Anyone experienced unusual practice from estate agents locally? - General El Campello discussion - El Campello forum - Costa Blanca forum in the Alicante province of Spain
interior building work
Blacktower Financial Management
Espana Dream Properties
Expat Services
Gentlevan Removals
Car Key Solutions
Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
Thy Will Be Done
Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
AA Free English TV
James Spanish School
Gran Alacant Insurances
ASSSA Insurance

Join the El Campello forum

Join the El Campello forumMy name's Alex and this is my website all about El Campello in Spain. Register now for free to talk about General El Campello discussion and much more!

Anyone experienced unusual practice from estate agents locally?

Posted: Sat Jan 5, 2019 10:18pm
13 replies668 views7 members subscribed
SteveandPhil

Posts: 24

19 helpful points

Location: El Campello

Joined: 18 Aug 2017

Hi, has anyone had any experience when buying or selling a property in El Campello whereby the agent sells the property for a much higher price than they tell the vendor and pocket the difference (paid in cash). 

We are taking further action through Consumo, but I want to check the agents claim that this is common practice in the region - we are talking well over €10,000! 

Please private message me - in confidence. 

Once Consumo have investigated we will also be going to Costa Blanca News....

Thanks 

Steve

mal johnson

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 12:46pm

mal johnson

Helpful member

Posts: 193

131 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 1 Jul 2016

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 12:46pm

I had a similar experience when purchasing back in 2004, the company we were using quoted an extra £10,000 on the price, but failed to put it on the paperwork, to cut a long story short, I refused to pay the initial deposit unless all costs were listed, then I finally threatened to go to the courts and report them, surprise surprise, the extra payment was dropped from the price.

jimtaylor

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 4:13pm

jimtaylor

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 5612

8738 helpful points

Location: Mudamiento

Joined: 2 Feb 2017

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 4:13pm

I don't know if it still happens, but it used to be common practice for the price in the escritura to understated in order to reduce the tax, and for the buyer to hand one bank draft to the seller and cash to the estate agent. The notary doesn't need to witness the amount changing hands.

From my limited knowledge of people selling properties recently, there does seem to be more transparency about how much is paid to the estate agent. For example, a Spanish friend is trying to sell his property and has agreed that the estate agent will receive €5000.

Davebev1

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 8:05pm

Davebev1

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 1560

2199 helpful points

Location: Playa Flamenca

Joined: 7 Nov 2017

Posted: Sun Jan 6, 2019 8:05pm

This is an old practice, not legal, and really should not be happening.  As Jim said, it used to be common practice for one price to be shown on the escritura and another to be agreed between the parties to reduce tax liability, and it would have been known to everyone involved that that was what was happening.  However it was and still is illegal, and these days should never happen.  You should insist that the escritura reflects the agreed purchase price.

mal johnson

Posted: Mon Jan 7, 2019 12:41am

mal johnson

Helpful member

Posts: 193

131 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 1 Jul 2016

Posted: Mon Jan 7, 2019 12:41am

One name should explain it all, ATLAS.

Advertisement - posts continue below

John56

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:04pm

John56

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2995

5634 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 7 Jul 2016

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:04pm

mal johnson wrote on Mon Jan 7, 2019 12:41am:

One name should explain it all, ATLAS.

Sorry, but can you please explain.

mal johnson

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:51pm

mal johnson

Helpful member

Posts: 193

131 helpful points

Location: La Marina

Joined: 1 Jul 2016

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:51pm

At the time that I purchased a property, Atlas had a reputation for payments under the counter, unfortunately for some people, they fell prey to their tactics and ended up paying a lot more for their properties with no record of the extra payments mentioned.

John56

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:01pm

John56

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2995

5634 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 7 Jul 2016

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:01pm

mal johnson wrote on Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:51pm:

At the time that I purchased a property, Atlas had a reputation for payments under the counter, unfortunately for some people, they fell prey to their tactics and ended up paying a lot more for their properties with no record of the extra payments mentioned.

From talking to people I think that practice is still going on with some of the less honest agents making up to 20K on a single sale.

Classic man

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:35pm

Classic man

Helpful member

Posts: 1016

451 helpful points

Location: Villena

Joined: 9 Aug 2018

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:35pm

If you paid 'black money' ie part in cash and part through the agent the price on the escritura is, of course, NOT what you actually paid in total.

When you sell the property you will be taxed on any profit over and above what is shown on the escritura.You will be well out of pocket.

I thought this had been outlawed, obviously it is still alive and well. Just make certain the the escritura shows EXACTLY what you have paid.

Classic man

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:07pm

Classic man

Helpful member

Posts: 1016

451 helpful points

Location: Villena

Joined: 9 Aug 2018

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 5:07pm

Hello Adrian,

I will endeavour to explain how this bizzare situation came about.

We were new to Spain back then and we had bought a property off plan and had watched it being built. The day came to pay and we were escorted by the builder to the bank. There we were instructed to put varying amounts of cash into brown envelopes and take them to the solicitor's office where we signed for the property. The envelopes were placed on a desk nearby.

At a given moment three people walked in and silently took the envelopes which were marked with what was inside and that was it.

To put some figures on it. What went onto the escritura was €80,000. We had actually paid €120,000, the balance being in the envelopes.

At that time we had absolutely no idea what was going on, we thought it a bit strange, but this is Spain, so perhaps they do things differently.

Everyone seemed happy, we had paid what was asked and the house was ours.  It was not until sometime later we came across the term 'black money' and we did not even know what is was.

The final upshot of all this is, that if we subsequently sell the house for more than the value on the escritura   i.e. over €80,000, we would be taxed on it, not the €120,000 we had actually paid.

All this is now acedemic as we exchanged it a few years later when we bought something bigger.

The whole point of all this was just to advise people buying property to ensure that what they pay is the figure you see on the escritura.

I hope this now makes a bit more sense.

Sign up for free or login to reply to this topic

Want to reply to this topic? Login or register for free to post your message:

Find more General discussion topics from a particular area:


Register for free!

Login to your account

interior building work
Blacktower Financial Management
Espana Dream Properties
Expat Services
Gentlevan Removals
Car Key Solutions
Jennifer Cunningham Insurances SL
Costa Blanca Building Specialists
Thy Will Be Done
Airport Service Taxi Mil Palmeras  Torre de la Horadada
AA Free English TV
James Spanish School
Gran Alacant Insurances
ASSSA Insurance
Advertise your business here
Advertise your property
Help with my computer