Survey done in English. Is that OK? - Page 3

I've been i advised by a lawyer to give her 48 hours to return the money or I'll claim "daños y perjuicios" and the cost of the survey. I could also claim the cost of a translation. But the version in Spanish is only if it goes to court, in which case she'll pay the translation as costs.

Hola,

Resolved. I took the lawyer's advice (Gonzalo Blanco in Denia), and I was reimbursed.

Gonzalo told me:

1 NEVER hand over any money as a reservation. The contrato de arras serves that purpose, and is legally enforceable. Make sure the clause "subject to building survey" is included in the contract. Make sure you sign the correct contrato de arras (there are four types).

2 The survey is in the language of the person who pays for it. It has to be in Spanish if you take the inmo/vendor to court.

3 If any vicios ocultos emerge, you can either pull out of the contract altogether, or ask the owners to lower the price accordingly to take into consideration the costs of the repairs. Post-sale you have SIX MONTHS to find any vicios ocultos and contact the sellers to get them to resolve the problem. Six months is a short time, so get a survey done fast AFTER sale if you don't do it before. A comprehensive survey is an excellent bargaining tool because at the end it tells you all the actions necessary for resolving the vicios ocultos, and the cost.

4 The contrato de arras usually is for 60 days for you to be able to do your due diligence.

5 For less than a fiver you can go to the registro de la propriedad in the village where the property is and get all the info on the property you are interested in.

Hope that helps. Shitty experience but now I am less ashamed of asking awkward questions and of being generally more wary. It's a bloody shame really but that's life. Bon Diumenge a tots. Fran and Emilio

Well done you, I didn't think you would have a chance so thank you for giving this valuable information.

I asked for the clause "subject to survey" to be included in the bogus "reservation" contract (worthless contract in fact), and she basically didn't have a leg to stand on.

But she sure tried hard, nit-picking all the way. She questioned the survey even.

When people start talking complete and utter cobblers though (marear la perdiz, in Spanish) it's time to get legal advice.

Those three little words!