Delete
File image of a woman looking at advertisements in a real estate agency window. EFE
Property

Ministry of consumer affairs opens proceedings against another real estate company that operates nationally for charging illegal fees

If the abusive practices are proven, the department could sanction the Spanish company with a fine of between 100,000 and one million euros

Wednesday, 18 June 2025, 12:55

Although the housing law passed in Spain in 2023 expressly bans real estate agencies from charging tenants the fees related to managing and formalising contracts, as well as other commissions, some companies continue doing it. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has opened a new sanctioning file against a second real estate agency company about which it has received complaints from consumers' organisations.

Although Pablo Bustinduy's ministry has not revealed the name of the company, it has stated that it is a "large real estate agency that operates throughout the country". The proceedings are seeking to assess whether there have been abusive practices towards tenants, such as the charging of illegal commissions or the obligation to contract unsolicited services.

This is the second case of this type opened by the ministry. The first one was opened at the end of March and it concerned real estate agency Alquiler Seguro. These proceedings are part of the investigation that Bustinduy's department has been conducting since last October.

These types of practices against tenants are classified as serious or very serious infringements. The fines could range from up to 100,000 euros or six times the illicit profit obtained to one million euros or eight times the profit.

This investigation was opened following complaints from the Sindicato de Inquilinas CECU and consumer associations such as Facua and the OCU. Investigations into other real estate agencies remain active. Facua welcomed the ministry's action as soon as the news broke and urged the consumer authorities of each region and town council "to take an example and act once and for all against real estate fraud". In a statement issued on Tuesday, the association called for a change in consumer law so that all sanctioning proceedings can get published, like those initiated by the CNMC.

Other housing actions

The consumer affairs ministry has also opened proceedings against Airbnb for publishing "thousands of advertisements" of rentals that do not comply with the law. There is also another sanctioning file open against other platforms after it was detected that the managers were offering "false information".

The ministry has already ordered the blocking of more than 65,935 illegal listings for holiday flats on the Airbnb platform.

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para registrados.

Reporta un error en esta noticia

* Campos obligatorios

surinenglish Ministry of consumer affairs opens proceedings against another real estate company that operates nationally for charging illegal fees

Ministry of consumer affairs opens proceedings against another real estate company that operates nationally for charging illegal fees
logo

Debido a un error no hemos podido dar de alta tu suscripción.

Por favor, ponte en contacto con Atención al Cliente.

logo

¡Bienvenido a SURINENGLISH!

logo

Tu suscripción con Google se ha realizado correctamente, pero ya tenías otra suscripción activa en SURINENGLISH.

Déjanos tus datos y nos pondremos en contacto contigo para analizar tu caso

logo

¡Tu suscripción con Google se ha realizado correctamente!

La compra se ha asociado al siguiente email