The court rejected claims for routine cleaning and repainting the entire apartment, but awarded compensation for damaged or missing furnishings and allowed the owners to recover the cost of restoring three rooms to their original colors.
Moving out of a rental apartment does not automatically make tenants liable for a deep clean or a full repaint. In a May 26 ruling, the Barcelona Provincial Court clarified which costs landlords and tenants must cover when a lease ends. Read the court ruling
The dispute arose after a six-month tenancy in Sitges. When the tenants handed back the keys, they sought the return of their €3,200 security deposit and reimbursement of €2,558.70 for repainting and €228.69 for a deep clean. The owners counterclaimed for €8,056.49 over alleged damage and missing furniture.
The lower court dismissed the tenants’ claim and partially upheld the owners’ counterclaim. It awarded €7,241.04 in damages and ordered the tenants to pay the remaining €4,041.04 after deducting the security deposit. It also ordered them to pay legal costs. The tenants appealed.
What tenants must do when returning a rental property
At the end of a lease, tenants must return the property in line with the terms of the agreement and their legal obligations. Their liability depends on the condition in which they return it, even if the landlord chooses to carry out additional work before looking for a new tenant.
Article 1561 of the Spanish Civil Code requires tenants to return the property in the condition in which they received it, allowing for deterioration caused by the passage of time or an unavoidable event. Article 1562 presumes that the tenants received the property in good condition unless evidence shows otherwise. Under Article 1563, tenants are liable for deterioration unless they can show it was not their fault. Read the relevant provisions of the Spanish Civil Code
Landlords must show that cleaning went beyond routine work
The expert report described work in the bathrooms, kitchen and living room, as well as cleaning the windows and glass. It did not establish that the apartment was unusually dirty. There were also no photographs showing that the property had been neglected or left in a particularly dirty condition. The court therefore treated the work as routine cleaning, a cost for the owners to cover.
Hiring a cleaning company at the end of a lease is insufficient grounds to pass the bill on to the tenant. To recover the cost, the landlord must show that the work went beyond the cleaning normally needed after ordinary use of the property.
The owners must cover routine repainting, but can charge for reversing unauthorized color changes
The court also rejected the claim for repainting the entire apartment. Photographs showed that the walls were in acceptable condition at the end of the lease, and the owners had not established that deterioration justified charging the tenants for the work.
The court reached a different conclusion for three rooms that the tenants had painted in other colors without permission. Most of the apartment was painted white when the tenants moved in, and the lease required them to return it in its original colors. The court therefore allowed the owners to recover the cost of repainting those three rooms only.
Missing, damaged or replaced furnishings
The court awarded compensation for several missing or damaged items. These included a ceiling light fixture with broken glass, a folding bed, a desk and a lamp the tenants had thrown away, repairs to an insect screen, and the value of a chaise longue and two wingback chairs missing from the living room. Related article on compensation for damage to rental homes
The court rejected claims for two wardrobes that the tenants had replaced. The replacements were of comparable quality and had equivalent dimensions. It also rejected claims for bedroom chairs and armchairs because photographs the owners themselves had uploaded to idealista showed that the furniture was still in the apartment.
The appeals court sets compensation and overturns the original costs order
The Barcelona Provincial Court substantially revised the lower court’s ruling, finding that the owners had to cover routine cleaning and general repainting due to wear.
The court ordered the owners to return the €3,200 security deposit with interest. It ordered the tenants to pay €1,612.21 for the damage and missing items covered by the ruling, plus the cost of repainting the three rooms. That amount will be calculated when the judgment is enforced, at €8.48 per square meter plus VAT.
Because each side succeeded in part, the court overturned the lower court’s costs order and did not award appeal costs to either party.
