PurchasingProperty in Spain: a Description of the Legal System
Thursday, October 8th, 2009 Youve found the house and negotiated a price. Youve arranged your Spanish mortgages All there is to do now is complete the purchase. How?
In Spain, the process of purchasing Spanish property is regulated, and the best thing that you can do to protect your interests is to employ an English-speaking solicitor or lawyer to assist you. Validate that the Spanish property you plan to purchase is free of restrictive clauses and debts.
The legal process for purchasing property located in Spain falls under two types of transactions. The first legal document is the preliminary contract, known as Contrato privado de compraventa, and the second is the completion contract, known as Escritura de compraventa.
Once both parties have agreed to the price, then a preliminary private sales contract should be signed. The vendor must provide proof that he or she owns the property free of any charges before this Contrato privado de compraventa has been signed. Debts are charged to the property themselves in Spain, and any outstanding mortgage amount would then be passed on to the purchaser. Nota Simple documents were developed to validate if a property has an outstanding debts.
Details to be included in the draft sales contract will include the date of closure, agreed upon purchase price and a detailed accounting of the property being purchased. A 5% to 15% deposit of the final purchase price will be required. A bonded client account is where the funds will be kept for you. A person would theoretically be able to sign the initial sales contract without a deposit, but it isn’t necessarily a good idea.
The Escritura de compraventa stage, is the second or final contract stage. The customer will need to pay all fees and the price of the product on the date of completion. The vendor and the purchaser will then come together to sign the contract, which is equivalent to a deed on the property. In front of a Notary Public the buyer will receive the deed of conveyance which is known as escritura in Spain. To make this legal, a copy of the dded must get to a tax office, and then sent to a property registry. In Spain, Notary Publics are public officials required to witness a deed of sale, but you should also make sure to have your own independent expert legal advice to make sure that your own interests are protected during this legal process. Also keep in mind that as the purchaser you will be required to pay property sales taxes as well as the legal fees for the Notary Public.