We are currently selling our property in spain - it seems that the builder did not register the fact that his mortgage was repaid (we have had this verified)in 2004. This is now holding up our sale as we cannot get the builder to go to register this repayment and is is still showing up on the land registry. Is there anything we can do to either force the builder to do the job he should have done or can we pay this ourselves to progress the sale?
Dear Kathryn,
You would have to check the Private Purchase Contract and verify it was the obligation of the developer to bear the costs of cancelling the developer's mortgage and not your own. Under New Consumer Law of 2006 this is now forbidden and the developer is forced to cancel it and bear the cancellation costs. Any agreement on the contrary is null and void as it is deemed as an abusive clause.
I suggest that once you've made sure who had the onus of paying the cancellation you pay for it to save time and then, if it's the case, you are able to claim back from the developer.
It is understandable that your prospective purchasers will not proceed with the transaction until it has been duly cancelled. Unbeknownst to many owners it is fairly common that these mortages were cancelled at the Notary Public at completion albeit were never actually cancelled at a later date at the Land Registry. So when you request land registry information you will still see this charge in place.