Talk Quesada forum

Hi

I would like to check what paperwork is required to be given to a new owner when the sale of a house has been completed.
I know the house deeds are to be handed over, but want to also know if the habitation cert and escatura/escritura for house (whatever that is - maybe someone can explain) need to be given to new owner.

Also any other documentation that is required to be kept by owner of property please let me know.

Many thanks in advance.

Regards

Bernie

Hello:

Escritura is the paper from the notary that pruves thar you own the house. You dont give it to the new owner, you go with it to the notary, your ID and the last payment about IBI (house tax) from SUMA. You will need your ID also.

You will need to pruve that you pay the last payment about the comunity ( if there is one)

You don't say whether you are the Vendor or Purchaser and whether you have legal advice, so this is a general response:

The lawyer acting for the Purchasers should obtain the Escritura (Deeds) and Habitacion Certificate from the Vendors' lawyer, along with any other documents related to the property, such as building licences for any works carried out on the property. If the Cadastral records (Land Registry) have not been updated to include any changes to the property, these will need to be updated and the amended record provided to the Purchasers' lawyer. This doesn't necessarily delay a sale, but a good lawyer will ensure that the cost of correcting official records is borne by the Vendor and retain money from the sale price to cover the cost of doing this.

Similarly, Habitacion Certificates should be renewed every 10 years, although it seems that most people don't do this until they come to sell their property.

The Purchasers' lawyer should also check that SUMA bills, i.e. IBI (Council Tax), Basura (Rubbish collection); Community Fees (if relevant) and all utilities have been paid up to date.

A Purchaser should also be given service certificates for any gas appliances in the property, as these have to be serviced and certified by an approved gas engineer every 5 years by Law.

Thanks so much to both of you for your very informative reply. We have purchased a property and wanted to check what papers we should have. We went through an estate agent but seem to have very little paperwork!

kind regards

Beenue

Hopefully you appointed an independent lawyer, rather than one tied in with the estate agent? Bureaucracy in Spain is rather slow - about 6 months after our purchase, our lawyer sent us a bound document which included our Deeds, Habitation Certificate and copies of the updated Cadastral records, reflecting the extension that had been built onto our property, prior to our purchase. Our lawyer told us we would receive these documents when we attended the Notary on completion day, so if you don't have the relevant documents or an indication of when you are likely to receive them, I think it would be sensible to query it with your lawyer sooner rather than later.

Hi all,
Can anyone tell me how long it takes to receive your title deeds? We have been to the notary with our Solicitor and received a copy Of The deeds but 12 months later we are still waiting for the originals. Our Solicitor says there is a large back log of people waiting, but 12 months?
Any information would be appreciated
Thank you

Original title deeds are lodged with the land registry. You will only receive an "authorised" copy, one that has been signed by the notary and not a photocopy of his signature.
If you have a mortgage on the property then the bank will retain the authorised copy until the mortgage is complete. If no mortgage then you get the authorised copy.
When you signed for the property at the notary, the notary will have made notes on both the one that goes to the land registry and the one you get and will sign both. The notary will also keep a copy which you can request if you lose yours but will again sign it to authorise it.

Re the habitation certificate. They are now only valid for 5 years. There is no need to renew unless you are selling the property, it's not one of those things that you renew on a regular basis. It just means that if you wish to sell the property within 5 years then it will be acceptable, after 5 years and you have to get a certificate of 2nd occupancy but only when you come to sell.
If you live in the house for 20 years you don't have to get 4 habitation certificates. The first one and then the 2nd when you come to sell it.

If buying, your solicitor will get a copy of the deeds and needs to supply that, a bill of sale stating the complete price, a habitation certificate if over 5 years, an energy proficiency certificate, a letter from administrators stating no community fees are payable and an inventory of what will be included in the house sale (furniture, white goods and so on). Also any licenses for improvements or changes to the property as listed on the deeds.
If selling then you provide those to the notary (usually through a solicitor) and a statement that there are no taxes or mortgages outstanding on the property. The deeds should have been adjusted if a mortgage has been completed or you will have to pay to get the deeds changed to show this. A solicitor will be able to get certificates of all taxes paid and they will usually retain a certain amount to cover utility bills for the previous billing period which you will get back if nothing is outstanding.
There is also the retention tax of 3% if you are a non resident.

Edit(I've probably left something out but I usually do, I'll be 70 next birthday, you know)

You will need to be given a copy of The Energy Performance Certificate without which the property should not have been sold or advertised for sale .