Mallorca rent row: 87-year-old fights for Palma home

Mallorca: Margalida, 87, risks losing the flat in Palma, Mallorca, where she has lived for more than six decades. A court hears her case on Tuesday, 10 November, and will decide whether her long-standing rental contract should end. Her lawyer, Aina Díaz, says she owes the owners nothing.

How the rent dispute began

The companies that bought the building say Margalida paid her rent late. Díaz says there are no unpaid bills. She claims Margalida has paid too much and is owed money.

According to Díaz, the trouble began after the building changed hands and the bank account for rent payments changed. The new owners reported a year of missed payments. Margalida went to a bank to pay what they said she owed, but later payments were not set up as intended.

After another hospital stay, Margalida’s son took over dealings with the owners. Díaz says they later told him his mother had again gone a year without paying. They sent him a list of the sums they claimed were due, and he paid it.

Margalida wants to stay

Díaz accuses the owners of taking advantage of Margalida’s hospital stays while she was being treated for cancer. She also claims they removed her name from the letterbox and took away her entry phone. The owners want to renovate the flat and profit from it, the lawyer alleges.

Margalida pays about 13 euros in rent and is willing to accept an adjustment, Díaz says. What she wants most is to remain in her home. No eviction order has been made; the court must first decide whether her rental contract continues.

Topics: Court cases · Housing · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com