Min andrahandshyresgäst är skyldig mig hyra och går inte att få tag på. Vad ska jag göra?

Question

Hi!

I met a problem . I rented a new apartment from the company with the first contract and then sublet it to a guy via Blocket website from last Dec. We signed the contract without the approval of manager committee, since the apartment was new . For now , I couldn't find the guy any more and he owned 2-months rent ( It's 14,000 SEK ).I tried to contact with the guy via phone call, messages and email ,even though I left the message on the door ,however ,I didn't get any response from him. Please help me and let me know what I should do next step.

Best.

Answer 1

Hi, and thanks for turning to us at Lawline with your question!

First off - there are two legal relations here. The relation between you and your landlord, and the relation between you and your tenant. Even though you sublet the apartment, you are still responsible for paying the rent to your landlord. If you fail to pay rent according to your contract, your landlord has the right to evict you and claim damages for unpaid rent in court.

However, subletting your apartment without the consent of your landlord gives your landlord the right to terminate the rental contract prematurely according to Swedish rental law, since it is a breach of the same law. If you fear this will be the case, then it will probably be a good idea to talk to your landlord about it - just because he/she has the right to end your contract doesn't mean he/she will do it.

The second relationship is not that different from the first, in terms of the legal consequences. You wrote that you both signed a contract. This contract is the evidence that there is a legal relationship between you and your tenant, and that he is obliged to pay you rent in return for the tenancy of your apartment (if that is actually stated in the terms of the contract, which I assume). His refusal to pay rent is a contractual breach, which renders him liable for damages claims. You also have the right to terminate the contract, since his contractual breach is of the most serious nature.

I recommend you do the following. Contact the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogdemyndigheten). They can probably help you fill out an application for collection of due debts (this is called "betalningsföreläggande" in swedish). After this the authority will contact your tenant and inform him of your demands of payment. He will be given the opportunity to either concede or oppose your demands. If he concedes, then he just literally pays you his debt. If he opposes, then he has to state the reasons for his opposition and then you will have to decide whether or not you want to take the whole thing to court (and if you want to take it to court, then you probably will want some kind of legal assistance if you're not familiar with Swedish procedural law). If your tenant neither opposes nor concedes to your demands, then the authority makes the decision that your claim is decided. In this situation you can apply for execution, which basically means that the authority will collect the money for you.

The authority's website is unfortunately only available in Swedish, so I recommend you call them on [phone] between 8 am and 4 pm on workdays.

I wish you the best of luck! If there is something that I missed or if I misinterpreted your question, please contact me on [e-mail] with your comments. I'd be happy to answer them.