The case, which gained public attention on Herrera en COPE Tenerife, concluded happily for the owner, María del Cristo Báez, who had reported the situation. The tenant, nicknamed the “finicky inquiokupa,” occupied the home in the El Portezuelo area of La Laguna, paying only the first month's rent.
From that point on, the man stopped paying monthly installments, despite displaying a high purchasing power with designer clothes and high-end cars. His attitude was defiant from the start, even warning the owner of his intentions to stay in the house for at least a year without paying, relying on the slow pace of legal proceedings.
I'm sorry for you, who are good people, but I'm going to be here for at least a year for free, because the law is on my side, and the courts will take more than a year to evict me.
The situation worsened when the tenant installed an alarm on the property and even reported María del Cristo for coercion when she tried to approach her own home, all while she continued to pay for utilities. The owner, a lawyer by profession, expressed her frustration at seeing that the occupant was not a vulnerable person, but a “complete scoundrel.”
The resolution came unexpectedly. The National Police arrested the tenant as part of an investigation into alleged fraud exceeding 90,000 euros. Neighbors alerted María del Cristo after hearing a loud bang, caused by officers breaking down the door to make the arrest and search the home.
Thanks to this police intervention, María del Cristo was able to recover her house, avoiding a lengthy eviction process that, according to her calculations, would have taken at least 18 months from the signing of the contract. The owner was relieved that the property did not suffer significant damage, which she considered likely if the eviction had been judicial.
“"I'm not going to rent anymore. The house is sold, the psychological toll of situations like this is unbearable."
The experience has led María del Cristo to make the drastic decision to sell the property, citing the lack of guarantees and the delay of the courts in such cases. The psychological wear and tear and accumulated tension over more than a year were decisive in her choice. She, not a large landlord but an ordinary citizen, laments the helplessness of small property owners.
As a lawyer, María del Cristo criticizes the slowness of the judicial system, exacerbated by the pandemic and strikes, which has caused procedures that should be express to be delayed by up to two years. She advocates for the role of small landlords, who facilitate access to housing for many families without applying abusive prices.
