Working with Real Estate Agents in Spain

For each property marketed, they must provide the following information (article 10):

• Address of the property.
• General description of property and that of the building or development.
• Price of the property.
• Owner (this is a sticky point), land registry charges or encumbrances, possible rights of way, usable and constructed size. This must all be supported by a recent (not older than 3 months) land registry extract “Nota Simple”.
• Date of construction, if available.
• Percentage of the communal elements allocated to the property.
• Whether the property has electricity, water, telephone or gas supplies.
• Whether, on visiting the property, there is a period of time during which the buyer will be able to process the required paperwork for completion.
• Declaration as to whether the seller can, or cannot, provide the following documentation: copy of by-laws of the community of owners, certification of freedom of community debts, available insurances and guarantees, the property book (only provided by developers)
• Certificate proving Council tax is paid up to date.
• Date, place and signature.

Additional clauses offer further clarification of buyers’ rights. Article 12 outlines an obligation to the real estate agent to provide the consumer with a copy of the Property Data Sheet, in Spanish.

Article 14 and 15 deal with the Consumer Protection inspection service and fines imposed on agents who don’t comply, ranging from 200€ to 5000€ (pursuant to articles 71.4 LEY 13/2003, de 17 de diciembre, de defensa y proteccion de los consumidores y usuarios de Andalucía.

An infraction could be considered as “serious” and could result in a higher between 5,000€ and 30,000€ if the agent has deliberately or negligently ignored his obligations, repeats the infraction or his actions affect a large part of the market. Developers who do not guarantee down payments are liable for a fine ranging from 5,001€ to 30,000€, depending on the size and seriousness of the infraction.