing available, guaranteeing habitability conditions.
Support the suitable use of buildings and dwellings and of the common spaces of residential communities.

PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Proposals and recommendations for residents:

Seek legal advice from experts and address the municipal services or the Legal Guidance Service (SOJ) of the bar association in order to report the situation and receive counsel.
Do not sign any document without legal counsel.
Inform the municipal police in the event of any harassment problems and, if they continue, lodge a formal complaint.

Proposals and recommendations for the administration:

Create public information and advice services in relation to landlord harassment in association with the housing office, where legal advice can be provided.
Establish joint programmes between municipal services to detect such situations in order to establish coordinated actions based on action protocols in the event of complaints lodged by private citizens, including the corresponding legal action against the owner of the property (including the requirement to conserve and renovate the building or dwelling, the collection of the rent, penalties, etc.).
Guarantee the right to housing or rehousing of residents if major work is carried out on the building that requires the temporary evacuation of its dwellings. These measures can be directly planned in the works licence.

Apply housing disciplinary measures with reference to:
- the duty to conserve and renovate dwellings
- landlord harassment
Activate penalisation systems:
- in the event of poor conditions in order to prevent the lack of maintenance forcing the residents to leave the building.
- due to landlord harassment
Create a public communication campaign for the local administration’s proposals and recommendations, especially in relation to what to do and where to turn in the case of landlord harassment.

REFERENCE EXPERIENCES

Information only available in Catalan

Denúncia d’assetjament immobiliari - Plataforma Afectats Hipoteca, Sindicat de Llogateres i Observatori DESC. La denúncia administrativa és una nova via per donar resposta i lluitar contra l´assetjament immobiliari. La nova via defensa jurídica, basada en la Llei del dret a l'habitatge de Catalunya que considera el mobbing una discriminació en l'accés a l'habitatge, habilita i obliga a les administracions a actuar per erradicar-lo.
Servei d’assessorament sobre l´assetjament immobiliari - Ajuntament de Barcelona. Servei gratuït d'informació i assessorament de caràcter legal adreçat a les persones que poden estar patint una possible situació d'assetjament immobiliari.
Protocol d´actuació: desallotjaments extrajudicials – L’Observatori DESC i IACTA han publicat una guia per informar sobre el protocol dels processos judicials per tal que es garanteixi que els desallotjaments estiguin emmarcats dins les garanties del dret.
Modificació de l’Ordenança Reguladora dels Procediments d’Intervenció Municipal en Obres (ORPIMO) – Ajuntament de Barcelona. Aquesta modificació vol garantir el dret de reallotjament en cas d’obres que obliguin a desallotjar a les persones residents. En una segona fase es complementarà amb la necessitat de redactar un Pla de reallotjament prèviament a la sol·licitud de llicència o comunicat.
Pla Dintres. – Ajuntament de Barcelona. Conservació dels habitatges i el seu entorn per millorar les condicions de vida dels habitants.

LEGISLATION

Llei 24/2015, del 29 de juliol, de mesures urgents per a afrontar l'emergència en l'àmbit de l'habitatge i la pobresa energètica.
Llei 18/2007, de 28 de desembre, del Dret a l'Habitatge a Catalunya, modificada per la llei 9/2011, del 29 de desembre, de promoció de l'activitat econòmica.
Decret 75/2014, de 27 de maig, del Pla per al dret a l'habitatge
Llei 5/2006, de 10 de maig, del llibre cinquè del Codi Civil de Catalunya (Títol V, art. 551-554).
Igualment, cal tenir en compte la normativa vigent referida a la inspecció tècnica dels edificis, les condicions d'habitabilitat dels habitatges, l'adopció de criteris ambientals i d'ecoeficiència en els edificis, el codi tècnic de l'edificació, la normativa d'arrendaments urbans i altra normativa sectorial.