We recently informed members of our property project about an owner who was fined for renting his property for holiday lets. This is the article that the Gazette published for us.
Lanzarote holiday property owner fined!
The Lanzarote Business and Residents Association have been leading an active campaign on the island to try and get some sense into the legislation on the renting of private holiday rentals. The LBA president Daniel Trigg and the Association have been battling consistently for the laws to be changed to enable villa owners to rent their properties legally.
However numerous warnings have been issued to villa owners that they risk a fine if they rent out their properties. In the past fines have been issued and there have been many reports in the local and national press relating to this in the recent past. However of late, there have not been too many reports and a number of owners, despite our reminders to act with due care had relaxed and were starting to feel safe.
Unfortunately, as we had warned our members, owners could still be targeted and fined. Regrettably this has again recently happened in Lanzarote and the property owner would like us to warn others, as he has now been fined for illegally renting his property to tourists. We had previously assured all of our property owner members that if they received a fine we would fully support them in endeavouring to get the fines reduced or cancelled and indeed in this instance, this is what we are now doing. For privacy reasons we obviously cannot fully disclose the owners name and details of the property, but suffice to say the Gazette has witnessed the documents. The property is located in the borough of Tias and the owner known as Mr S. has received fines totalling €11,065.31 for simply renting out his villa to tourists.
The owner who is fully tax compliant was not living in Lanzarote and had received no paper work or notifications until recently. The first indication that there was a problem was when a notification was sent to his Gestoria informing them of the fine, but from the documents it would appear that a previous notice (had) been issued, although not received by the owner or his Gestoria? Due to initial non-payment a second fine was issued!
This is the continuing nightmare scenario for all property owners, and the LBA will work with this owner and other members similarly targeted to endeavour to have the fine reduced or cancelled. The sad fact is that this case highlights how difficult and unfair the current situation is for property owners. Many owners purchased property as an investment in what is an extremely popular market. This is one of the reasons why the LBA exists; to offer support when you need it and to work with and for you. If you want to protect your investment and have the support of a professional, multi lingual, recognized association behind you then contact us. We will keep you updated with the outcome of this case.
