The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda has recently imposed a fine of €3.6 million on the company Alquiler Seguro for abusive practices through which it has infringed consumers’ rights by exploiting its dominant market position.
With this decision, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has concluded the proceedings initiated in March last year, for which the proposed sanction was formalised in October. The ruling – which is final and exhausts the administrative appeal process – confirms that the company has committed six infringements classified as very serious and one as serious. Among the sanctioned practices are the requirement that the tenant must take out a Customer Service package, treated as part of the management and contract formalisation costs; the obligation to take out home insurance that benefits the property owner; and the application of charges for claims relating to alleged debts, even when these are not attributable to the tenant.
The Consumer Affairs Department also condemns the company’s practice of imposing charges for legal claims even when no order for costs has been made, as well as the inclusion of clauses that allowed tenants to be automatically added to debtors’ registers in the event of non-payment, regardless of the reason and even if the debts were not yet due or enforceable. Similarly, it criticises the exclusion of the right of withdrawal in relation to the Tenant Support Service.
As detailed by Consumo in its press release, the breakdown of the financial penalties is as follows: a fine of €1 million and another of €990,900 for very serious infringements, in addition to three fines of €500,000 each, one of €100,001 and another of €10,001 relating to serious infringements. In total, the fines amount to €3.6 million.
In this context, it is worth noting that Law 12/2023 of 24 May on the right to housing expressly prohibits passing on property management and contract formalisation costs to tenants, and stipulates that such practices may constitute serious or very serious infringements, as has occurred in this case.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the Consumer Affairs decision is not limited solely to the imposition of a financial penalty. It also includes two additional measures requiring the estate agent to:
• Rectify the breaches identified, including the removal of the unfair terms identified.
• Publish details of the fine imposed, the registered names of the responsible legal entities (Alquiler Seguro, S.A.U.) and the nature of the infringement.
It should also be noted that – independently of this action – the Department of Consumer Affairs has opened a second investigation into a different estate agency for similar offences, which is currently under investigation.
Source of information: Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda.