The families, organized under the Sindicat de Vivenda de les Carolines (Housing Union of Las Carolinas), are demanding the reimbursement of expenses they consider undue, such as IBI (property tax), community fees, and waste collection fees. Furthermore, they denounce the obligation to contract an annual non-payment insurance, the cost of which is approximately half a month's rent.
“"Several courts have already deemed these types of clauses abusive."
The lawsuits, filed in the courts of Alicante and Sant Vicent del Raspeig, seek both the recovery of the amounts paid for these concepts and the elimination of the abusive clauses from the contracts. This process has been driven by the lawyers' cooperative El Rogle, based in Valencia, after a year of organizing the affected tenants.
The union asserts that these practices are part of a speculative model employed by large real estate companies. They also denounce that Nestar's properties continue to be classified as protected housing, despite high rents, lack of maintenance, and attempts to sell them above legally established prices.
This initiative follows the path opened by other housing unions, such as the Sindicato de Inquilinas de Madrid (Madrid Tenants' Union), which has already secured rulings against the same fund. A resolution from last June declared six of the seven challenged clauses abusive. According to the Sindicat de Vivenda de les Carolines, this is the first collective lawsuit of its kind initiated by a housing union in the Valencian Community.
