Alex Trelinski
AN ELDERLY couple have had their retirement ‘ruined’ after a British woman has squatted in their Mallorca flat for over a year and not paid €15,000 in rent plus bills.
Maria Elena Collado, 70, and Jose Maria Perez, 77, own the seafront property situated in a large apartment block in the El Toro area of Calvia.
They say they bought the flat to earn rental income to top up their self-employed pension which would have allowed them a more comfortable retirement including the chance to travel.
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The British woman lives in the three-bedroom El Toro home with her two children and has been there for two years.
Initially they were no problems as she reportedly lived with an Irish man, but since he left over a year ago, she stopped paying the €900 per month rent.
Speaking to the Ultima Hora newspaper, Maria Elena Collado, said: “She owes us €15,000 and on top of that, we have to pay her water, garbage, community fees, and IBI property tax,”
When the non-payments started, the Spanish couple hired a lawyer after being told by Calvia Council that the woman and the children cannot be evicted because they are a ‘vulnerable family’.
Jose Maria Perez said: “They have stolen our flat. We have worked very hard all our lives to be able to enjoy retirement, but since we cannot collect the rent and we have to pay all the expenses, we cannot enjoy our retirement.”
“It is very unfair, who are the vulnerable ones?” the couple asked.
“We even have to pay a lawyer, while she has one for free because it is a public defender,” Jose Maria added.
He said the situation has got so bad that his partner is finding things difficult to take and is seeing a psychiatrist.
“The toughest thing is that the squatter laughs at us and we can’t approach her as our lawyer has told us not to do so or we could have legal problems,” said Jose Maria.
The couple have been told by their lawyer that they won’t get their flat back and will have to live off their basic savings without the retirement nest egg that they deserved.
It’s a tough lesson, and tragic that the law can not provide a solution acceptable to the owners. I hope this does get sorted out quickly, and in the future, look at home insurance policies that give protection against squatters.
It does look like there might not have been any rental agreement in writing, in which case that is a second thing to look out for in the future.