How do I know if a home has a mortgage encumbrance?

Are you interested in buying a home? If so, there are several things to consider to ensure that your purchase is completely satisfactory.

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Housing has a mortgage burden

One of the most important is, without a doubt, to make sure that the property in question is free of encumbrances, especially mortgage encumbrances.
This type of encumbrances can make the property much more expensive, since they are transferable to the buyer. So, read on to the end of these lines and find out how to find out if a home is burdened by a mortgage.

Mortgage encumbrance: what does it consist of?

When we speak of a mortgage charge we are referring to a financial obligation linked to a specific property. In other words, it is the amount of money that the previous owner still owes the bank for a loan to buy a house. It is worth noting that this is the most common type of charge when acquiring a new property.

When a home of your interest has such a burden, you do not have to reject outright the option of acquiring the property. Instead, you can opt for either of the two ways mentioned below:

The seller pays off the mortgage on the property in full. This is the most common situation and takes place before the sale takes place.
Subrogation to the seller’s mortgage. In this case, the seller acquires the property with the debt that weighs on it and assumes the payment of the same. Of course, the conditions must be sufficiently attractive for the seller to accept this possibility and the bank must give its approval.

In any case, any kind of agreement to close the property purchase operation will depend entirely on the will of the parties involved.

What should you do to check whether or not a home you are interested in has a mortgage encumbrance?

In order to know with absolute certainty if a property has a mortgage charge, what you should do is to go to the Land Registry. Once you are there, you must apply for a simple and updated nota simple of the property you wish to purchase.

In this way, you can be truly aware of the legal status of the property and verify the veracity of the information provided by the seller. By requesting this updated simple note you will also be able to know:

If the home is actually in the seller’s name.
Whether or not there is a lien on it, or if it has any lease or usufruct.
The actual description of the property.

In addition, this document is also necessary to make inheritance claims or to apply for a loan from a bank. It is worth noting that this note can be requested on the official website of the Association of Registrars.

Other types of charges that a dwelling may have

In addition to the mortgage burden, other types of obligations or debts may also weigh on a home. These include the following

Neighborhood type. In this case, we refer to the non-payment of bills related to the obligations contracted with neighboring communities.
Tax obligations. An example of this is the municipal capital gains tax, as well as the payment of the tax on the transfer of assets or real estate tax.
Judicial liens. In this case, the property may be subject to a judicial lien for a debt.
Lease. If the property was rented at the time of sale, the buyer would be obliged to respect the conditions established in the rental contract.
Usufructs and easements. These legal figures affect the conditions of use of the property.

To make sure that the property is not burdened by any of these charges, you should ask the seller for receipts and certifications of solvency. In this sense, it is advisable to take all the necessary precautions before buying a specific property. That way, you will avoid inconveniences and unpleasant surprises.