"First the tenants would be told that none of their rental contracts regardless of their expiry date would be renewed, the union said. Then, as the 50 or so families in the building grappled with what to do next, a series of construction projects would probably be launched in the building to ramp up pressure on them to leave."
"Construction work was the weapon they used to make our lives impossible; power cuts, leaks, noise, drilling through walls, ceilings collapsing on top of gas stoves. It's a pattern that housing campaigners say is playing out across much of urban Spain, as investors seek to cash in on the country's roaring housing market. The aim is simple: to force out long-term tenants as quickly as possible to make way for more profitable tourist, short-term or luxury lets. It's come to be known across Spain as acoso inmobiliario, roughly translating as real estate harassment."
"Last year, a dozen tenants, including Oteyza, turned to the country's courts, alleging that the construction work was a bid to coerce them into ending their leases prematurely. Late last year, a court in Madrid agreed to hear the case, launching what housing campaigners say is the country's first preliminary investigation into real estate harassment."
An investment fund purchased a Madrid building where long-term tenants lived and tenants were reportedly warned their rental contracts would not be renewed. Residents experienced escalating disruptions including construction, power cuts, leaks, noise, drilling and structural hazards that campaigners say aimed to coerce evictions. The tactic, known as acoso inmobiliario or real estate harassment, targets long-term tenants to replace them with tourist, short-term or luxury lets for greater profit. Dozens of tenants in Lavapiés filed legal complaints alleging coercion. A Madrid court launched a preliminary investigation, viewed by campaigners as Spain's first formal probe into such harassment.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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