Bank Repossessions

Hi All, I have purchased a bank repossession and through the solicitor I was told (emails to prove) that there are no debts on the property and I have since paid for Iberderola water etc and have everything good.

Now I paid my first D/D of community fee's and my partner who is there now had a signed statement saying she could act on my behalf and gave her a copy of the bank reciept for my fees paid. She goes into the community office to get a pool key and to say Hola and she is politely told there is an outstanding debt of over €850 and until that is paid we could not have keys for pool.

Now on the papers for last years AGM which I received a few weeks a go it showed the outstanding amount on the property to be €740 (last August) in the name of the bank BBVA.

I have contacted the solicitor and they say they have contacted the bank and they are "consulting"over it.

Now my issue is, who is responsible for these outstanding fee's?.

Cheers

Nick

The owner of the property is responsible for the debt, lets just hope your lawyer didn't convey them to you. Your lawyer should have checked the situation with the community before you completed at the notary, if there was anything outstanding this should of been deducted from the procceds going to the bank and the debt cleared. This would of been down to your lawyer.

Lets just hope it was done correctly and the money and corresponence have not yet had time to be processed

Edited to say

Unless of course you agreed in the purchase contract that you would pay them.

Simply answer normally you would be hoever normally the solicitor should contcat the administrator to establish any debt, get a statement and a cerificate that shows that the property is clear of debt, that is after all what you paid him to do

In fact it has nothing to do with the bank apart from  the fact that when the bank took on the property they would have been responsible for the outstanding bill, but if the lawyer didn't do the necessary due diligence, it really is the lawyers fault and you should tell them in no uncertain terms this and not let it drag on

Now the debt can be transferred to you the new owners

Simple question to the lawyers did you directly contcat the resort administrator and obtain the payment certificate and statements of the paid community fees

Thanks for the replies, I thought it might be down to the solicitor so will give them a few days to see what happens before asking the question.

Thanks

Nick

It is actually against the Law to prevent an owner from using the services on the site just for non-payment of community fees. However it is not a good start to get into a legal fight with your community.

I wondered if you can tell me how you go on about finding bank repossessions as we are looking for a property in Spain

Many thanks.

Before 2012 most if not all spanish banks had a webpage designated soley for property sales. In 2012 the 'bad bank' SAREB was created to process and handle all the 'bad assets' You have to ask them what they have in the area you are looking for as most repos are going through them, they are only advertising commercial properties and land online. There is another site Solva and maybe some banks are now advertising again on their own sites.

I put in google... "Bank repossessions in Spain"...And without counting to hard 14 with the word "Repossession" in the seach came up, somewhere to start I suppose.

Hi Baz

"Bank repossessions in Spain"

This is about the most popular key phrase used by agents in Spain when ordering SEO for their websites, non of them really have any to offer, they wouldn't even want to. the commission is so low. Just trying to drive potential clients to thier websites who are searching for a 'bargain'

Solvia are the agency for Sabadell owned properties.

Servihabitat handle La Caixa property.

Unsure who Santander use but ask at any local branch and they can give you details depending on your area.

in fact they will probably bite your hand off if you are a genuine buyer and offer you an attractive mortgage which agents cannot really do.

These properties have been reposessed by the banks because the borrowers did not pay their mortgages, they are very likely to have defaulted on other liabilities attached to the property. As Spanish lawyers appear to be remiss in this area it is very important that the potential buyers check these possible liabilities prior to signing on the dotted line. 

OK let's try to explain a bit about the situation with the Bank market at the moment becaise I deal with it every day having relationships with most of the banks

EVERY bank has an own branded wedsite that deal with repossessions and on this site if you do a search there is an old list/. For example Solvia for Banco Sabadel, Altamira for Santander, Servihabitat for La Caxia, Aliseda for Banco Popular, in fact there are 15 of these websites, some exclusively for agents

The way that SAREB the bad bank work the work is that they appoint the agent who then market the property, they do not sell and it is even difficult speaking to them but on some larger sites they appoint an agent onsite

It is true that most properties have been reposessed because the borrrowers have not paid their mortgages but this borrower could have been the developer so on many sites you will see the search catagory Obra Nueva, new construction and these are typically examples like the properties around the Polaris World resorts, on United Golf, Hacienda De Alamo

Often the best properties are not on these sites very long, 1-2 days if you are lucky because people are notified plus the specialised agents look at the sites every day for customer requirements .

