[Steve]

Hello

We have a property in Alicante but the catastral number is for the property next door. Our abogado said it will take six months for the property to be registered with the correct number, at catastral headquarters in Alicante. . I have recently also been told by someone I respect from our local village that this can be changed in the local town hall, and we went there last week and was told it would take a week or so to go through. I have had topogrphers and architects down from the town hall to retake all the measurements.

The lawyer seems to change their minds often so nothing we hear back is consistent.

 

Does anyone else have any experience of correcting Catastral numbers and how long it takes, where it should be done?

 

Thanks in advance

[Rofa]

I had an issue with part of my land being claimed by someone. Now settled by the court, but my lawyer has no idea how long it will take the Catastro to sort out the change/correction. A year or more probably he thinks. Says Alicante is very slow.

[drpetyag]

I don’t know the answer .
As a matter of fact I need an advise if someone here can give .
I am buying a property in Javea in community , attached townhouse
The catastro indicates 2 bedroom + bathroom, the property has a garage + 3rd bedroom in the basement.
MY realtor says “it’s not a big deal, this is Spain , the community has agreed and no one can make you lose or sell the garage /3rd bedroom ”
My Spanish lawyer took a month and still unclear if the vendor will want to change the description .
They say ” It can be all updated at the time of signing of the deed ”

Is this possible ?
Thank you !

[macgd016]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not trust anything an estate agent tells you, they are not legal experts, in fact they work for the vendor (or arguably just themselves) and they will tell you anything to get a sale.

My advice would be if the property you are buying is not as described on the Nota Simple then I would demand my deposit back until such time as the vendor has legalised it and I feel that this is the advice your lawyer should be giving you.

It really doesn’t matter whether the estate agent tells you that it will all be all right or your lawyer tells you it can all be corrected at the Notario’s office on the day of completion the fact is the property you will be buying is described in the Nota Simple, if it now has three bedrooms and a garage rather than the two bedrooms and no garage mentioned in the Nota Simple then at best these are illegal additions that you will be fined for and at worst you will have to demolish them and/or may not be able to sell the property.

Personally I would walk away

[Yolanda P. – Ypama Abogados]

Hi Petya,

Yes, lawyers don’t go to check physically the properties.
Our legal advice consists in making sure that you have the cadastral and land registry information so you can read it and tell us if the description of the house matches with the house itself.
If the information in the documents is not correct, then – yes – it is up to the lawyer to find out why and to asses about the importance and legal consequences of the discrepancy.
It will not be legally the same if the owner of the house has just divided the garage to make another room (but the size of the house is the same), or if he has made the basement bigger to make this new room, or if the entire basement is new. Also, it is also needed to study the case from the Town Planning point of view, as it may happen that the new basement/room cannot be legalized.

So, without studying the documents and knowing the reason why there is such discrepancy, I cannot confirm you that changing the discrepancy in the cadastral information can be easily done. May be or maybe not.

[SurveySpain]

As you write Yolanda, lawyers can have the paperwork 100% correct, but as they don’t inspect the property, it may not be accurate. DRPETYAQ, the only way to make sure that you and your lawyer know all the details of a property is to have a Building Condition Survey. Survey Spain, RICS Network of Chartered Surveyors in Spain, inspect the property condition and most relevant, measure it and compare it to the Title extract (Nota Simple) and the Catastral. At least 80% of the time we find errors or omissions in these. Getting them sorted out, which can involve getting retrospective Planning Licences and Decennial Structural Insurance is the seller’s responsibility. You don’t want to buy and take on their problems, which can be expensive in the long run. We work 100% for you, whilst the selling agent is just that, being paid by the seller. Check our Blog and Facebook for relevant articles. surveyspain.com

[Author]

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