The Provincial Court of Malaga has confirmed the eviction of a couple of tenants who owed 2,271.92 euros in rent to their landlord, despite the fact that they claimed to be in a situation of economic vulnerability and did not have another home to move to. The Justice considers that the fact that they had a low income did not justify the fact of stop paying rent.
According to the ruling of March 24, 2026, the rental contract was signed in September 2020 with a monthly rent of 500 euros. As time went by, non-payments began to occur and the owner decided to file a lawsuit to recover the home and claim the outstanding amounts.
The tenants objected, alleging that the debt claimed was not correct and that they also had financial difficulties and could not find another rental home, so they requested that the eviction be suspended. The Court of First Instance number 1 of Vélez-Málaga agreed with the landlady and declared the contract terminated, something that was later confirmed by the Provincial Court.
Economic vulnerability does not justify stopping paying rent
Although the amount of the debt was also discussed in the procedure, one of the tenants’ main arguments to avoid eviction was that they were in a situation of economic vulnerability and had no other home to which to move.
The Provincial Court explained in its ruling that the fact of being in a vulnerable situation does not prevent a rental contract from being terminated when the tenants stop paying the rent. Another different issue is whether this situation may justify the temporary suspension of the launch, as long as the legal requirements are met.
In this sense, the court recalled that article 1 bis of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020 contemplates the possibility of suspending the release of people in vulnerable situations. However, this measure does not mean that the obligation to pay the rent disappears or that the judicial procedure is automatically suspended, since the economic situation must be proven and the suspension of the launch must be requested in the execution phase of the sentence.
In this case, the court had already rejected the tenants’ request for suspension in March 2025. They requested it again during the trial, but did not provide new evidence to justify a change in their family or economic situation. Furthermore, according to the social services report, two members of the family unit received regular income.
Justice took into account that the tenants had difficulties finding another rental apartment, but also that they had stopped paying rent regularly since 2023.
For this reason, the resolution indicates that it is not acceptable to stop paying the rent simply because of having a low income, indicating that this situation “is not acceptable due to the mere fact of having a low income.”
The Permanent Deputation will vote this Thursday on the housing decrees with measures on rentals, evictions and property purchases
She claims 33,345 euros from her landlady for raising the rent due to some work on the building, but Justice agrees with her because she continued paying for years without objecting.
For all these reasons, the Provincial Court of Malaga confirmed the eviction, although an appeal could be filed against the ruling (SAP MA 1336/2026).