I have received an email from our Lawyer today confirming that the vendor of the property that we have been trying to purchase for the past 4 months has finally made a formal declaration of the new works before a Notary. I am not paranoid BUT how can I check that this information is correct ?

We have also been informed it will take up to 2 months for it to be correctly registered, is there anyway I can check whether there is an initial entry in the register, it currently states 18 metres

Oh course I have asked my Lawyer the same question, BUT sometimes the response takes a week !

Regards

Ambre

I don't think you will be able to get information at this stage but you should insist on a new nota simple once the obra nueva is registered, before you sign or pay any more money, or obtain one yourself here:

https://www.registradores.org:444/pr.../propiedad.jsp

Just because an escritura de obra nueva has been granted before a notary it isn't a foregone conclusion that it will be registered especially if any jiggery-pokery has gone on.

Thanks for the quick response, excuse my ignorance, but how long does it take to get "through the system" before I should apply for the Nota Simple

Regards

It depends on the particular property registry. It can be as little as three weeks or as much as three months or more. The nota simple costs about €10 and you need to give the registration details, rather than the physical address, in order to obtain it.

Just a quick update

The Vendor has been to the Notary and today we have received a copy of the Escritura de Obra Nueva from our Lawyer, so after 4 months a step in the right direction, hopefully it will not be long before the property is correctly inscribed in the Property Register

Scuse my ignorance, what work was it? Was it an extension, or was it a complete build that wasn't registered?

The property has been "reformed" about 15 or so years ago and had never been declared, original deeds stated 18 sq m !, Our Lawyer had many long debates with Vendor who was adamant that the property did not need a Escritura de Obra Nueva and that it was properly registered !

So it had been largely extended externally, not just reformed internally?

Yes. The property, which is in a small inland village and had been in the same family for many generations. They are not using a Lawyer or a Gestor and their knowledge of Property Law was minimal and in my opinion they thought they could just shake hands on the deal and we give them loads of money without any questions being asked !

Mmmm ... so a big fine I guess!

Well, they did want to put the purchase price up when they finally realised that the scare tactics did not work and they would have to "do it by the books"

We would not pay the higher price !

How much was the fine?

That I don't know, but we may have to wear our shin pads whilst we are in the Notary's Office because I don't think they are very happy ! Shame

As I said in one of my previous posts, the escritura is worthless until it is inscribed in the property registry.

The inscription is not a matter of course. The property registrar has the final say and they can, and often do, return escrituras unregistered because of some problem with the paperwork.

Don't sign until you have seen, with your own eyes, a proper extract from the registry showing that the obra nueva has been inscribed.

Beachcomber

I have taken heed of your previous advice with regard to the property being inscribed in the property register and will not sign anything until we receive the extract from the Register showing the obra nueva

My "excitement" was that something was finally happening since we made the offer last December