tenant v landlord

[lisa marie]

due to not being able to find work in greece i have to go back to england. as i have no money i have offered to send the outstanding amount to the landlord from england. i am due to catch my plane tomorrow which my parents have paid for but the landlord has threatened to ring the police. we have no contract and have lived here for 7 months. can we get arrested for this? we only owe 12 days rent and the electric.

Did you give the LL the required amount of notice prior to vacating? You would have been considered a month to month tenant (the common term for renting without a lease since you rent by the month). Most places have laws that say a month to month tenant must notify the LL for a period of time before they move. Most places require a 30 day notice. Look up the law in Spain and see what it says. Did you give that amount of notice? If not, you will owe rent for that period unless the LL re-rented your place during that time. If he re-rented, you will owe prorated rent for the days up to it was re-rented. If not, you will owe rent for that entire notice period.

Do not worry about the police. In almost everyplace that I have read the laws, owing money is a civil issue and is not enforcible by the police. (They deal with criminal issues.) It would only become criminal if you knowingly defrauded someone, which you did not. They will probably just tell him that he needs to take you to court to get his money.

Send him a written letter promising payments on certain dates, and keep to that schedule.