Portuguese legislation states that a landlord can report the lease when a tenant fails to pay two consecutive rents. In addition, if there are four income payments made over a year with at least one week late, the contract can also be over.
To start the eviction process, the landlord has to prove that there are at least three debt income. However, there are cases where tenants can extend their permanence in the property through legal mechanisms.
In Viseu, a woman who has not paid income for more than two years continues to live in the house without the landlord being able to recover the property. The monthly amount of income is 600 euros and has not paid since 2022, which has originated a high amount in debt.
According to the landlord’s lawyer, the tenant has used several legal resources to postpone the eviction and stay in housing without any payment. Although the court has already ruled to its detriment, the execution of the eviction order has been postponed.
Local authorities, upon learning of the situation, sought an alternative solution to the tenant. Social services proposed to her accommodation in a pension, since she receives the social income of insertion.
The proposal, however, was rejected by the tenant, who claimed not to want to leave the house because he has a dog and does not intend to separate himself from the animal. This refusal led to appeal to the court decision.
The court accepted the appeal and granted it an additional two-month deadline to find an alternative to the dog. During this period, the woman continues to occupy the house without paying income.
For the landlord, and according to, this situation represents a great injustice, as it continues without receiving the amount due while supporting additional costs, including lawyer’s fees to try to recover the property.
This case raises questions about the effectiveness of eviction processes in Portugal, highlighting the slowness of justice and the difficulties faced by the landlords to recover their properties.
While the law allows the removal of tenants in non-compliance, practice shows that processes can drag themselves for long periods, especially when tenants resort to successive judicial mechanisms.
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