Owner pays price over Alicante flat used for prostitution

THE owner of an apartment in a building in Avenida Maisonnave in Alicante has been banned from renting it out for a period of three years after it was used for prostitution by tenants. At least six other residents of the building took grievances to the community of owners over several months.
Their complaints ranged from constant noise to an excessive amount of litter in the public areas of the building including discarded condoms and urine. One resident said that the hallways echoed with footsteps throughout the day and night.
Another said that they felt uneasy letting their children wander around the stairs and hall, unsure of who they might meet in the corridor or what they might pick up from the floor.
The case first went to court in December 2014 and was appealed but the decision has now been upheld. The judge also ordered that the lease agreement between the landlord and his tenants be ruled invalid.
The legal representative of the owners’ community commented that the ruling could set a precedent for other cases where residents suffer constant aggravation when an apartment is leased to prostitutes.