The nota simple: reading a Spanish land registry extract before you buy

The agent has sent you a nota simple. Or you want to order one yourself before you sign a reservation contract (contrato de arras). It is short, and written in Spanish legal language that rewards a slow reading.

Most of what you need to know about the legal side of a property is on it: who owns it, what is charged against it, and how it connects to the cadastral map. A few things a buyer needs are recorded elsewhere, and the extract is only as current as the day it was requested. The overview in what to check before you sign puts the nota simple next to the cadastre and the official risk maps. What follows goes through the extract itself.

What is a nota simple, and who issues it?

It is an extract from the land registry (Registro de la Propiedad), issued by the registrar (registrador) who keeps it.

Under Article 1 of the Ley Hipotecaria of 1946 (LH), the registry records acts and contracts concerning ownership and other rights in rem over real property. Article 222 LH allows two forms of disclosure. One is the nota simple informativa. The other is the certificate (certificación).

The difference matters. Under Article 222.5 LH the nota simple has purely informative value and does not certify the content of the entries. The Reglamento Hipotecario of 1947 (RH) says the same in Article 332. The registrar is still liable for damage caused by errors and omissions in issuing it, so it is far from a casual printout.

Why does a registry extract carry so much weight in Spain? Registered rights in rem are presumed by law to exist and to belong to their holder in the form the entry describes (Article 38 LH). Titles that are not registered do not prejudice third parties (Article 32 LH).

How do you order one, and what do you need to state?

Online through the Colegio de Registradores, or in person at the registry for the property. Either way, you state why you are asking.

The registries are public for those with a known interest in finding out the state of the property or the registered rights (Article 221 LH). Article 332 RH puts it more precisely: whoever wants information from the entries must show the registrar a legitimate interest (interés legítimo), and someone acting for another person must show the mandate and the principal. The Colegio gives the reason. Registry entries are protected by data protection law.

For some applicants the interest is presumed. Banks, lawyers, gestores and estate agents, among other professionals in property transactions, need only state the reason for the query, provided it fits the purpose of the registry (Article 332 RH). A private buyer gets no official formula for the purpose of the request. The regulation requires only that the registrar accepts it.

The online route is called FLOTI and has run since 2001. Since then, says the Colegio, ordering over the internet has become the usual way, at any hour of the day. FLOTI is a request system, though. Nothing is searched instantly. Each request goes to the registry responsible for the property, the registrar checks the stated interest, and the nota simple arrives by email. You may choose any registrar in Spain for a nota simple, even one outside the district where the property lies (Article 222.8 LH).

Three choices come with the order. The extract can reproduce the entries in summary or, if you ask, word for word. It can also be limited to particular points you name (Article 222 LH). For a purchase the full extract is the more useful one. The Colegio publishes the fee on its service pages.

To single out a property anywhere in Spain, the Colegio uses the IDUFIR (Identificador Único de Finca Registral). If the agent has already sent an extract, the code is on it.

What does the extract say about the property and its owner?

Article 222.5 LH sets a minimum. The nota simple reproduces the entries in force (asientos vigentes) on the property, called the finca in registry language. It must contain at least the identification of the finca, the identity of the holders of registered rights over it, and the extent, nature and limitations of those rights. Prohibitions or restrictions affecting the holders or the registered rights must be stated in any event.

Work through it in four steps.

1. 1Identification of the fincaArts. 9, 10 and 222.5 LHDescription, código registral único (IDUFIR), cadastral reference, and whether the finca is coordinated with the cadastre as of a given date
2. 2Holders (titulares)Art. 222.5 LHWho holds which registered right, with its extent and nature
3. 3Charges (cargas)Arts. 2 and 42 LHMortgages, usufruct, easements, and attachments entered as anotación preventiva
4. 4Prohibitions, restrictions, marginal notesArts. 9 and 222.5 LHRestrictions on the holders or their rights; a planning classification only where it has been proven, with its date

The finca. Every finca carries a single registry code, the código registral único (Article 9 LH), which the Colegio calls IDUFIR. Next to it stand the cadastral reference and the statement on coordination with the cadastre, and together with the written description they are what you compare, line by line, with the property you viewed and with the papers the seller or the agent has given you. Does the plot match? Does the cadastral reference match the one the seller gave you?

The holders. Here the registry names the titulares, each with the extent and nature of the right. Is the registered owner the person selling to you? Are several holders entered, each with a share? Then compare every name with the people who will sign.

This is the point where the registry protects a buyer. Under Article 34 LH, a third party who acquires in good faith and for value from the person shown in the registry as entitled to transfer, and who then registers, keeps the acquisition even if the seller's right is later annulled for reasons the registry does not show. How far that reaches in a given purchase is for the notary and your lawyer.

Which charges can appear, and how do you read them?

Under the heading for charges (cargas) you find the rights over the finca that belong to someone other than the owner, and the entries that restrict a sale.

