When choosing a home we must first make sure that it is free of charges in order to avoid repercussions as new buyers that can even be legal.
In this publication we will focus on offering information on how to know if a house has a debt before the acquisition is made.

To begin to focus on the subject, it is important to know the types of burdens or debts that can weigh on homes for sale.

Types of charges or debts on houses for sale

As we already mentioned, some charges and debts that weigh on the properties for sale can be transmitted to the new owner if he does not control that his purchase is free of them.

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Let's see what the main types are:


Mortgage or foreclosure charges
This group includes debt charges related to mortgages or foreclosures that are not 100% resolved.

Tax charges
The charges are reflected here in the event that the seller has not settled the Real Estate Tax (IBI) and that the municipal services will claim the new active owner.

Neighborhood loads
In this case, the latent debts are those related to the expenses of the Property Owners Community. Among them, the most common are the monthly fees, the periodic fees for spills, the old unpaid fees, etc.

Inherent charges to public services
Here are the unpaid debts of public services such as the supply of electricity, gas, water, telephone, etc.

Despite the fact that the aforementioned are the main types of charges for houses for sale, there are other types of debts that affect property rentals, pending receipts from insurance policies or legal processes still in force in which the home is subject to litigation.

How can we know if a house has a debt?
After seeing what are the most common types of debts in houses for sale, now we have to know what are the means at our disposal to know if a house has a debt or if it is completely free of charges and we can access your purchase with peace of mind of not knowing ourselves involved in future problems.

Throughout the country, there are Property Registries that, among their many services, offer us the possibility of knowing the situation that accompanies a specific property.

These organisms give us information on the owners and the charges that are associated with said properties. You can access the list of Property Registries of Spain from here.

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Depending on our needs, the documents that we can request will be:

Simple note from the Land Registry
With this type of document we can access the following information:

Property Description
Among other things, the number of square meters of the house's surface, its exact location or the limits of the property in question are detailed.

Current holder
The data of the owner who holds the current ownership of the home as well as the official deeds that appear in the Registry appear.
Information on charges, liens or mortgages

That is to say, everything related to the debts and encumbrances of which this article deals and that affect the sale of the property in which we are interested.

For information, mention that the simple notes are documents that banks require on a mandatory basis when requesting a loan for the purchase of a home.

Property location note

The purpose of this document is to search all the Registries, provinces, cities and municipalities to locate the goods and rights that are registered in the name of a natural or legal person.

Obviously, when making the request for a note of location of properties it will be necessary to detail the reason for the request, being the Registrar himself who evaluates and qualifies the suitability of these reasons to grant or not the note to the applicant.

Registry certifications

Registry certifications are official documents that, as their name suggests, serve as a certification validated by the Property Registry to accredit different casuistry.

Thus, a registry certificate can serve to guarantee the information related to the ownership of a property or it can be the “legal way” to show the burdens that fall on a property and that are in force at the date of request of the certification in question.

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How to request a certificate on a house for sale?

To request the information that we have been detailing throughout this publication on houses with debts for sale, we will contact the competent body in each case.
The Property Registry through its website offers the possibility of completing the procedures online. It is also possible to carry out the procedure in person at the corresponding Registry.

If the procedure is about the status of the Real Estate Tax, the management is requested from the City Council in which the property being purchased is located and which will be in charge of issuing the corresponding certificate.

In the case of payments related to the Community of owners, the request will be made through the President of the Community or the Property Administrator (if it exists).
To make sure of the payment of the supplies, the most common thing is to ask the owner for the invoice immediately before the date on which the house is to be purchased.

Following the advice and carrying out the procedures shown, knowing if a house has debt or if, on the contrary, it is completely free of charges, is much easier.