Renter's Rights Re-affirmed!
O friends and helpful advisors, perhaps I have a cautionary tale worth relating.
Concerned as I was about the failure to receive my copy of a two-month rental contract in Andalusia, I resorted to informing the rental agent that I would make no further payments(for rent or services) until I received a copy on the grounds that I could not be expected to remember the terms and conditions of a three page document.
However, in doing this I realised that should the rental agency and the landlord decide to take issue with me, there would be nobody in the nearby small town that I could go to for objective legal assistance, let alone advisors who could speak English.
The following day I was in Málaga and was fortunate enough to find a lawyer who led me to a member of his practise who spoke good English. When I explained my problem, he immediately assured me that not only was I within my right to withhold my payments, but the agency and the landlord were breaking the law by not giving me my copy of the contract, and I could report them to the police.
He then called the agency’s office and left a voice-mail summary of what he had told me. He said that he would make direct contact with the agency, so that I could be assured that they had got the message.
Other than my email address, he asked for nothing and waved away my attempts to pay him.
About two hours later, I received an email from the lawyer saying that he had spoken with the head of the rental agency, who now agreed to provide me with a copy of the contract. He then told me his usual fee for such a service, which I was happy to pay immediately. Later in the afternoon, having in previous weeks made three unsuccessful attempts to do so, I finally obtained my copy of my rental contract from the agency.
/SNIP/