Legal procedures on buying

All property sales and purchases in Tenerife must be registered the land registry and the Title Deed (Escritura de Compraventa) must be prepared by a public official called a Notary. This deed is then signed by both the seller and the buyer in the Notary’s presence.

A Notary is a lawyer who has had special training and passed extra examinations to qualify him for his special duties which cover a large range of legal matters. Apart from dealing with all property transactions, he sees that Spanish wills are properly signed, witnessed and registered, authenticates important documents and certifies due service of legal notices. He is a very important official.

The Notary is responsible for seeing that the conveyance deed is drawn up correctly and fully describes the property and that the agreed declared purchase price has been paid to the vendor in the appropriate currency. He witnesses the signing of the deed and collects the fees and taxes.

The deed is then sent to the Land Registry Office where the name of the new legal owner is registered. It can take some time before the title deed comes back from the Land Registry Office, and in the meantime an authorised copy is given to the purchasers.

If you have agreed to buy when on holiday and do not wish to return for the signing of the deed, you can appoint a lawyer as your agent to appear before the Notary and sign on your behalf. This person must be officially appointed by a deed which in England is called a “Special Power of Attorney” or in Spain, an “Escritura de Poder de Compraventa”. This deed can be prepared by the Notary as soon as you have agreed to buy and normally would be in the name of your lawyer who is doing the conveyancing for you.

As part of our client services, TENERIFE PROPERTY SHOP S.L. will make sure that all legal procedures are adhered to and assist your lawyer and the Notary to ensure a smooth completion without you having to worry about anything.