So my mother is a landlord, and she wants to kick out a tenant that isn’t paying rent.
I asked her if she was seriously going to kick someone out to the streets, and she said that the tenant has family and they could seek help from them.
My mother threatened the tenant saying that if they don’t give back the key, she would go to the civil guard.
I need some ideas about what to tell my mother to try to stop her from putting someone on the streets. Any help is appreciated.
Is it possible to help negotiate an agreement? Why have they stopped paying rent? Have they stopped paying all of it? For how long? If they’re in a debt spiral, they may need some help managing their bills. If it’s employment, showing some compassion might make them eager to pay back rent as soon as they get another job. Might take some upfront effort, but this could be a far more sustainable business model than evicting them and finding someone else. The world economy is fucked: hay no guarantías que la próxima será mejor… (i hope that last bit means ‘there are no guarantees that the next one will be better’!)
Are there any renters unions in your area? Getting the tenant involved with them might help them legally or practically. In the UK, we have Acorn which do a mixture of direct action (ie literally blocking Landlords from accessing the property) and supporting tenants with navigating the legal system and understanding their (somewhat limited) rights as renters.
If there’s something comparable in your local area, perhaps approach them with the consent of the tenant? If there’s not then perhaps there’s similarly minded people which you can help to start organise and bring into the fold?
This isn’t a terrible idea in general, but I wouldn’t start practicing my revolutionary organising against my own family. I suppose it depends on what they might be able to offer. If they could help with the negotiating that I mentioned above…?
