Single mum left in £50,000 debt after squatters trash dream Spanish home

A single mum has been left in £50,000 debt after squatters wrecked her house in Spain.

Helen France, 46, had originally bought the Alicante property as a holiday home, but started renting it out in January 2018 while she saved money to move to the country full-time.

However the new tenants quickly stopped paying their bills and rent, and refused to leave when handed an eviction notice.

Things then turned sour, with Helen claiming they started throwing her furniture out of the windows, breaking the flooring and even making threats towards her.

Helen, from Rotherham, has now been left forking out for damages, solicitor invoices and unpaid electricity bills of more than 250 euros per month.

She said: ‘They threatened to kill me, even leaving a knife wedged in the sofa with a threat on my life.

‘The entire situation has left me beyond heartbroken, the house isn’t habitable at the moment. I’ve always been independent but this situation – it’s truly brought me to my knees.

‘I was a trusting person, but I lost everything. I was even put on medication as I was anxious, battling depression, all whilst trying to live the dream I’d saved up for so long.’

Helen claims the police and other official channels won’t help her with the situation, while both her letting agent and UK solicitor have reached a dead end.

They told her tenants are protected under Spanish law, leaving Helen with no choice but to put the eviction notice through the courts at her own expense.

She received an email from the housing agency on August 25 telling her they believed the squatters had finally left.

Her friends have since launched a fundraising page to help fix the house, which they say needs a replacement kitchen, worktops, full rewire and repaint, ‘at the very least’.

Helen said: ‘This has been a nightmare and it’s taken a physical toll on me. I poured all I had into the property and it’s only now I’ve realised that in Spain, the tenants’ rights outweigh the homeowner’s.’

She continued: ‘Since coming out here to Spain, I’m literally living hand to mouth. It’s like living a nightmare, I feel so alone – I don’t feel in control in any way.

‘I’ve been to the police, and to the letting agency but it seems no-one knows what to do. The tenants have had an eviction notice, and that’s it.

‘Now, I feel like I’m stuck with no help – I can’t even afford the plane fare home. Living in Spain was supposed to be my dream, but it couldn’t be any further from that.’

Letting agents Compass Property Services helped Helen find the tenants originally, but said they also encountered road blocks as they attempted to take them out.

Company owner Peter James said: ‘Helen signed with us in September 2017 and requested that we find a long term tenant, which we did in January 2018.

‘Yet the tenants quickly stopped paying the bills and it was decided to inform the tenant that if they did not pay the outstanding bills then a letter of termination would be served.

‘This was done when the tenant came to pay the rent but refused to pay for the electricity. A letter of termination was given on the spot giving the tenant one month’s notice to vacate, as stated in the rental agreement.

‘During the one month’s notice we was in talks with Helen’s solicitor and provided all the necessary and requested documents required for the solicitor to start the legal eviction process just in case the tenants did not vacate on the specified date.’

He continued: ‘Unfortunately Spanish law leans heavily towards the tenant rather than the owner. This is a horrible on-going situation in which we will help in any legal way that we can.

‘On average, 97 per cent of tenants are good, honest people but you do get the odd tenant that is not all that they seem.

‘Anyone looking at buying abroad needs to make sure they have full understanding and aren’t going in blind – they need to have their eyes wide open.’

You can donate to Helen’s fundraising page here.

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