The other problem is that these properties are sold as seen and with some banks the customer has to physically view the property before they can buy and make an ffer so I have had investors jumping on planes at hours notice if a real bargain comes up, in one case an investor that bought 3 new detached  4 bed villas in Murcia reduced from €550 to €130k

A few tips on the banks site the first is that you can set up an alert that will automatically notify you on new properties meeting your criteria, the next is to search sites in Spanish and English because the properties avaiable, on 2 sites are different

The banks won't bite your hand off and if you deal with an agent that does specialise in dealing with the banks they will offer the same mortgage deal via the bank because they wull earn commissions on the mortagages nd normally of you make a direct enquiry they will appoint a local agent

Yes you  need to check these properties very carefully, especially the ones previously owned for community and utility bills but also condition. If a property is less than 10 years old they should transfer the original building guarntee with the property which covers construction defects

The way that I operate, which seems to work, is that I take a brief from the client, what they want, price area etc and then do the property search work for the customer. There no extra charges and they can see the published prices on the banks websites and if anybody wants more information they can PM me. Because of my backgorund in snagging I can even produce a property condition report so hopefully no nasty surprises

These properties may not be just associated with mortgage default. 

I wonder for instance how many of these properties for resale have come to the market place off the back of developer breach/insolvency, with offplan purchaser contracts subsequently cancelled, but WITHOUT timely return of deposited monies to innocent purchasers as required in law? 

These banks continue to challenge/deny their legal responsibilities and compliance with existing law, so be under no illusion that they are ethical in their business practices, or for that matter are sufficiently regulated to protect purchasers from continuing malpractice....

They are in effect hiding behind agents who ironically also fail to regulate their own "professionals". Of course there will be " good" professionals within the industry but until such time as there are adequate trusted regulatory bodies across the real estate industry, in place to control and better protect purchasers from malpractice  then the message buyer beware remains.

What I fail to comprehend is why agents dont push for a trusted and regulatory professional body to ensure that those who continue to bring their profession into  disrepute are adequately dealt with, and also as an organisation currently marketing Bank's products are in a potentially powerful position to demand greater Banking regulation and ethical practice in Spain, to the benefit of all.

It requires a far greater co-ordinated proactive effort by "good " agents to better organise their profession and be effective in the clean up of an industry that is crying out for reform. Individual piecemeal action by agents, although good to hear, is sadly ineffective in eradicating the industry of continuing unethical practice in Spain.

It's just another obstacle for honest folk to come up against, as in the UK, Spanish lawyers should be responsible for ensuring that client purchases are debt free, after all they aren't exactly cheap, are they?

These properties may not be just associated with mortgage default. 

I wonder for instance how many of these properties for resale have come to the market place off the back of developer breach/insolvency, with offplan purchaser contracts subsequently cancelled, but WITHOUT timely return of deposited monies to innocent purchasers as required in law? 

So what you are saying ads is maybe some of these houses for sale could be the result of another buyer losing deposits, ex's, time and so on, but in all honesty why should another buyer care less about the previous buyers problems if they are getting the house they want, 

These banks continue to challenge/deny their legal responsibilities and compliance with existing law, so be under no illusion that they are ethical in their business practices, or for that matter are sufficiently regulated to protect purchasers from continuing malpractice....

We all know that when it comes to banks and such like what they say or tell you has to be taken for the most part with a pinch of salt, but again if the property you are buying goes according to your plans then whats the problem.

They are in effect hiding behind agents who ironically also fail to regulate their own "professionals". Of course there will be " good" professionals within the industry but until such time as there are adequate trusted regulatory bodies across the real estate industry, in place to control and better protect purchasers from malpractice  then the message buyer beware remains.