Article 2 LH lists what can be registered. Mortgages (hipoteca) are among them, as are usufruct (usufructo) and easements (servidumbres), such as a right of way across the plot. An attachment ordered against the owner (embargo) has its own form. Whoever obtains an attachment order enforced on the debtor's real property can ask for a provisional entry, an anotación preventiva (Article 42 LH).

According to the Colegio, the nota simple covers only the holders, rights and charges in force at the moment of the request. Have each charge on it explained by your lawyer before the reservation contract.

Prohibitions and restrictions come last. Article 222.5 LH makes them mandatory, so a restriction on selling should not be missing from a complete extract.

A marginal note can add more. Under Article 9 LH, the planning, environmental or administrative classification of the finca is noted in the margin when it has been proven, with the date to which it refers. Without such a note the extract is silent on planning status. Whether an extension has a licence cannot be read from it.

Where do you find what the extract leaves out?

At the notary's office and on the property itself.

The nota simple reproduces registry entries. No official source lists what it omits, but several gaps follow from the law, because the law provides separate evidence for them at the signing.

In the nota simple

• Description, IDUFIR, cadastral reference, coordinationArts. 9 and 10 LH
• Holders and their registered rightsArt. 222.5 LH
• Mortgages, usufruct, easementsArt. 2 LH
• Attachments as anotación preventivaArt. 42 LH

Elsewhere

• Debts to the community of owners: certificate from the community at the deedArt. 9.1 e) LPH
• Unpaid property tax (IBI): information the notary requestsArt. 64 TRLRHL
• Planning classification, unless noted in the marginArt. 9 LH
• Who actually occupies the propertyArt. 5 LH

Who lives there. Mere possession cannot be registered (Article 5 LH). A tenant or occupier does not appear as such, so who lives in the property is something to establish at the viewing.

Community debts. For a flat in a building with a community of owners, the seller provides a certificate from the community on the state of its debts when the deed is signed. Without it the notary cannot authorise the deed, unless the buyer expressly waives it (Article 9.1 e of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH).

Property tax. For the local property tax (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles, IBI), notaries request information on outstanding debts linked to the property and expressly warn the parties about them in the deed (Article 64 of the local finance law, TRLRHL).

The location is a separate matter again. Flood zones, the coastal protection strip and aerial photos of the plot are part of the property check, where you can compare what is built with the registry's description.

How does the nota simple connect to the cadastre?

Through the cadastral reference, and through a statement on whether the two registers agree about the plot.

Spain keeps two registers side by side. The land registry records who holds which rights. The cadastre (Catastro) maps the property, and its cartography is the basis for the graphic representation of registry fincas (Article 10 LH). Ley 13/2015 tied them closer. The new wording of Articles 9 and 10 LH has applied since 1 November 2015.

Since then the registry entry includes the cadastral reference and states whether the finca is graphically coordinated (coordinada) with the cadastre (Article 9 LH). Article 10 LH goes further. Every form of registry information has to give the cadastral reference and say whether the finca is coordinated as of a given date. The nota simple is one such form. Look for both statements under the identification of the finca.

The cadastre has a presumption of its own. Cadastral data is presumed correct unless proven otherwise, but the legal statements of the land registry prevail (Article 3 of the cadastre law, TRLCI). How a cadastral reference is built is explained in the Spanish cadastral reference.

How long does a nota simple stay current?

It shows the registry on the day of the request. Anything filed afterwards is missing.

That is why a copy the agent sent weeks ago tells you less than one you order yourself just before the reservation contract. Check its date first.

What counts for an entry is the date it was filed. Under Article 24 LH, the date of the filing entry in the daybook (asiento de presentación) is treated as the date of registration for all its effects. Article 17 LH adds a block. Once a title has been filed, no conflicting title can be registered for 60 days, counted from the day after the filing. Those 60 days protect the title filed first; they set no period of validity for a nota simple.

Does an ordinary nota simple show filings still pending? The Ley Hipotecaria and the Reglamento Hipotecario do not say so expressly. For the information the registrar sends to the notary, they do. Under Article 354 a RH it includes the filing entries on the finca in the daybook (libro diario) made before it is sent. If further titles affecting the finca are filed within 9 calendar days after that, the registrar must tell the notary on the same day.

A running alert also exists, the información continuada. It covers new filing entries for 30 calendar days after a certificación is issued, and only registered holders of rights in the finca, their spouses or legal representatives can request it (Article 354 RH). A prospective buyer is not among them.

In short

A nota simple is the land registry's extract on one finca, issued by the registrar and valid as information only. You can order it online from any registrar in Spain, with a stated legitimate interest, and in English beside the Spanish original. It names the holders, lists mortgages, usufruct, easements and attachments, and gives the cadastral reference with the date of any coordination with the cadastre. It reflects the day you asked. Order a fresh one before you sign anything, and leave the final check to the notary.