I’m being evicted for being a ‘squatter’ but I haven’t missed a rent payment in 7 YEARS – my son & I will be homeless
A BRITISH single mother is being evicted from her home in Spain for squatting - despite not missing a rent payment in SEVEN YEARS.
Kate Langshaw, 44, and her son Lucas, 7, were given the boot after a row over inheritance between the owner and her ‘heartless’ politician son.
While Kate won her case over the Costa Blanca property in May, the owner's son, who stood in the local elections, was able to reverse the decision on appeal in just three months.
It is unclear how the politician, a member of the anti-feminist Vox party, was able to chase such a quick ruling in a legal system known for its slow pace.
The mum-of-one is now facing the heartbreaking prospect of being left homeless with her young child and their dog Orri.
She told the Olive Press: “I’ve always paid my rent and did everything I was told to by the rental company, it’s terrifying to think we could all be on the streets.
Read more in world news
“We are still in the summer season and I cannot afford to find a new place near my son’s school.
In a tragic further twist, Kate said she may have to give up their beloved pup.
"I might even have to give up my dog as very few rental properties accept pets which would be heartbreaking for me but especially my son.
He suffers from anxiety and Orri is crucial for his mental health."
Most read in The Sun
Not only is the family being evicted from their home in Alicante, but the owner's son Daniel is trying to charge her backdated rent amounting to almost £26,000.
She said: “How can it be fair that I’m being kicked out? It’s madness. I hear stories that it can take three years to evict an actual squatter, and yet I am being asked to leave as a single mother paying rent.”
The problems began when the millionaire patriarch of the influential Bas family, based in Javea, died years ago leaving a slew of homes, land and money to his wife Christine English - and his four children.
He was a successful property developer and left behind a number of apartments, plus various other homes, which the siblings reportedly fought over.
Particularly apartments in the large Don Pepe urbanization just off Javea’s celebrated Arenal beach.
At least one child, including son Daniel, took their mother to court in an attempt to gain control of the properties and money, The Olive Press reports.
Kate began renting the two-bed villa that she lived in with her son in 2017 from Christine, but she had no idea that two years later Daniel had managed to acquire the deeds to the home.
Despite this, the rental company handling the tenancy advised her to continue paying rent to Christine, especially as official notary papers indicated that she was the owner.
Last year Daniel tried to "bully" Katie into paying him instead of his mother, and ignoring her fixed rate contract, tried to slap on an extra £170 in rent every month.
When his brutish tactics failed, he took her to court, claiming she was a 'squatter' because she had no contract with him, despite evidence of rent payments going back to 2017.
He claimed he had the right to any earnings (known as usufructo) on the property, including rent.
The case failed in May, when a judge ruled that his mother Christine had the usufructo when Kate signed the rental agreement and she had therefore paid the right person.
Extraordinarily, when Daniel took an appeal to the courts in Alicante, the decision was reversed in July making the latest rental contract void.
Worse, he is now suing Kate for backdated rent which totals over €30,000.
The single mum has been receiving help from social services, the Citizens Advice bureau and a local charity called Guardian Angels.
"They are all shocked by the decision and can’t understand how it happened," she said.
Myra Azzopardi, senior adviser at Citizens Advice in Spain, told the Olive Press: "This case is shocking. First of all, the fact the appeal was won so quickly is very surprising, any other person in Spain would be thrilled to get a case through a court in three months.
"But Kate is the victim here, she was paying the rent and the mother should have known exactly what was happening with her property.
"If that mother didn’t know what was going on I’d eat my hat. She has acted unjust and fraudulently and Kate should be taking her to court.
"The fact that the son wants to sue Kate for the huge rent allegedly owed is ridiculous. He should be suing his mother, as she was collecting the rent that the courts have now ruled she had no right to."
The local expat community has set up a to help Kate with legal bills and potentially moving costs as well.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
