Delito de daños en la vivienda alquilada

Vamos a ver algunas cuestiones importantes del delito de daños en la vivienda alquilada o en el mobiliario cuando el arrendamiento se ha efectuado con muebles y enseres.

El Código Penal castiga aquellas conductas en las que el sujeto ocasiona daños a propiedad ajena.  El artículo 263 establece que en estos casos se condenará al sujeto a la pena de multa de 6 a 24 meses, siempre que la valoración de los daños supere los 400 euros.

Si los daños no superan los 400 euros, será condenado por un delito leve de daños (antigua falta) a la pena de MULTA de 1 a 3 meses.

Si quieres leer más sobre el delito de daños PINCHA AQUÍ.

¿Todos los daños que aparezcan en la vivienda o en el mobiliario se considerarán delito?

La respuesta es que no.

Por el solo hecho de que al finalizar el alquiler aparezcan daños en la vivienda o en el mobiliario no significa que dicha conducta sea considerada delito.

Para que dichos daños puedan tener un reproche penal, es decir, para que hablemos de un delito de daños en la vivienda alquilada,  se exige que hayan sido causados de manera intencionada o dolosa.

También podrán ser castigados en via penal los daños por imprudencia grave siempre y cuando su valor supere los 80.000 euros (cosa improbable en estos casos).

Es decir, si los daños se han producido por el desgaste usual de las cosas o por simple imprudencia, no estaríamos hablando de delito sino de una cuestión civil que podrá ventilarse en los juzgados civiles pero no en los juzgados penales.

¿Cómo han de acreditarse los daños en la vivienda o mobiliario?

Los daños han de acreditarse por el dueño de la vivienda.

De ahí la importancia de que inmediatamente cuando se termine el contrato de arrendamiento o se tome posesión de la finca por el Juzgado si ha medidado un procedimiento de desahucio, se examine por un perito el estado de la vivienda y se valoren dichos daños (reportaje fotográfico, testigos, etc.).

Recomendaciones para el arrendador y para el inquilino:

1ª.-  Es muy importante que antes de celebrar el contrato de arrendamiento se examine detalladamente la vivienda y el mobiliario, a los efectos de detectar cualquier irregularidad y ponerla de manifiesto en el contrato o en un anexo al mismo.

2ª.-  Hacer un reportaje fotografico o de vídeo del estado de la vivienda y del mobiliario cuando se va a celebrar el contrato de arrendamiento.

3ª.-  Si la vivienda se alquila amueblada hay que confeccionar un inventario lo más exhaustivo que se pueda.

4ª.- Poner de manifiesto los desperfectos que vayan apareciendo en la vivienda o el mobiliario.

Ejemplos de sentencias de delito de daños en la vivienda alquilada

Se condena por delito de daños

-Audiencia Provincial de la Rioja (Sección 1ª), sentencia 18.04.2017:

» On May 28, 2012, the tenants delivered the keys to the house.

The expert …., informs that he visited the house on June 6, 2012, presenting it in an unfortunate state, totally incompatible with its normal use, observing breaks in drawers of blinds, blinds, furniture, sanitary appliances, kitchen furniture , stoneware and parquet floors, tiling, doors, electrical mechanisms..., as well as removal of closing mechanisms from all doors, painting them roughly, and general dirt that affects the entire house, reaching the extreme of excrement of animals in some areas.

He incorporates into his report various photographs in which the damage and dirt reported by the expert can be seen, in the kitchen furniture and kitchen countertop, tiling, doors, slats and shutter boxes, wardrobe, countertop and sink unit, and widespread dirt in the various rooms of the house.

It is clear that such damages exceed those that could arise from normal use of the home, and that they could not have been caused except intentionally, since otherwise it is not explained that the sink is on the floor, the dirt is notorious and generalized , the closet does not have doors, the blinds are broken, there are holes in the tiles, or the doors do not have handles...

There is not a single fact that allows us to assess the possible commission of the crime by a third party in the short time, nine days, elapsed between the delivery of the keys and the inspection of the home by the expert, without said expert reporting that the entrance door it had been forced, or that in another way the access of third parties to the dwelling was appreciated; resulting, in a logical inference judgment, that the damages, eminently intentional, as shown by the photographs in the records and reported by the expert witness, were caused by the defendants, since they were the occupants of the home, without giving an explanation. reasonable about such significant damage and dirt in the home, which according to the lease was in a state of serving the purpose for which it was leased, as well as stated in the contract that they inspected the home before occupying it, not being credible that They occupied it without having seen it, even though they were in dire need of renting a home, since it does not seem impossible to find a rental similar to the one agreed in this case in the city of Logroño.”

-Provincial Court of Albacete (Section 1), sentence 07.15.2010:

» The same reason prevents estimating the allegations about the crime of damages, its voluntariness is deduced from the type of damages, absolutely different from those that are produced by use and even by abuse of rented housing, glass breakage, pressure, damage to the windows, breakage of armchairs, door bells and telephones. In short, the Chamber, as well as the Judge, considers that said damages occurred on purpose and are not a consequence of the use of the leased property, for which they constitute the crime of damages for which it is sanctioned.

-Provincial Court of Barcelona (Section 10), sentence 09.06.2016:

» It has been proven that the defendant Claudia, on an unspecified date and time but in any case, between May 3 and 7, 2013, aware that she was going to be thrown out of the house and with the intention of undermining the property of others, knowingly caused damage and destruction to the furniture and facilities of the rented dwelling (such as broken walls, ripped copper tubes and pipes, electricity cables, plugs pulled, broken window blinds and bedsteads and broken mattresses, faucet of the kitchen broken, disappearance of the meter of the house etc), also leaving the house in a lamentable state in terms of its healthiness.»

He is acquitted of the crime of damages

-Provincial Court of Alava (Section 2), sentence 09.1.2014:

» The estimated damages do not objectify an intention to damage, but are simply indicative that the accused did not make adequate use of the home. These are damages that show careless, even negligent use; but they do not show an intention to harm the owner, not even adding the fact that the owner had to file an eviction procedure; because of such fact it is not possible to presume in the present assumption the motive or feeling of revenge that nourishes the intention to harm another.

It is not uncommon for rugs to get damaged if they are left on the balcony because you don't want to use them; nor is it difficult for a blind or the glass of a table to accidentally break if one is not careful in the treatment of things; On the other hand, those painted with a felt-tip pen that appear very localized on walls are like those that a child would do if their caregiver neglected him; These last two reasons can also be attributed to the marks left on the doors, the table, the white study counter, a wall unit or the frame of two of the paintings, as well as the stains on some curtains, and even the split bed base. ; and, finally, it is worth noting that the humidity in one of the bathrooms is located in the ceiling, the origin of which is unknown.

The expert limited herself to describing the damage solely for the purposes of her valuation, without her report excluding that said damage was due to careless or negligent use of the dwelling.

There is a general doctrinal consensus on the advisability of minimizing the criminal prosecution of behaviors that, such as damage, already have a compensatory or restorative civil response. «