Unpaid rent: what to do from the first bounced payment to eviction

Claims for unpaid rent seeking to recover a home or commercial unit for non-payment follow the fast-track verbal procedure, whatever the amount (article 250.1.1 of the Civil Procedure Act). Once the claim is admitted, the court clerk orders the tenant, within ten days, to leave, pay, or, to cure the default, pay everything owed, or else to object; the same order sets the hearing date and the eviction date (article 438.5).

The tenant can stop the eviction by paying, within the order’s deadline, the amount claimed plus whatever is owed at that point: this is the cure of default under article 22.4 of the Civil Procedure Act. It is not available if the tenant has already done so once before (unless payment failed through the landlord’s fault), nor when the landlord demanded payment by any verifiable means at least thirty days before filing and payment was not made before filing. That is why a burofax or notarial demand, with date and content on record, is the step that most changes the outcome.

Since 3 April 2025, Organic Act 1/2025 generally requires parties to try an appropriate dispute resolution method before a civil claim is admitted (article 5). Eviction for non-payment is not among the exceptions in article 5.2, and the Act itself accepts direct negotiation between the parties or their lawyers. Ask the lawyer how they want it documented: it is often combined with the payment demand.

Act 12/2023 on the right to housing added requirements to the claim: it must state whether the property is the occupant’s main home and whether the claimant is a large landlord; if not, a Land Registry certificate listing the claimant’s properties must be attached (article 439.6 of the Civil Procedure Act). The Constitutional Court struck down two other requirements added by that Act, in articles 439.6.c) and 439.7 (Judgment 26/2025).

If it is the tenant’s main home, the court informs them that they may go to social services and notifies the housing and social services authorities of the case on its own initiative. If they confirm the household is vulnerable, the court may suspend proceedings for up to two months where the claimant is an individual, or four where it is a legal entity (articles 441.5 and 441.6 of the Civil Procedure Act).

Royal Decree-law 29/2026 has been in force since 8 October 2026 and, as of this page’s date, is awaiting ratification by Congress (if it is not ratified, it lapses). It brings these changes, which affect residential arrears:

• Cure by the authorities (new article 22.6 of the Civil Procedure Act): if the tenant proves economic vulnerability and is offered no alternative housing, the competent authority must pay or deposit the debt and costs within two months, during which proceedings are suspended.
• Suspension until 31 December 2030 of evictions of vulnerable people with no alternative housing, with compensation for individual landlords paid by the authorities. The tenant’s vulnerability does not prevail where the landlord is an individual owning two homes or fewer.
• Proceedings under way: the suspension and the new cure by the authorities also apply to enforcement proceedings already under way on 8 October 2026 where the eviction had not yet been carried out (second transitional provision).
• Rent-default insurance: the landlord may take out their own policy, but can no longer require the tenant to take out rent-default insurance or similar cover (article 36.5 of the Urban Leases Act).

The manager does not run the lawsuit, but decides how quickly it starts and what evidence it has. Spotting arrears on day one, putting every contact in writing, sending the formal demand on time and handing the lawyer an exact, documented debt are the four things that most shorten an eviction. Plus keeping the owner informed, since they decide whether to sue.