Can owners just turf you out your holiday accommodation?

Mgman1965

Case on local radio consumers programme. 

Couple rented a serviced apartment (in Mexico) via a booklng site for 14 nights. 

Two nights in complex manager knocks on apartment and tells them the American owners have arrived, and they have to leave, as owners want to stay in their apartment, and if they refuse, the police would be called to remove them (bearing in mind, this is Mexico, not the UK).

They packed and left and found alternative accommodation for the rest of their holiday and the programme got the booking site to eventually fully refund them.

It appears though, the booking site is still advertising this apartment to rent.

So, if you rent out a flat, caravan, apartment for short term holiday rentals can you really just turn up and tell your renters to "Do One" as we're here now ?

Edit, sorry, it was Mexico been told by OH.

tacpot12

I would suggest you need a Spanish lawyer to confirm the situation, and also whether the Police would get involved. 

Mark_d

I can't comment on the Spanish laws for holiday lets but I don't think you can do that here.
Is it possibly that the complex manager had been letting out the apartment without the knowledge of the owner?

Mgman1965

Mark_d said:

I can't comment on the Spanish laws for holiday lets but I don't think you can do that here.
Is it possibly that the complex manager had been letting out the apartment without the knowledge of the owner?

Very possible. 

DullGreyGuy

tacpot12 said:

I would suggest you need a Spanish lawyer to confirm the situation, and also whether the Police would get involved. 

Why would you get a Spanish lawyer for something that happened in Mexico? You do know they arent part of the Spanish empire anymore right?

Mgman1965 said:
So, if you rent out a flat, caravan, apartment for short term holiday rentals can you really just turn up and tell your renters to "Do One" as we're here now ?

Depends on the law of the country you are in. Also depends who are the contracting parties. 

In the example given it would probably suggest that some property manager has been renting the property out rather than the owners. They may or may not have had the owners consent to do so. All of this extra detail would be required to know what can and can't happen. 

eskbanker

It's not so much can it happen (as it clearly can) but can it happen within the terms of the booking (very unlikely!) and in the event of such occurrences what liability does the agent have to rectify the situation....

tacpot12

DullGreyGuy said:

tacpot12 said:

I would suggest you need a Spanish lawyer to confirm the situation, and also whether the Police would get involved. 

Why would you get a Spanish lawyer for something that happened in Mexico? You do know they arent part of the Spanish empire anymore right?

I do know that.  But the OP wrote Spain and has since corrected it to Mexico, hence the confusion. You would need a Mexican lawyer to confirm the situation in Mexico. 

Mgman1965

DullGreyGuy said:

tacpot12 said:

I would suggest you need a Spanish lawyer to confirm the situation, and also whether the Police would get involved. 

Why would you get a Spanish lawyer for something that happened in Mexico? You do know they arent part of the Spanish empire anymore right?

Mgman1965 said:
So, if you rent out a flat, caravan, apartment for short term holiday rentals can you really just turn up and tell your renters to "Do One" as we're here now ?

Depends on the law of the country you are in. Also depends who are the contracting parties. 

In the example given it would probably suggest that some property manager has been renting the property out rather than the owners. They may or may not have had the owners consent to do so. All of this extra detail would be required to know what can and can't happen. 

My bad, the reply was before I edited the wrong country out and put right one in.

TELLIT01

Removing the Mexico element from the question, what would happen if an attempt to do that was made in the UK.  This is assuming there is no misuse of the place to warrent summary eviction.

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

Removing the Mexico element from the question, what would happen if an attempt to do that was made in the UK.  This is assuming there is no misuse of the place to warrent summary eviction.

Still depends... I have spare keys to our neighbours because they go overseas for long periods. In principle I could be posting their home on AirBnB without their knowledge and letting people in using the spare keys. 

If they returned early and found someone else in their home then they may be considered squatters and whilst no doubt the police may have sympathy for the holiday makers they have the power to remove people from domestic properties. 

I suspect in the stated case the home owners were not the ones doing the lettings.

silvercar

TELLIT01 said:

Removing the Mexico element from the question, what would happen if an attempt to do that was made in the UK.  This is assuming there is no misuse of the place to warrent summary eviction.

No tenant rights, given it isn’t the renters home, so it’s all on contract law. In practice, if the renters held their nerve and refused to budge, the owner could call the police, who may or may not be inclined to help. It may make a difference whether the owner told the police that these were people he did not give permission to be in his home and he had no idea why they were there or whether he admits they are renters