Estate agents have always had a bad reputation, almost everywhere, the UK is no exception, sure UK rules are tighter and more controlled, yet even now with all the extra rules and reg's in place in the UK it still seems who trusts an estate agent,  when you do everything by the book 1000% the agent is nearly always seen as a "Crook" come what may.

What I fail to comprehend is why agents dont push for a trusted and regulatory professional body to ensure that those who continue to bring their profession into  disrepute are adequately dealt with, and also as an organisation currently marketing Bank's products are in a potentially powerful position to demand greater Banking regulation and ethical practice in Spain, to the benefit of all.

It's why should they change, they still sell house's, folk still buy house's, why change, they are not selling jars of jam every week to the same people, probably just the one house and thats it. How many times do we hear about the many thousands of good sales, its only the bad ones all the time.

It requires a far greater co-ordinated proactive effort by "good " agents to better organise their profession and be effective in the clean up of an industry that is crying out for reform. Individual piecemeal action by agents, although good to hear, is sadly ineffective in eradicating the industry of continuing unethical practice in Spain.lww

Its money...Profit...Pure and simple, if anyone can bend the rules and get away with it, so be it, could you imagine the answer the good agents would get if they told the bad agents to stop these bad practise's and change for the better, these words have to come from the utmost top level...Who are for the most part more bent then the estate agents. Must have been thousands of houses bought and sold via bent agents that all went through with no problems what so ever. I have spoken to many who have bought and had problems with the purchase, go into the conversation deeper and a different picture comes to light with the buyer and how they went about the purchase.

Fact of life is when you put a human being and money together, you get...Well you should know the answer to that one

What is it with this forum that often when you try tp help it all turns into yet another attack on the agents, the banks and the lawyers, yes the system has been corrupt, in the past people have been burnt but thousnads of people buy properties every year and tere are no problems, as they say you on;y evevr hear about the problems

In my own case I have bought new properties off plan, resales and evem recently a bank repro, I studied the law, I found good professionals to use, insisited on the new build in getting a valid bank guarntee and had no problems

Why do people love to talk down the country and the opportunity to buy, to pick up a bargain and to buy something to enjoy

Many agents including those I work with do have some professional monitoring being members of the AIPP, they are in business and many of the bad ones are gone, I have a list if you would like it, but there are plenty of forums and research site to find reputable agents, they are not all crooks

The properties that come onto the market are a mixture of properties, yes that individuals have not paid the mortgages on but also where the developer hasn't paid the banks, for example the 400 just release on Las Terrazes De La Torre now being sold at 33% of the original prices, with mortgages avaialable

Fact is people just need to take their time, do their own INDEPENDANT due dilligence and there are some real legal bargains around, let's remember the satisified buyers that are in the VAST MAJORITY

I fancy one off these properties on Las Terrazes De La Torre but i will be putting alot of money aside because there is a good chance the tax man will come calling because, ive so called got a bargain he will want more tax,  I wonder how many agents tell a budding buyer they might get another tax bill for a few thousand euro in 12/18 months time for finding a bargain. Not many me thinks. buyer beware.

Actually yes I do make sure that people are made aware of the potential to have to pay the additional purchase tax on the difference between what the Hacienda deem the value to be and the actual price paid and yes based on the IBI value of around 100k, so this could be a bill of around €4k

Also we make people  aware that it is possible to appeal this,but of course you have a very short time if you receive a notice,but based on the normal protocol that you look at similar properties being sold in the area at €50k the appeal would stand a good chance but even at €4k more they are pretty cheap properties

There have been people, correctly advised that are winning appeals  but it is still rare for the tax people to request this

Plenty of nice stories on this tax here. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2899519/Why-cut-price-Spanish-villa-nasty-tax-surprise.html

Hi, I have trawled through my emails and can confirm the solicitor informed me that the BBVA would pay the community fees until the completion date.

As for paying extra tax, I have been informed that I have to pay a small extra amount but the solicitor is going to appeal and that will be based on monies spent reforming the property. The appeal could take 12 months so I am making a nominal payment through instalments to keep them happy. I was also advised this could happen.

I dont have an issue with Spain, I love it when I get off the plane at Alicante but I do find there attitude to business very bizarre but hey they are getting better.