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Registering a property
When purchasing a property, it is not compulsory to go to the land registry office, according to Spanish law. However, it is highly beneficial to do so since you gain legal certainty and can only take what this body says to be true.
After purchasing a new or second-hand property, it is advisable to register the deed at the land registry, which will have been verified before a notary. That way, the property owner is protected from a legal point of view, since once it has been registered, the rights are protected by the courts, and at the same time, from then onwards, only the information concerning the property that features in the registry is valid. Once a property has been registered, this record does not expire and it is not necessary to renew it periodically. These proceedings apply both for people born in the country where the property is situated and for foreigner purchasers.
The title deed and a document proving your identity (ID card or passport) must be taken to the land registry. The cost of proceedings carried out at the registry is set out via the Royal Decree approved by the cabinet and subsequently published in the Official Spanish Gazette. Actually, in matters concerning property, the fees approved in Royal Decree 1427/1989 of 17 November apply. There are different tariffs depending on the type of registration. The copy displayed by the registry in its online documentation can serve as a guide to the consumer: If the value of the property or right does not exceed 6010.12 euros, the amount is 24.040484 euros; if the value is 60101.21 euros, the amount is 103.674562 euros; and in the event that the value reaches 120202 euros, the amount reaches 148.750462 euros.
Before making the appropriate payments, the registrar must inform the consumer of the associated cost, as well as the tariffs that will apply. Furthermore, the office will have one or several copies, available to the consumer, listing all of the tariffs. In order to know which office the citizen should go to, the best thing to do is to visit the website www.registrodelapropiedad.org, where there is information about all of the registries in the different provinces and towns of Spain, with their addresses, telephone numbers and opening times.
Request information before purchasing the property
When buying a second-hand property and an agreement is reached between the parties, it is advisable to go to the registry in order to check whether the person you are negotiating with is really the property owner, as well as establishing the status of the building in terms of burdens, encumbrances, embargos…
The civil servants at the land registry must provide this information since it is public, although they also assess the request, the reasons for which must be stated on making the enquiry. This request can be made online, and paid for by credit card. The information supplied is called an ordinary land registry extract and costs 9.02 euros per property, or a land registry extract with additional information (the applicant is informed of all the changes that have taken place during the ten days following the request) and costs 12.02 euros per property. The land registry extract is for information purposes only, but there is a second option, a certified extract, which acts as proof of the content and is signed by the registrar. It may also be the case that the property that the purchaser is enquiring after does not have an up-to-date record. In this event, the most sensible thing to do is to request an Ownership and Encumbrance Certificate, which will display the up-to-date situation of the property, with all of the entries which are pending registration.
All requests can be made using the Internet, by downloading the land registry document, by e-mail, ordinary mail, fax, or by going to one of the land registry offices. It is essential that the purchaser is clear about the current status of the property before deciding to buy it, even if this requires several mornings’ work. If the purchaser is not satisfied with the information received from the land registry, or has doubts about the possible encumbrances attached to the property, the most sensible thing to do is to go and see an administrative agent. This will imply a further cost, but you will at least have the peace of mind of knowing that you have left laborious issues in the hands of a professional.
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