Your landlord invented fake damages to keep your deposit. What now?

Your landlord invented fake damages to keep your deposit. What now?

You left the flat in good shape. Then the email arrives, and suddenly there is a list. A "damaged" worktop. "Marks" on the walls. "Deep cleaning" required. A number attached to each, adding up conveniently to most or all of your deposit. You know full well the place was fine. So what do you actually do when a landlord invents damage to keep your money?

The short answer: you make them prove it. And they usually cannot.

Why landlords do this

Inventing or exaggerating damage is one of the oldest tricks for keeping a deposit, and it works for a simple reason. It shifts the story. Instead of "I am unlawfully withholding your money," it becomes "I am deducting for damage," which sounds reasonable and official. It puts you on the back foot, hoping you will either believe it or decide it is not worth arguing.

It is especially common with tenants who have just left the country or who do not speak much Spanish, because the landlord assumes there will be no real pushback. The whole tactic depends on you not knowing your rights.

The rule that changes everything: the burden of proof is on them

Here is what deflates most fake-damage claims. Under Spanish law, a landlord cannot simply assert that damage exists and deduct for it. They have to prove it, with real evidence: dated photographs showing the damage, and invoices or quotes for the actual cost of repair or replacement.

"I think the wall needs redoing" is not evidence. A round number with no paperwork behind it is not evidence. If your landlord cannot produce dated proof and real costs, the deduction does not stand. And crucially, most landlords making up damage have nothing to show, because there was nothing wrong in the first place.

It is also worth knowing that normal wear and tear is never deductible at all. A tired-looking wall, a slightly worn floor, general use: none of that is damage, no matter what they call it. (If you want the full breakdown of what counts as wear and tear versus real damage, that is worth reading alongside this.)

How to call the bluff, step by step

1. Ask for every deduction to be itemised, with evidence. Reply in writing and ask the landlord to provide, for each claimed deduction, dated photos of the damage and an invoice or quote for the repair. Politely, factually. This single request is often where fake claims fall apart, because the proof does not exist.

2. Point out what is wear and tear. For anything that is clearly normal use rather than damage, say so, and note that wear and tear is not deductible under Spanish law.

3. Demand the amount they are wrongly withholding, with a deadline. State clearly what you are owed and give them a firm date to return it. Keep it calm and unemotional. Emotion weakens a demand; facts strengthen it.

4. Send a burofax if they hold firm. If they double down, escalate to a burofax: the certified letter that legally proves your demand and its delivery. A formal, certified demand that itemises their invalid deductions and cites the law tends to end the game quickly, because the landlord realises the bluff has been called by someone who knows the rules.

Why this works so well

A landlord inventing damage is relying on your uncertainty. The moment you respond with specific, informed pushback, ask for evidence they do not have, name the wear-and-tear rule, and put it in a certified demand, the whole tactic collapses. They are no longer dealing with a soft target. They are dealing with someone who has read the rulebook, and they know a court would expect the very proof they cannot produce.

We call the bluff for you, in proper Spanish

Knowing the deductions are invented is easy. Saying so correctly, in formal legal Spanish, in a document that carries real weight, is the hard part. That is what we do.

Deposit Recovery Spain reviews the deductions your landlord is claiming, drafts a demand in correct legal Spanish that itemises what is actually owed and challenges the invalid deductions, and sends it as a certified burofax through Correos with full proof. Every case reviewed by a Spanish abogado.

One flat fee. No hourly lawyers. No Spanish required.

This article is general information about the deposit-recovery process in Spain and is not legal advice. Deposit Recovery Spain is a document-preparation and process-guidance service, not a law firm.