Hi everyone,
I am currently selling my apartment and buying a house. The chain is very small.
1. My buyer ( a foreign national, living in Spain)
2. Me ( A Brit, living in England)
3. My vendor (a German, living in Germany).

I accepted an offer on my apartment and signed a pre sale contract, and a deposit of 2000 E.
I put in an offer and signed a pre purchase contract, paying the 2000E I had received as a deposit.
The completion date was 4/10/07.
Simple, you would think.

We all went before the Notary on 4/10, and it was discovered then that because my buyer did not have his wife's permission to take out a mortgage that the processed was stalled.
We were told the buyer had a document, which proved his wife has agreed to him having his own separate financial identity some 19 years ago. He had to produce this at the Notary.
I left Power of Attorney, and returned to U.K.
The following week the said document was produced. Although the Notary would accept it, his bank would not. It needed to be stamped by his Embassy.
Again simple you would think.
It is now some 4 weeks later, my Solicitor, blames my buyer and does not seem interested in progressing the sale/purchase. All of us for simplicity are using the same solicitor.
I am now left in the position of being told that the sale will go through, but there is not time frame for it to do so. There is no anticipated date for completion.
Obviously my wife and I are not happy with this situation. We want to complete a.s.a.p.
The Solicitor says she does not have the stamped document and that until she does she cannot proceed.
The buyer says she has all the documents.
Is it normal for Spanish Solicitors to be so unreliable?

Can anyone tell me if the below charges are unreasonalbe. I think that they are, but am told it is normal in Spain
To cancel Water and electric in my old apartment 350E.
To take over water and electric in new house 450E.
To have Notary informed of the fact that my mortgage on apartment has been cancelled 750E.

I am really annoyed at the whole thing. It has soured the experience completely and the uncertainty is painful.:curse::curse::curse::curse:

Well I cant really comment ..............but it didnt cost us anything to register the water electric etc in our names.

Hi Lic and welcome to the forum.

My first question would be why are you using the same solicitor with your buyer and vendor? Sounds a bit dodgy to me. Solicitors are there to protect your interests. How would that be possible, if the same solicitor is representing all of you?

Secondly, regarding the charges for cancelling electric & water, (if you cannot call them yourself and ask) why not ask a gestor. I have never done this yet, so couldn't advise if there are actually any charges for cancellation.

As for the cancellation of your mortgage, I would think that would all be incorporated in the sale deed (escritura de compra/venta) and not in a separate appointment with the Notary. Can you get some advice from your bank?


Martha

Doesn't do Lic any good now but come on you have to be joking using the same solicitor.

Hope a lot more folk read this and do not make this mistake.

It would be bad enough in the UK but in a foreign country (not just Spain) - no way.

Just checked and can confirm you would almost certainly not be able to get into this situation in the UK. 99.99% of solicitors would not want to know as it would be professional misconduct.

Abagado's in Spain must work to a strange set of rules which do not involve consideration of the client's best interests

After many weeks of waiting we have finally completed our sale/purchase.
There are still a few things to tidy up, such as the water and electric retentions, which I do not understand.
It seems I also have to pay twice to cancel my mortgage at the Notary.
The bank have charged me 900e and the solicitor 750e.
The bank is Bankinter, and the law firm was interealty.
Does anyone have any info on these? Or had any similar exeriences of feeling ripped off by them?
if so I would be interested to hear.

Thanks
Lic

Dont know about the bank, but €750.00 isn't beyond the realms of possibility for a solicitors charges for a house purchase

Hi Mitzyboy,

The 750e were not her fees, her fees were 1160e, the 750e was specific for cancelation of mortgage.

The solicitor charged you €750 for the bank cancelling the mortgage?

Is that law firm the same one that used to be a big real estate agent and went down the pan owing hundreds of thousands to its employees ?

Possibly, I'd never heard of them before, but have heard they are quitew big on CDS.
And yes, it appears I am paying them to finalise the paperwork at the Notary, and the bank for doing the same.
It looks as if I will have to fight one or the other for the money back.
The bank appears to be my best option, as the law firm sent me several estimates for the work, each and everyone, including the last one had errors on it. They now refuse to speak to me.
It is a great shame, as the wife and I feel tatally ripped off by them and it has soured what should have been a painless, stressless transaction.
So should I fight or just put it down to experience and move on?

Lic - life in Spain is different to the uk - its quite normal to have 1 lawyer acting for everyone as its merely a matter of ensuring all documentation is legal and correct. I wouldnt do it but there you go - many spanish do not even engage a lawyer!

Re cancellation of mortgage, the bank will charge a fee - this will be shown in your original binding offer and is usually 1% (can range from 0-2% depending on your bank and how good your broker is who set it up in the ifrst place.) There will also be a notary charge as the mortgege deed is separate to the deed for the property, but it does sound a lot.

The change of water and elec is outrageous as its a short trip with a few papers to the offices to sort out!

Everything in Spain is negotiable so yes stand up and scream - if you hassle them enough they will do something

Good luck!