According to Paragon España , part of the Paragon Advance group of companies offering tenant referencing and rent warranty in Spain, reluctant landlords in Spain are increasingly experiencing problems with bad tenants hit by the economic downturn.

It is claimed that the number of defaulting tenants and evictions have tripled in the past two years and many of the landlords who are experiencing problems are expats who moved to Spain for a better lifestyle and then became reluctant landlords.

Bryn Cole, managing director of Paragon Advance España, said: “They have been forced into letting out their homes in order to be able to pay the mortgage and, for those investors who jumped on the Spanish property market, buying off plan, only to see it go into freefall before they could offload their investment, they have had their fingers burned and are having to let long term and ride it out.”

Paragon España has found that the number of tenants who default on their monthly payments is increasing at alarming rates with tenants also being affected by the economic crisis and unemployment in Spain.

Many expat landlords are unaware of the different mechanisms in place to secure rental income and often fail to implement them in their rental agreements which can leave them unprotected if the tenant does not, or cannot, pay the rent, according to Paragon España.