Power of Attorney

[Yorkie]

Hi, Has anyone given Power of Attorney to their solicitor when they sold a house in Spain. If so, was it a good or bad experience.
Thanks

[dorsetlad]

We have just sold our apartment, having given our solicitor POA to act on our behalf. All went smoothly with the actual sale, but the run up was made difficult, purely because they were not as helpful as they might have been. Luckily our agent was really switched on, and carried the day. It might not come as a surprise the the solicitor's name begins with A, and they are tied up with agents whose name begins with A.

Brian

[Yorkie]

Power of Attorney

Thanks Brian, I am just a bit wary as this is what we intend to do so that we do not have to keep going backwards and forward to Spain. You have got me a bit curious about the last part of your email though.
Regards

[Pandy51]

Our experience - not good

We gave power of attorney to pay our taxes and found regular unauthorised withdrawals - marked legal fees, taxes etc. We have withdrawn the power by witnessed statement and will revert to collecting the completed tax form and paying cash for our annual legal fees - whilst going to the Cam Bank & paying our taxes directly.
Hope this helps!

[GAL]

We bought our house using POA all went well we were told what day they would complete and just got a phone call to pick up the keys by the way the vendor actually sold using the same. All the bills were tranferred into our name
YOu just need to be aware to keep an eye on bills as
The only problem was that we didn't get any bills and some 6 months after we had only paid standing charges for water so had to go to the office and they told us they hadn't read the meter as nobody told them we were living there

[dorsetlad]

Sorry to confuse you Yorkie. I am not going to name our solicitor, as we haven't yet finished dealing with them, so there may be repercussions. The agent I mentioned has the same name as a book with maps in it. If you know who that is, you'll know the name of the solicitor, as they have been as thick as thieves together. Someone else on the forum could now probably name names for you. As to the POA, it only cost in the region of 70 or 80€, and the selling process went really smoothly. The comment about unauthorised withdrawals confuses me, because as far as I am aware, the POA can be restricted to a single action only. That's one of the problems we had, as our solicitor would say, "the POA doesn't allow us to do that, we have only the POA to sell your property", when we queried why they hadn't done a particular thing that we expected them to do. All I can say is that apart from some lack of co-operation from the solicitor, it all went very smoothly, and saved us having to come over. Hope this helps.

Brian

[plaza boy]

power of attorney

hi,we bought 2 years ago through central property and used there legal services team ,legal and tax consultants s.l. at los balcones ,and gave them power of attorney and i can only say that we have had no problems at all and that our soliciter, gala, could not be more helpfull with all matters including buying property ,obtaining NIE no. and setting up all direct debits ect. i find them very professional and above all trustworthy,i hope this helps.

[Yorkie]

Power of Attorney

Thanks to all who answered my question it has set my mind more at ease now. Brian, (Dorset lad ) sorry for being a bit dense about the Estate Agent bit but got the message loud and clear now.

[Crummy]

We bought our house with POA five years ago and all went very easily and smoothly.

Our Notary told us that if you just do a basic POA the named can sell your house, borrow money on your house (without you knowing until you sell!!) and all sorts of nefarious things.. so think carefully about what you include in the document. Also bear in mind that you may want them to do things for you that you have not considered yet..and without the POA they may not be able to do it (whatever it is).

Always make it clear that there should be TWO names on the POA and both must sign to do something.. at least that gives you a bit of assurance.

[Yorkie]

Power of Attorney

Further to my original question about Power of Attorney, we got an email yesterday from the agent saying our buyer had pulled out of the sale of our house. I thought in Spain if that happens the seller got to keep the deposit? If anyone can help please advise me or email me privately.

Regards
Yorkie

[dorsetlad]

If the prospective purchaser actually paid a deposit, I think he forfeits it if the purchase does not proceed. However, as always it is not necessarily as straightforward as that. did he pay a deposit, and was there a purchase contract? The best bet is to speak to your solicitor who should know the correct answer.

Brian

[Yorkie]

Power of Attorney

Hi dorset lad, we have a contract saying 9,500 Euros had been paid (2 payments). so where is it. ?????? this is so dodgy it is unbelievable.
Regards
Yorkie

[GAL]

No PM facility on this forum but that is what I was told when we bought the exact words were
" If for some reason you decide not to complete the buyer can keep the deposit" I am sure this is a general rule

[Yorkie]

Power of Attorney

Hi GAL, thanks for your reply. To be honest I couldn't care less about keeping a deposit, but I am sure there is a scam going on here between certain people involved. Obviously I have to be very careful on this forum but I am sure most people can read between the lines.