we had agreed the sale of a house but the owner has had to withdraw from the sale because he is being sued - and his own lawyer has told him it would be a criminal offence for him to sell the house. The owner is british, but spanish resident, paying taxes etc here in spain.

the civil case against him is nothing to do with the house we want to purchase, everything would be declared legally etc. and we would be arranging our mortgage with the existing mortgage holder.

the house owner can no longer cover his mortgage payments and is desperate to sell - but his lawyer has warned it may take 2-3 years to be resolved in the andalucian courts.

1) is there anything that can be done to allow the sale.
2) if he lets the bank take back the house (dacion en pago) can we buy it directly from the bank, or will it have to go to public auction? we are not the only party interested in buying the house.