Selling a Property in Spain With Community Fees Owed

This guide is for people selling a home in Spain, including Torrevieja and the Orihuela Costa, who still owe money on it. You can sell. Unpaid community fees, a mortgage, an unpaid property tax bill or an embargo are normally settled out of the sale price at the notary, but some of these debts can follow the property to the buyer, so they need sorting before or at completion.

Quick facts

• Community fees: a buyer can be liable, with the property only, for unpaid general expenses of the current year and the three previous calendar years.
• Community certificate: issued by the community secretary with the president's approval, within seven calendar days of asking. The notary cannot authorise the deed without it unless the buyer expressly waives it.
• IBI (annual property tax): the property stays tied to the debt after a sale. The buyer is only a secondary target, and only for the tax itself.
• Mortgage: paid off from the price at completion. The bank then signs a deed cancelling it and that is registered separately.
• Embargos (court or tax seizures): they show on the nota simple (land registry extract). They are usually cleared from the price or just before.
• Utility bills: these generally follow the contract holder, not the house.
• Best first step: order a nota simple and ask for the community certificate early.

Step one: find out exactly what is owed

Do this before you agree a price or sign anything. Surprises at the notary are where sales fall apart.

• Nota simple. The Registradores describe it as an information document covering the property description, who owns it and any charges. It is informational only, not proof, but it shows mortgages and embargos at a glance. You can order one from the Colegio de Registradores for a small fee.
• Community certificate. Ask your administrador (community manager) for a statement of what you owe.
• IBI. Gather your recent receipts and ask the town hall for a certificate that you are up to date.
• Mortgage. Ask the bank for a written figure for what is outstanding and the account to pay it into.
• Utilities. Get final readings or final bills for electricity, water and gas.

The rest of your paperwork is covered in our guide to the documents needed to sell property in Spain.

Unpaid community fees

This is the one most Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa sellers ask about, because so many homes sit in urbanisations with a community manager and shared pools and gardens.

Under article 9 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (the horizontal property law), a buyer is liable with the property for unpaid general expenses owed by previous owners. That covers the unpaid part of the year of the sale and the three previous calendar years. The buyer answers with the property itself, not with their other assets. Fees older than that cannot be pursued against the buyer through the property.

So the community has a strong reason to want paying, and the buyer has a strong reason to ask. Here is how it works in practice:

1. The seller must state in the deed whether they are up to date with the community, or give details of what is owed.
2. The community secretary, a role the administrador often holds, issues a certificate of any debt, with the president's approval, within seven calendar days of the request. The secretary and president can be held responsible for errors caused by negligence or delay.
3. The notary cannot authorise the deed without that certificate, unless the buyer expressly releases the seller from providing it.
4. Any debt shown is normally paid before signing, or deducted from the price and paid over at completion.

Two practical points. First, ask the administrador whether there are one-off charges (derramas) approved for works. A buyer's lawyer will check the community minutes for these, and a levy agreed but not yet paid is a common sticking point. Second, after the sale, tell the community secretary about the change of owner. A press report on the law says that if the transfer is not notified, the seller stays jointly liable with the new owner for debts arising after the transfer.

In bigger urbanisations there can be more than one level of community, such as a block and an estate. Ask whether you owe to both.

Unpaid IBI and other tax bills

IBI is the annual property tax, paid to the town hall. It is charged on 1 January, so the owner on that date is the one the town hall bills for the year, even if they sell later. Idealista's explainer on when a buyer inherits the seller's IBI sets out the rules, and the legal basis is article 64 of the local taxes law.

• When ownership changes, the property is attached to the payment of the whole tax debt. The same article requires notaries to inform the parties about outstanding IBI debts.
• The buyer is liable only as a secondary party, after the town hall has gone after the seller first. They answer for the tax itself, not for surcharges or late-payment interest.
• The general limitation period is four years, though the town hall can interrupt it.

None of this makes unpaid IBI a good thing to leave behind. A buyer who spots an arrears notice will usually ask you to clear it or knock it off the price. Pay it before you sell if you can. Sorting out the yearly bill between you and the buyer is a separate point, and you can see how it affects your take-home figure in our seller net-proceeds calculator.

An outstanding mortgage

Selling with a mortgage is completely normal. The loan is repaid from the sale proceeds on the day of completion. The catch is that repaying the debt and removing the mortgage from the register are two different steps.

As the notaries explain on their page about mortgage cancellation, once the loan is repaid the mortgage still appears on the register. The lender must sign a notarial deed (carta de pago y cancelación) confirming payment and asking for the cancellation, which is then presented at the land registry. The costs fall on the debtor.

1. Ask the bank for an up-to-date payoff figure. Check your loan terms for any early repayment fee.
2. Tell the notary and the buyer's side about the lender, so they can plan the payment.
3. At completion, the buyer's money is commonly split. One payment goes to the bank for the exact figure and the balance goes to you.
4. The bank signs the cancellation deed and it is registered. Your gestor (administrative agent) normally chases this.

The split payment is common practice rather than a legal rule, so confirm the arrangement with the notary in advance. If the debt is bigger than the price, you will need to bring the difference.

Embargos, charges and utility bills

An embargo is a court or tax seizure registered against the property. It shows up as a charge on the nota simple. It does not necessarily stop a sale, but a buyer is very unlikely to accept it staying on the register. The usual routes are to pay the creditor first and get the embargo cancelled, or to agree that part of the price is used to pay the creditor at the notary. Ask the creditor for the exact figure in writing.

Utility debts are usually simpler. They generally belong to the person who held the supply contract, not to the property. A 2012 report from Spain's markets regulator on unpaid gas bills reached that conclusion, and a buyer can choose to take over the existing contracts or open new ones. Settle final bills and close or transfer each supply on completion day.

Debt	Can follow the property?	Usual fix
Community fees	Yes, current year plus three previous years	Certificate, then pay or deduct from price
IBI	Yes, as a secondary liability for the tax itself	Receipts or town hall certificate, pay arrears first
Mortgage	Stays on the register until cancelled	Pay from price, cancellation deed, registration
Embargo	Stays on the register until cancelled	Creditor's figure, pay from price or beforehand
Utilities	Generally no, tied to the contract holder	Final bills, close or transfer supplies

If the property is rented, there are other points to cover. See our guide on selling a property with tenants in Spain.

Before you sign anything

Every sale is different, and debts can interact in ways a general guide cannot cover. Ask a gestor or abogado (lawyer) to check your nota simple, your community certificate and your payoff figures before completion. Our guide on whether you need a lawyer to sell explains what they do. This is general information, not tax or legal advice. The rules were checked in October 2026.