Nota Simple

[janda_grant2]

What exactly is a nota simple and do you need one to put a house on the market? If so,where do you go to get one?

[Jool]

It is a summary document of what is on the Property Registry about your property. You can get one online from here

https://www.registradores.org:444/propi ... activa.jsp

Use the finca ref number and info from the escritura.......its all on the stamp put on by the Notary

[Beachcomber]

I always find it very strange when a prospective purchaser asks the seller to provide a nota simple. I have always preferred to obtain my own when purchasing, that way no-one has the chance to doctor it.

If you are selling through an estate agency surely they will deal with all of the paperwork.

[Jool]

Many Agents over this way ask sellers to provide a nota simple in their adverts as its to comply with decree 218 and for them to purchase one for every property on their books would apparently be astronomical as they are about 11 euros if ordered online

[Beachcomber]

My point is that a PDF document can easily be tampered with. Surely if they want to comply with the decree they would want to ensure that the nota simple is genuine and don't they have to be renewed after three months? Do they then ask the seller to provide another one?

My heart bleeds for estate agents who think that €11 is such an astronomical amount of money considering the vast commission they charge on a sale. This is only a step away from asking sellers to pay for the petrol they use taking prospective purchasers to see the property.

[DavidSearl]

FROM DAVID SEARL

FOR JANDA

As noted, a "Nota Simple" is an extract of the key points in your title deed, the escritura, as registered in the Property Registry. A buyer will certainly want to see your full escritura but the Nota Simple at least shows you as the authentic owner of the property and it shows if there are any liens or embargos placed against the property, such as a mortgage or an embargo for unpaid taxes.

It does not show any unpaid taxes which have not been subject to legal action yet.

It is a good thing for a seller to have as part of his seller's kit. A buyer, however, as noted, will want to obtain a Nota Simple just before the purchase is completed. The reason for this is that a lien or embargo might have been placed between the date of the Nota Simple and the date of completion.

For example, a larcenous seller might give you the Nota Simple, then go out and mortgage the property. Your nota simple will not show the mortgage and you will not find out that you have bought a mortgaged property until much later.

Good luck with it, David Searl

[Miro]

My heart bleeds for estate agents who think that €11 is such an astronomical amount of money considering the vast commission they charge on a sale. This is only a step away from asking sellers to pay for the petrol they use taking prospective purchasers to see the property.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no big fan of estate agents either, (or the dubious rule in decree 218 obliging the seller to provide a nota simple no more than 3 months old just to advertise his property for sale) but looking at it this way assumes that the agent is going to achieve a sale for every property he lists. If he has, say 100 properties listed, every three months he'll have to fork out €1100, and in the current climate, he'll be lucky to sell even one of them in that period. So in terms of the commission he'll earn on a sale, I think it is perhaps unfair to expect him to pay this himself. I do see your point, but this is an additional expense which was recently introduced, so it's no surprise that agents want to pass it on to the seller; furthermore, it seems largely pointless anyway, since as David points out, the information it contains can easily change between the time of agreeing a sale and actually signing for it - which is why the notary always obtains an up to date one on the day by fax.

[Jool]

Yes Miro that is precisely the point really and most Agents have more than 100 properties on their books! Those I have seen online generally have around 300 or so so that is 3300 every 3 months so around 13k per year. Also over this way Agent´s commissions have dropped significantly - gone are the 15% days that businesses like Ambasun and Medsea charged....