Home Repossessions in Spain: A Legal Perspective

[ian hopkins]

we are in the prosses of being reprosesed we have just recived a letter from notary as we are 4 mths in arrears. can the spanish bank embargo my wages in uk ? is going bankrup an option?

[paella87]

I would greatly appreciate your advice. When I lost my job I informed the bank in Spain we may run into problems and asked for an interest only mortgage. Thay have refused this and after 6 months have not offered a solution apart from suggesting we take on another mortgage which would be of benefit to them but not us. I am becoming increasingly desperate and am afraid that within 2 months we will have to default on our mortgage as our money runs out. When I mentioned dacion en pago I was told that Cambank would not consider this either. What should I do now ?

[help]

Hi,

My girlfiend has a property with her ex boyfriend in Spain, They split up over 3 years ago now and she had tried on multiple occasions to sell the house but he hasnt allowed this to happen. She has offered to pay for her name to be taken off the house but he is not forthcoming with this, it seems as he lives in Spain (she doesnt anymore) it seems that he wants to keep the house... she has asked if it os possible for the bank to take the house back but that is not an option, and also asked him if they can let the bank take th hose and pay the difference bu he wont allow it stating that it will ruin his credit rating in Spain (he still lives in Spain) neither still live in the house in question.

Recently she has found out that he has defaulted on the repayments for the house so another 40K is now owed.

Unfortunately my girlfriend doesnt earn much and I dont have a job at the moment, we literally only make enough to scrape by each month and even if I had a job we wouldnt be much better off as we are living with family and need to move out in the very near future.

We are really stuck with this. If things go to court and the bank takes the house will my girlfriend will be persued by the bank (as I see from your article) would it get to the point that she would be arrested if she ever flew into Spain again? What will they do to her?

[lawbird]

Dear Sir,

I understand that your girlfriend is not only a co-owner but also a joint mortgagor.

In that case please note that she is equally liable for this mortgage as her ex-partner. In other words, the Bank is entitled to chase her as much as they are entitled to chase him in the event of default.

Please note that defaulting on your mortgage is not a criminal offence and therefore neither you nor her you should be fearing imprisonment. However, and as the article explains, each mortgagor is personally liable for the debt with all their assets, present and future. If they fail to meet their repayments the bank will initiate repossession proceedings. The property will be auctioned off for whatever value it can fetch and (in almost all cases) this will be less than the value of the mortgage. If the property is sold for less, the mortgagors will be liable to pay any outstanding balance with their personal assets. Therefore, they can find themselves in a situation where they lose the property but still owe thousands and thousands of euros to their bank.

If your girlfriend or her ex have any other property in Spain or the UK, it is possible for the Bank to place an embargo over those assets in an attempt to recover the outstanding balance. The Bank can legally go after vehicles, bank accounts, properties and even embargos over their salaries.

In summary, there will be no criminal consequences, but the effects of default could be quite devastating for a person's life and therefore she (and her ex) should try to avoid this situation with any means available to them. In our articles we are always suggesting any alternatives we can think of, so please feel free to check the forum.

We hope this situation is resolved as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

[paella87]

I would greatly appreciate your advice. When I lost my job I informed the bank in Spain we may run into problems and asked for an interest only mortgage. Thay have refused this and after 6 months have not offered a solution apart from suggesting we take on another mortgage which would be of benefit to them but not us. I am becoming increasingly desperate and am afraid that within 2 months we will have to default on our mortgage as our money runs out. When I mentioned dacion en pago I was told that Cambank would not consider this either. What should I do now ?

[cat.]

hi we moved into a lovely 4 bed villa 4 months ago and have an 11 month contract.
we rented it off a guy we had know for a long time and he collects the rent every month..
nabours have told us that the person who owns the house left 3 yrs ago and not come back..
i went down the bank to ask about this property they came back n said it was with mercia and was repossed but still waiting to go to court.. should i tell the bank we live in the house? i would like to buy the house.. the bank have asked me to go and get more infomation. my partner told me to leave it till someone comes round.
but im worried now that we paying only 400 eruos a month for this house
this guy collects when we ask this guy he just says we are ok..
im wondering if we are squatting in the banks house and worried. would they kick us out? i have kids?
we are not on the padron yet as kids at school and dont wish to changeschools till next sept

[help.]

Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it.

What would the implications of her declaring herself bankrupt be?, I know this is a very serious option to consider but we literally have no means of paying off this debit.
We are not the kind of couple that can even contemplate taking out a mortgage on a property even in the future, we are waiting on council housing at the moment. we live paycheck to paycheck and there isnt much hope of this changing in the future. I really need to resolve this issue by any means neccessary as it will ruin our lives and will even mean that we may not be able to afford to even have children.

[keevla]

Raymundo may i ask ..my hubby & i own an apartment outright in Torrevieja but unfortunately he joined 3 friends in buying a golf apartment a couple of years ago. they have their 4 names on mortgage. now no one can pay it, its in arrears . each person owes 70,000 each on original cost of the property (280,000). if bank repossess it'll be lucky they get half leaving each person 35k in debt..can the spainish bank seize our personally owned apartment to cover all the debt or are we liable just for the quarter share.. thank you ever so much for advice.

[mel clarke]

Hi. Im in the same situation as many here, massive mortgage and negative equity. Struggling in the UK financially and struggling to pay Spanish mortgage. Been in talks with bank since April and wont let us go back to interest only. It seems I was told the debt would stay in Spain from Barclays UK, but from your comments and press articles it seems they are trying to come after us here.
However, right at the start when we completed, the bank issued credit cards in my name and my partners and put 11000 euros on them to cover completion costs...we were duped by the solicitor and sales agent in terms of what the costs would be and never agreed to 11000 going on credit cards, but had given power of attorney to lawyer.
I have had Spanish lawyer look at deeds and he says there is 50,000 euros not accounted for and perhaps 'black money'. Trouble is he doesnt seem to want to know and we cant get an answer by phone or email.
I know we have been done over, and really need someone who can help us and obviously understand all the paperwork. Is this something you can help us with?

[lawbird]

Dear Keevla,

The documentation needs to be reviewed but it is likely that you are all joint mortgagors. This would mean that you are all separetly liable for the full amount. The bank can therefore go after one of you for the full amount of the mortgage (or the outstanding balance should the property had been auctioned off already) and then all that you will have is a personal claim against your co-mortgagor(s).

Kind regards,