Habitation licence required for re-sale property

Hi,

I have heard today from a neighbour who is trying to sell there re-sale property (15yrs old) in the Murcia region that according to there 'estate agent' they now need a habitation licence prior to selling.  I thought this would only apply to new build.

This can be aquired from the local council of course at a cost...

Can anyone clarify this situation please as our neighbours do tend to worry about paperwork etc

Thank you in anticipation   

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 Every Re-sale property will need a Habitation Certificate and Final De obra.

If you dont have them, ask at the local ayuntamiento, they will know if they have been issued or if they still have them as in some cases.

No good lawyer will not let the purchase go ahead without one and the banks certainly won't lend on a property without a cedula.

Times have changed massively!!

Just on another note (not applied to this property because of the age), if the property is under 10 years old and does not have the 10 year insurance backed guarantee on the property,the bank will not lend against this either.

As i mentioned the laws now regarding property purchase have tightened immensely, if you do not have the papers in order it will not sell.

I was aware that, as you say, "the laws now regarding property purchase have tightened immensely" - but I was only aware of this in Andalucia with Decreto 218/2005.  But this post relates to a property in Murcia.  I'd be interested to know of the law tightening there.

 Yep, Alicante and Murcia........tight as a ducks preverbial now!!

Georgia

Will this apply to properties in any region that have been repossessed by the Banks also, i.e will they too be subjected to these rules if they wanted to "deal" in any way on these properties?

 Ads,

To be honest, i would say not!

The banks are the biggest criminals in Spain and have their own rules.

At one point over the last 3-4 years they have all asked me to work with them and i must say they are the most unrealistic,disorganised and unprofesional outfits i have ever seen.

I suppose if they wanted to sell you a property and you agreed to finance it through them(as they want you to) and use their legal team they could hide the issues quite simply from an unsuspecting buyer.

I don't think,(well i know) that the banks have any scruples when trying to liquidise their assets.

We have to have 8 different certificates or bills from Vendors or we simply refuse to list them as we know that everybody will be wasting their time and it will not even get to notary, even if any of the parties do not care too much, the lawyers won't do it!!

I also know several banks selling (or trying to) property that is illegal in some way........

Thanks for that insight Georgia. Much appreciated.

I hope you don't mind if I quote you on another thread do you?

 No problem.

It's very easy to get all the information on any property through land registry if you now where to look and what you are looking for.

To be honest,some lawyers have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I had one lawyer pull me up the other day because one of my emplyees signed the "mandato de venta" and not me,he is not listed in my company deeds (for obvious reasons) and she made me draw up another for the vendors to sign before she would allow it to proceed to Notary.

I am not sure whether they are running scared,have been told to sort their act out or purely because the dodgy ones are dissapearing.......

A couple of lawyers i have dealt with recently insist on quoting their Bar association reference every 5 minutes, i think the message is getting through to them and they know my opinion on the strength of the Spanish legal system.

 No problem.

It's very easy to get all the information on any property through land registry if you now where to look and what you are looking for.

To be honest,some lawyers have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I had one lawyer pull me up the other day because one of my emplyees signed the "mandato de venta" and not me,he is not listed in my company deeds (for obvious reasons) and she made me draw up another for the vendors to sign before she would allow it to proceed to Notary.

I am not sure whether they are running scared,have been told to sort their act out or purely because the dodgy ones are dissapearing.......

A couple of lawyers i have dealt with recently insist on quoting their Bar association reference every 5 minutes, i think the message is getting through to them and they know my opinion on the strength of the Spanish legal system.

Yes, first occupation licenses are required for the transmission of properties. This obligation has been expressly reinforced by the Ground Act of 2007. Notaries and Registrars are liable on the existence of the same so they will not authorise Notary deeds if they do not exist, and the property will not be registered under th new buyer´s name because of this. As this entails an important shortage in terms of legal safety, I am sure most of the buyers will no but without it.

Banks will not grant mortgages to buyers if these do not exist either.

Hope this helps!

I still have NOT got my licience of habitation & my purchase has been completed over 4 months ago. Each time I went to see the builder, I was told it's not there yet. I certainly hope I will get it as there no way the lawyer will help me to get it as he already got paid from me & he won't be interested.

Then why is completion not prohibited without a habitation licence in place?????

Our house was first registered in 1989, when it was built, we bought it as a resale in 2006.......we asked about a certificate of first occupation and were told that as it was an older house and a reslae we did not need one.  We have elec, private water supply, pay IBI etc so what will happen if we want to sell now and there is no LFO?  Do we have to get a second licence of occupation?

 MexMaya: Where is your house located?

Best,

Maria

The problem is that I go by what the lawyer told me, complete first then get the LFO later. Now the agent, lawyer & the builder got  paid & they won't be interested in helping their customers. I trusted everyone who had let me down & now I've still problems with these people & no one is going to help me. I should have not listened to these people & insisted on the LFO before I complete.

Buying in Spain is complicated. I'd no problems witht the agents, lawyers & builders in buying 2 brand new houses & sold them in Canada.  Here in Spain my problems start on the very day I step my foot in this villa. There's no after sales service here as these people from my experience have no feeeling for their clients or perhaps I got the wrong lawyer, etc. I certainly have a bad lawyer, learned my lessons, & NEVER to use any agent's lawyer, regret this for the rests of my life.

EOS is always right. So insist on the LFO on completion.  Don't bother to listen what others have to tell you.

My home is in the province of Almeria......I was told that as it was an older property, first registered as a house in 1989 and therefore pre-dated 2003 then no licence of first occupation existed or was needed.  It has a mortgage on it.  I know that things changed but now don´t know whether the change from 2007 means I have a problem.

Similar situation,  family purchased property in 1999, back then if the Town Hall didnt make any protest within  a certain time scale it was deemed that the habitacion certificate licence or LFO was automatically granted. All 33 properties have had contracts for all the services for over ten years, mortgages granted, resales over many years with no problems what so ever, and then bang out of the blue the certificate is required in order to sale the property now. The community is having to now conform to the latest requirments regarding telecommunications etc in order to get a licence issued. So far this has taken over six months and still not settled,  in the mean time the family has lost a purchaser due to this situation. While looking into the problem locally it seems as if there are many more communities effected that were constructed pre 2000,  Some projects by Escudero in Orihuela Costa are also effected! 

Hi - what do you mean about latest requirements re telecommunications please?  We have Telefonica land line installation here but its only 1mb......

We are not part of a community as no communal facilities, just independent villas

Maria

QUOTE first occupation licenses are required for the transmission of properties. This obligation has been expressly reinforced by the Ground Act of 2007. Notaries and Registrars are liable on the existence of the same so they will not authorise Notary deeds if they do not exist, and the property will not be registered under th new buyer´s name because of this. As this entails an important shortage in terms of legal safety, I am sure most of the buyers will no but without it. UNQUOTE

I have recently purchased Aug 2010 in Playa Flamenca without FLoO, received my Nota Simpla and escudura, Therefore why can your statement above be the case ?????

I am not unduly worried at the moment because I can obtain second LoO with current paperwork I have in my possesion and have no intention of selling at present.

Would you be so kind as to clarify 

Best Regards 

Hi MexMaya,  the community has had to have Spanish TV installed even though there are no Spanish residents. The architect now has to inspect a selection of the propertied to ensure that they meet with the current specifications. It's all been so frustrating,  This was urgent back in May and still not been resolved. Thus resulting in loosing the sale.  It's all well and good thinking that you have all of the correct paper work and its just a case of going to the Town Hall to get the 2nd licence issued, its not that easy especially in Orihuela Costa !!!