A tenant who stays after the lease ends, or lives in your home without a contract

Terms used

• precario — A precario is occupying a home with no contract or legal right, so the owner can demand you leave.
• escritura — The escritura is the title deed, the notarised document showing who owns a property.
• nota simple — A nota simple is a short Property Registry extract showing who owns a home.
• burofax — A burofax is a formal letter sent through the post office that proves what you sent and when it was delivered.

Key rules

• Notice: A landlord must give at least 4 months' notice before the end to stop a renewal; a tenant must give at least 2 months.
• Accepting payments: Say in writing that money you accept after the end date is compensation for occupation, not rent.
• Burden of proof: You must prove you own the home or have the right to possess it, and that the occupant has no valid title.
• Vulnerability check: For a home, a vulnerability check can suspend or delay any eviction; see the unpaid-rent eviction steps.

Which case do you have?

There are three cases:

• The lease ended and the tenant stayed. You bring an expiry eviction claim.
• There was never a lease, or the right to live there has ended. This is a precario, and you bring a precario claim.
• The person broke in. This is squatting. It follows a police and criminal route instead of the civil claims, and squatter, tenant or guest explains how to tell the cases apart.

Since 3 April 2025 (Ley Orgánica 1/2025), most civil claims, including expiry and precario claims, need an attempt at an out-of-court settlement (MASC, an adequate means of dispute resolution) before filing; your lawyer handles it and it adds time.

Has the lease really ended?

Most housing leases renew by themselves. A housing lease runs for a minimum of five years, or seven if the landlord is a company. If neither side gives notice before that minimum term ends, it renews year by year for up to three more years.

If you missed your notice, the lease continues and you have no eviction claim yet.

Put the notice in writing and keep proof the tenant received it, for example by burofax. The law sets no form, but you will need that proof in court.

You can recover the home early only if the contract said from the start that you need it for yourself or close family, and you give 2 months' notice before the need arises.

These terms apply to leases signed after 6 March 2019. Older leases follow earlier rules, so check the signing date first.

Do not let rent become consent

If you keep accepting payments after the end date, a court may read that as agreeing to let the tenant stay. If the tenant stays 15 days after the lease ends with your acquiescence, a court can presume a new lease.

Expiry eviction claim

File in the local court with a lawyer; costs are in Eviction for unpaid rent step by step (desahucio por impago).

Precario claim

A precario means someone uses your property with your tolerance, with no valid title, no rent and no set term. Examples are a relative you let stay, or someone whose right to live there has ended. You can end it at any time.

You file a claim in the local court, with your proof of ownership or right to possess. The occupant has 10 days to answer. A hearing follows, mostly on documents. The judgment can be appealed. The claim fails if the occupant shows a valid title, such as a lease.

When the occupant is a squatter

Police can act at once when someone is caught in the act of entering a home. Otherwise, you can report the occupation and ask the criminal court to remove them, or use a civil recovery action for people who have been dispossessed. Calling a tolerated guest a squatter will weaken your case.

Timeline

• Give the tenant written notice that the lease will not renew: at least 4 months before the minimum term ends (check the end date in your lease)
• File a precario claim if there was never a lease, or the occupant has no title: as soon as you have your proof of ownership
• File the expiry claim if the tenant has not left: as soon as the lease has ended
• Allow for the court's time: 6 to 12 months for a precario claim, plus time for the eviction itself

Documents you need

• The signed lease contract, showing the start date, the term and the rent. You need it to prove the lease and when it ended.
• Your written non-renewal notice to the tenant, with proof the tenant received it, such as a burofax.
• Proof that you own the home or have the right to possess it: the escritura or a recent nota simple. You need it for a precario claim.
• The contract clause on your own-use need, only if you want the home back early.