Should I give an estate agent a copy of my deeds?

Jun 11, 2010 · chicadeb · 5 replies · 2468 views

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Hi,

I want to use various Spanish estate agents to help sell my property. Most of them have already taken it on without any requests but one of them has asked me to send a copy of my deeds to them as they said it was a legal requirement. Does this sound right? My deeds are 45 pages in total and include details on my mortgage, bank account, etc. Do they really need all of this or just the first few pages?

Many thanks

Jun 12, 2010 · ROB1305

It is not unreasonable for an agent to want to know if you are the real owners and what mortgages are outstanding - in fact it could be considered quite professional after all this information will be required at the notary and I can assure you if a Spanish person was interested in buying it would be the first thing they ask for and of course it is readily available to anyone at the land registry.

A mortgage here can be subrogated to the new buyer so it can be a sales asset.

Frankly if you are serious about selling I would co-operate, what have you got to lose?

Jun 12, 2010 · chicadeb

Hi, thanks for your response. I suppose I'm just a bit reluctant more so because of the privacy issue. I don't like to think that someone could have access to my bank account number, nie, etc so easily.

Jun 12, 2010 · ROB1305

I agree normally you would want to keep this information private - but in this case the good agent will check everything is OK to offer the house for sale - he has a responsibility not to offer for sale a house with legal/mortgage problems. (ie that the bank might be about to re-possess for instance)

Agents here have a lot more responsibility than in the UK - the trouble is most of the non SL 'Mickey Mouse' outfits don't know this which is why so many people have got into problems.

Jun 12, 2010 · Andrew Belles

as ROB1305 pointed out, if gives the agency all relevant information on the property. We always request this informaiton.

But this does not prove you are the owner. It only shows that at some point you were the owner. Just as easily you can request a nota simple from the local registry. This will confirm who the current owners are (yourself), outstanding debt of the propery, the legal status, etc... and in most cases is 2 pages long.