A dream vacation turned into a holiday nightmare for a group of British tourists who allegedly rented a mansion from a man who didn’t own it.
The holidaymakers had booked a stunning villa in Marbella, a resort destination in southern Spain. The lavish residence in the sought-after Costa del Sol area included a swimming pool and seven suites.
The villa has reportedly been booked by holidaymakers up to February next year, with reservation charges of around £859 (€1,000) per guest.
However, the owner of the property has claimed he was not aware it was being rented out and only realised he was being taken advantage of when he came across an online advert featuring his home.
He alleged he believed his Marbella property was empty after leaving it with the maintenance man.
But the maintenance man allegedly sublet the property long-term, unknowingly to its owner, and even drew up a contract and papers for the incumbent tenant, it has been claimed.
In a report by the Antena 3 channel, a lawyer named only as Odon and representing this tenant said his client had found the property on offer on Idealista, an online platform for property on rent and sale.
He said: “My client saw the offer through the Idealista portal, saw the advertisement for the property for rent, contacted a real estate agency and they put him in contact with the man who we thought was the representative of this property.
“He provided keys to the house, documentation, we understood in good faith that he was entitled to rent the property.”
The legal representative went on to claim that the tenant had signed a lease contract and that the villa would be his home.
However, the maintenance man has been accused of having added that “when [the tenant] was not living there he was going to put it up for vacation rental to have more income, pay the rent and obtain a profit”, Odon added.
An investigation has been launched to shed light on this issue, the representative of the owner of the villa has said.
The lawyer, named only as Alberto, claimed there may be up to 60 people caught up in this rental incident.
The two lawyers believe “both their clients have now become victims of a fraud”.