I paid twice for the purchase of my house and the bank has repossessed it!

The previous owner claimed to have cancelled the mortgage he had on the home he was about to sell, the buyers did not request the Mortgage Cancellation Certificate from the seller, and the notary public did not warn future owners that the mere manifestation of the mortgage being cancelled it was not a sufficient guarantee.

When in January 2006 the happy couple finally found the house that suited their needs, they did not expect that from that moment on, and as a consequence of making some wrong decisions due to not being properly advised, what surely has been the greatest economic and legal ordeal they have had to endure.

It was a finished home, whose sale price was €114,000, which was delivered on the account and leaving the last payment for the time of elevation to public deed. It was precisely that moment, in the notary's presence, where everything went wrong. The seller declared before a Notary Public that the outstanding mortgage on the property was cancelled upon receiving the final payment at that precise moment, "only at the expense of cancelling the registration of the said mortgage." The notary accepted said statement as valid and the sale and purchase transaction was carried out. The happy couple already owned the home; and something else...

A few months after the sale, the first letter arrived that would change everything: the bank with which the previous owner had contracted the mortgage, supposedly cancelled, required the new owners to pay the loan early due to non-payment of instalments, of €85,000 plus interest, and informed them of the start of the foreclosure that ended, in 2012, with a court order of execution. In other words, they paid €114,000 to the previous owner in the sale transaction, they had a debt of €85,000, plus accrued interest, for which they were responsible as they became the new owners, and the Court also issued an executive order for which the home will be seized and put up for public auction.

Three fatal errors led to the worst possible outcome.

The first mistake that the buyers made was to give full confidence to the seller since it was a professional promoter and that made them think that everything would be done according to the law. The second error was a direct consequence of their ignorance of real estate law since they were not duly advised. And the third was to assume that a notary is there to guarantee the correct legal, economic or even urban situation of the property. However, it is fair to recognize that the ruling of the Provincial Court itself, later cited by the Supreme Court in a ruling of 10/21/2022, questions whether the notary could not have done more to protect buyers, indicating that "The mere statement that the mortgage is financially cancelled could be insufficient and, if it is not true, it would force them to bear the real burden”.

It is essential to have professional advice during the purchase.

It is very common that when the sale of an already-built or second-hand home is made, a mortgage charge falls on it. When at Valido Home we manage the purchase and sale of a home, in addition to the legal, economic and urban analysis (and the physical inspection of the property) we always request the mortgage cancellation certificate from the seller, instructing us, if necessary, to go to the Registry of the Property to make the cancellation effective.

In addition, Valido Home offers buyers the service of consignment and deposit of amounts thanks to which, in this specific case, buyers would have recovered their money instantly if the purchase had fallen since the mortgage had not been paid off, or had been The cancellation was resolved by having deposited the amount equivalent to the outstanding mortgage to be cancelled.

Real estate market in Spain is one of the most opaque and technical compared to other countries and for this reason it is necessary for home buyers to be able to count on a service that offers them guarantees, security and ease when dealing with a repossession operation. sale of housing.

If you are about to face the purchase of your house and you want to avoid the risks that it could entail, we invite you to book a free and non-binding call in which we will explain how we can help you so that you do not have to worry about anything.