Nine families in Fuenlabrada have been without rental contracts for over three years in properties that Sareb purchased in 2020. The recent transfer to the public company Casa 47 keeps their situation up in the air.
Arantxa, Marisa, and José are three of the nine families in Fuenlabrada who have been living in a limbo since Sareb, the bad bank, acquired their homes in 2020. Despite having paid rent for years, they now have no contract and fear being evicted. The transition of these properties to the new public company Casa 47 has further complicated their situation.
A conflict that began with the bankruptcy of Grandour
It all started when the real estate company Grandour went bankrupt and Sareb absorbed its properties to offset mortgage debts. For a couple of years, tenants continued to pay rent, but then they discovered that the money was going directly to the tax office. Eventually, they were refunded the receipts and stopped being charged.
The neighbours investigated on their own and found out that the apartments had passed into the hands of Sareb. They received burofaxes from different servicers managing the rentals, such as the defunct Tecnotramit, asking for documentation. However, even when they sent the papers, they received no response.
“We just want to pay rent,” summarises Arantxa, a 37-year-old dental hygienist living with her partner.
A court rules, but does not resolve
The uncertainty lasted until April 2025, when a first-instance court in Fuenlabrada ruled that 17 of the 24 families had no right to remain in the homes because their contracts had expired. The other 9 families retained their rights. Among the former are the nine who still have no solution today.
Seven of those families were offered a contract, but the Tenants' Union believes this is a strategy to divide those affected. “They want to break the unity of the tenants,” they denounce from the union.
The transfer to Casa 47: new doubts
In the midst of the process of transferring the homes to Casa 47, the newly created public housing company, tensions are rising. Sareb asks for patience and assures that it will resolve the cases with social or affordable rents that will pass to the new company. For its part, Casa 47 states that it will only receive empty homes or those with regularised contracts.
This stance leaves the nine families in a limbo: if they do not have a contract, Casa 47 will not take them on. “The cases are being studied,” insist those from Sareb, who acknowledge that changes in servicers can cause communication problems.
Meanwhile, the neighbours of Fuenlabrada continue to wait for a solution that will allow them to regularise their situation and pay a fair rent. The Community of Madrid has not commented on the case, and the Fuenlabrada City Council, governed by the PSOE, has shown its support for the tenants.
The ball is now in the court of Sareb and Casa 47. Those affected hope that social and media pressure will speed up a response. In the meantime, they continue living in their homes, unsure if they will be able to do so tomorrow.
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