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Unregistered
05-05-2010, 06:23 PM
I purchased a villa in an urbanization in Benajarafe near Malaga in 2004
The urbanization recently employed a new administator to run the financial side of things.
The administrators have recently disconnected my water supply saying that I owe €4750 being the last 5 years fees.
This was news to me as I had paid my local agent monies on a regular basis. He says these were taxes to the government.
I am not in a position to pay the whole amount, but have offered to pay in installments.
The urbanisation say that they will not reconnect the water until the whole debt is paid.
Surely this is illegal. It is at best blackmail.
What can I do?

Ben Travers

Lawbird Lawyer
05-06-2010, 09:28 AM
Dear Mr Travers,

I'm afraid not, it's perfectly legal.

If you don't pay utilities (water and electricity) you will be shut off.

On owning a property in Spain you are liable for both national and local taxes. Maybe that's what you were paying to your agent in Spain but not for the utilities.

You can read further in my article:

Buying Property In Spain Tips Part I. Buying Resale: Avoiding the Pitfalls (http://belegal.com/articles/showArticle/tips-on-buying-a-property-in-spain) - 31st January 2010

Quoting an excerpt:




9.Post-Completion: Dealing with Property Taxes, Utilities and Community Fees.

Once you have acquired your new property, you will now have to face all the associated running expenses. Make sure you have budgeted this carefully so as to avoid unpleasant surprises! Some of the luxury gated communities with lush tropical gardens and beautiful infinity pools that dot the Spanish coastlines may have pretty steep maintenance expenses. Any unpaid community bills will result in the Community of Owners placing a charge against your property which may lead to auctioning it off publicly to recoup the debt! This legal procedure in Spain works fairly efficiently.

You should open a Spanish bank account if you haven’t done so already. Utility companies do not accept overseas payments and like setting invoices as standing orders against your Spanish account. You should set at least as standing orders all the following:


◦IBI tax. Paid once a year (akin to UK’s Council tax).
◦Garbage collection. Paid twice or once a year depending on the Town Hall.
◦Utility bills (invoiced quarterly in the case of water and monthly with electricity)
◦Community Fees (only if you’ve purchased in a Commonhold). Usually quarterly but can vary.

You are also liable to file (imputed) Income tax on holding property in Spain every year for which you may need to appoint Fiscal Representation.

I cannot stress enough how advisable it is that you make a Spanish will to dispose of your Spanish estate. This will not preclude any other made in your home country. It will save your beneficiaries time, money and hassle.






Yours faithfully,
Raymundo LarraÃ*n Nesbitt