Before signing any legal document your lawyer should have investigated these items.
1. The property is legally registered in the seller’s name at the local Spanish Land Registry (Spanish: Registro de la Propiedad) to ensure a smooth transfer of the title deed to your name.
In some cases the property may not be registered in the Land Registry, this is often the case in the country side where the land has been passed down to the next generation for many years.
2. There should not be any registered charges against the property. It would be listed in the Land Registry and should be on the Nota Simple.
3. No outstanding payments for the annual Real Estate Tax (Spanish: Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles, IBI). The Real Estate Tax is payable to the corresponding Municipal Town Hall. The last receipt should show this tax to be paid.
4. In some areas (ie. urbanisations) there is a fee to the Community of Owners. This must also be paid in full and the last receipt for this payment should be available.
Make sure you receive an up to date version of the rules of the Community of Owners.
5. Water, electric and telephone bills are all paid. Receipts should be made available.
The seller should not cancel the water, electric and telephone accounts for the property. It takes a lot of time consuming to set up new contracts compared to just changeing name and payment details.
