‘Joint tenants less protected in evictions’ (with Regina Santos Pereira)

‘This ruling is positive for landlords, who often have difficulty identifying who their tenants live with, but it leaves unmarried tenants very much unprotected,’ says Regina Santos Pereira, a lawyer specialising in tenancy. At the end of the day, if the person living with the tenant doesn't know what's going on, they risk becoming homeless because they haven't even used the notice period to find new accommodation, she explains.

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The obligation for landlords to send notices to tenants to both spouses when a couple lives in the house has been in the law since 2012 and was reinforced in 2017, with an amendment that included in the initial rule the indication that this must be the case ‘under penalty of ineffectiveness’. However, it was debated whether this meant sending two separate letters, one to each person, or whether it was enough to address the same letter to the couple. Many cases reached the courts and case law today is that two letters must be sent, explains lawyer Regina Santos Pereira. ‘The family home is a very personal asset and the single person has the right to decide on it and therefore has the right to receive a letter with all the information, just for them and so that they can decide for themselves,’ summarises the SRS Legal rental specialist. However, landlords haven't always done this and these cases have led to many court cases ‘with serious consequences for the landlords for not complying with the rule,’ she adds. The issue has arisen a lot in the case of contracts with old rents, prior to 1990, which landlords wanted to update, but it continues to happen, which is why, advises the lawyer, rental contracts should always include whether the tenant is married and to whom, or living in a civil partnership and with whom. Then, in the case of sending communications, ‘if in doubt, always send two registered letters,’ she adds.