Electricity in ilegal property

[Unregistered]

i have a propery in almeria, there are about 150 propertys in total on the moutain, have been living here for about 4 years have no legal documents for villa or land, only 8 of us had our electric turned off by endessa saying we have not had our bolitin stamped, the mayer refuses to stamp so the constructor wants us to denounce endessa and the town hall, what are the implecations of this

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Sir or Madam,

I advise you read the following article:

The Licence of First Occupation Explained - 29th January 2009

In the above article it explains why you should not complete on an off plan property that lacks a Licence of First Occupation (AKA as Habitation Certificate) and what are the consequences of doing so.

What are the Associated Problems of Completing on a Property without a LFO?

Although it is legal to complete in such a case, it has numerous legal and practical drawbacks which ought to be highlighted by your lawyer to aid you in making an informed decision. To name a few:

1. Primarily, you will not be able to take out a mortgage on the property or remortgage it - if needed be- by any bank other than the developer’s.

2. You will not be able to benefit from the official utility supplies; only from the developer’s supplies (water and electricity) with all the associated problems this has, namely that you may be cut off at any time as it is the developer who is paying for it and if they go into receivership you will be shut off. Besides, the site supply electricity doesn’t have the same strength and power surges are fairly common on simultaneously turning on various electrical appliances such as air conditioning.

3. Any future prospective purchaser, or their lawyer, will haggle with you and only pay a lower purchase price if you lack a LFO in a newly built resale. In a resale, the purchasers in turn will undergo the same problems to secure finance by means of a mortgage loan. A lack of a LFO implies that you are actually reducing the base of potential purchasers for your resale.

4. If there are planning issues, the Town Hall can set a charge against the property and you as the new owner of an off-plan –and not the developer- may be held liable to pay the fine for the planning illegality.

5. Needless to say, you cannot let a property legally without a LFO.

Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt