My Partner has a foreclosure notice on a property in Spain. She lives in the UK

 Hi. My partner has a property in Spain. She split up with her husband three years ago and returned to the uk. She has since bought her own home over here. The bank has issued a 90 day foreclosure notice as she and her ex got into financial difficulty, and the mortgage has been frozen accruing interest daily.

She is now terrified that the bank will persue her for the outstanding balance. The outstanding amount is approx 470,000 euros and if auctioned, will certainly sell for less.

He husband still lives in spain in a static/mobile home but is retired.

Can she be persued for the outstanding debt and what rights does she have.

Any suggestions would br greatly appreciated

The simple answer is yes.

The bank will apply for an European Enforcement Order, to embargo her assets in the UK.

As one bank manager said to me recently......Spain is a lot closer to the UK than people realise!

 Dear Littlehelper:

Golden rule here is to ask your partner to challenge/ oppose it with a dation in payment. It is very important the she acts ontime and with good legal defence.

Please keep us posted

Maria

Difficult situation indeed.  She needs to contact a solicitor for this matter, in theory as long as both the names are on the deeds they are both liable for the debt.

The best thing she can do is try to negotiate with the bank, some of them are still happy to take the property back for the outstanding amount owed to them.

Maybe it is too late for this but it may well be worth a shot.

Joan

 On a slightly different note,  why is i that banks can foreclose on individual"s in such a relatively short period of time, as opposed to when a community tries to pursue this same route for lack of payment of comunity fees which takes years??? Is the legal process in Spain so onesided in favour of big business!!

Mike

 The certificate of debt issued by a Bank which has a guarantee ( mortgage) on the property is an enforcement title whih drives to a very quick process. Of course there are procedural guarantees for the debtor and that´s what it is important to monitor, the respect towards these guarantees and perform a good opposition in order to avoid the repossession of more than legally allowed.

From July, Banks cannot repossess value above 60% of the value the proprty was given when being valuated for lending purposes

 Thank you all for your comments. Maria, how long can this process take. Is she likey to be made to return to Spain to settle this matter, or can she remain in the UK to sort this?

 Dear Littlehelper:

If he has been served with a repossession notice, 10 days are given to her for contest it, which is very important to meet in order to avoid the Bank to use the European Enforcement Order against UK assets

Maria

 With this in mind Maria, she has little or no equity in her uk property. If this is the case, will they still force her to sell her property in the Uk? Both are mortgaged so the property is owned by the building society

Regards

Little helper

 LITTLE HELPER IF SHE WILL LOOSE UK HOME ANYWAY WHY NOT ASK HER TO TRANSFER TO YOUR NAME OR PERHAPS THEIR CHIDRENS NAME(S)THEN COURTS CANNOT TOUCH IT FOR HERE DEBT THEN MAYBE APPLY FOR UK BANKRUPTCY THEN AS LONG AS SHE DOESNT RETURN TO SPAIN EUROPEAN ENFORCEMENT ORDER OR NOT END OF PROBLEM

PS

I SO DONT LIKE THE BIG BULLIES

 She has potentially considered flyng out there in January to see what she can do. WHat are the potential consequeces likely to be if she does? Can she be arrested?

 CIVIL CASE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE POLICE

 CIVIL CASE NO CRIME SO POLICE NOT INTERESTED

Firstly I have to challenge the poster who calls the banks bullies, the money they lend is not their own and they have a duty to ensure it is taken care of. That said some banks here where less than careful when handing out mortgages in the past, they are paying for their folly now, so too are the overseas buyers who willing excepted mortages they could not really afford. Many "buying" villas, sometimes as second homes, when a small apartment was more to their pocket.

I think anyone who walks away from a foreclosed mortagaes must in all honesty expect to buy the price at sometime. We take advantge of the freedom to move around the EU then some complain and seek  escape routes from a "common market"  when in financial trouble. Would you expect to walk away scot free from an unpaid debt in UK?

In this particular case I have to ask how a UK bank gave another mortage to someone who was in effect personally bankrupt?

Whilst I sympathise with the fact that this is a stressful situation for anyone to be in I cannot condone any attempt to avoid paying a debt that is owned and is quiet legally being called in.

I am sure there will be a number of replies that raise the issue of illegal dealings here, however you cannot condem it on the one hand and condone it on the other.

This message was last edited by pres on 06/12/2011.

 If the Uk property is owned still by the building society... there is less risk for the foreclosure procedure to fly to the Uk of course

I'd have thought the Spanish bank would be unlikely to try and foreclose on the UK property, particularly if the owner's equity is low, as it is an expensive procedure and I expect they would have to indemnify the UK mortgagee against any loss.But they will certainly register a charge against the house which means title can't be transferred until the - ever increasing - charge is paid off. So the house becomes a zombie asset that can in effect never be sold. It would be better to take Smythie's advise and flog it while they can. If they file for bankruptcy in the UK the Spanish debt will fall away because the bankruptcy would be EU-wide. Do unto others as they would most surely do unto you.

Pres quotes in relation to the Banks obligations  "they have a duty to ensure it is taken care of. "

Exactly. Now tell that to the Banks that are not meeting their obligations according to Ley 57/68 with regard to offplan property purchase, where deposited monies were supposed to have been protected. How many hundreds of thousands  of pounds (if not more) are owed by the Banks to innocent purchasers who invested their monies under the assumption that existing Spanish law,  in place to protect their monies from the outset would make Banks accountable if breach of contract occured.

The hypocrisy of Banks failure to recognise their own obligations as per the rule of law is just extraordinary, and this needs to be exposed at every opportunity. How many do not have the wherewithall to fight their legal corners against the Banks, or fear that the failure of timely enforcement within the Spanish legal system will ultimately deny them their rights? And how many Banks appeal successful decisions, playing the system and thereby continue to abuse innocent citizens?

The Banks have an obligation to adhere to the rule of law themselves. No more hiding behind ignorance, no more one-sided legal actions, it's time to spell out the realities as per Keith's Bank Guarantee petition. www.bankguaranteesinspain.com

So long as they refuse to adhere to existing law we can safely say that Spanish Banks have effectively stolen monies from all too many innocent purchasers and should be made accountable. In retrospect I do think they are behaving like hypocritical bullies. Can we take swift action in the UK against these Banks..... it appears not!!! Such hypocrisy makes my blood boil. Sorry for the rant.

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A bank which takes my investment money (saved from working hard and going without) and then lends it to people buying houses, or anything else,  has an obligation to me to recover it if the mortgagees do not make their repayments.    It's not the bank's money it's the investors.

Nobody forced people to buy properties with investors money.

If I order a meal in a restaurant it’s not unreasonable that I should be required to pay for.

Johnzx....... the bottom line is that any rule of law should be adhered to and should not be cherry picked as it suits.