Do I have to indemnify the tenants if they leave before the contract ends?

Q: I’m ending a rental before the contract runs out. Is it legal for the landlord to demand indemnization of a month’s rental for each year left on the contract?

SPAIN – (Original source: idealista.com, and consultation with specialist attorneys) First, read the contract carefully (which you should have done before you signed it). Most of them contain a period of notice, which if it is met, you need pay nothing. However,

if the contract is dated before June 2013, it comes under the Urban Rental Law (LAU, Ley de Alquiler Urbano), Article 11 of which, titled ‘Waiver of Contract’, says (in simple English from legal Spanish): ‘On contracts agreed for five years or more, the tenant can waiver it provided it has lasted at least five years and [the tenant] has given notice of a minimum of two months. The parties can agree in the contract, in case of waiver, that the tenant must indemnify the landlord with a sum equivalent to a year’s rent for each year remaining. Periods of time under a year are to be paid proportionally.’

Contracts agreed after June 2013, //come under the new Law of Rental Development, in which the tenant has the right to leave the property after the sixth month of occupancy without paying indemnization, provided the proprietor is given notice of at least thirty days.

In addition, Article 11. Of the new law says: ‘The parties may contractually agree that, in the case of a waiver, the tenant must indemnify the proprietor with a sum equivalent to one month’s rent for each year remaining. Periods of time under a year are to be paid proportionally.’