Help re. Spanish Property tax demand for property which isn't mine!!

hartcjhart

First, the OP MUST speak to her parents and find out EXACTLY what was written on the title deeds in Spain at the time of purchase,

Also she must find out if her parents at time of purchase or afterwards made a 'Spanish' will leaving her the property(hence her name being found by the authoroties)

Then she must contact a Spanish solicitor and explain everything her parents have said/done,and copies of the documents she has received.then get them to make contact with the court and local ayuntemento

Most solicitors will want an 'upfront' fee as the OP is not in the country.
If the OP wants I can PM her details of a very good solicitor who MAY make an initial enquiry for her for free,as I have used her many times and passed lots of work her way,

I sure as hell would not risk travelling to Spain before getting this sorted or having enough money to pay the debts just in case

MobileSaver

puddy wrote: »

but how did they get her details if her parents didnt give her name etc?

It is all very odd isn't it particularly as the OP has changed her name and address since her parents left Spain.

As the bills were in her father's name but the letter/demand in her new name I think it perfectly reasonable both legally and morally to ask the alleged creditor why they think she is liable and that should shed some light on the matter.

missile

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The big distinction you are failing to grasp is between

• being responsible for a debt
• being held responsible for a debt

Plainly, OP is not responsible for the debt. However, OP is being held responsible for it, possibly with the backing of the courts.

I assume your comment is aimed at MobileSaver and not me? please confirm :A

DVardysShadow

missile wrote: »

I assume your comment is aimed at MobileSaver and not me? please confirm :A

At you. /

muskoka

What a potential mess. Is there nothing like 'Statute of Limitations' within Spain? Anybody know?

missile

DVardysShadow wrote: »

At you. /

I beg your pardon, I certainly do understand and if you care to read my posts you will see >

Be warned they have your name and address and if they have your passport number, you could be arrested at customs.

It would appear that OP's father has been successful in keeping his head down and for whatever reason their enquiries have led them to the OP. She may get letters from UK debt collection agencies and ultimately it could go to court

I could expand on how the system for issuing a denuncia works in spain, but I don't wish to feed the Troll

B.E.N

Any Update?

john539

MobileSaver wrote: »

The most likely explanation is, as N79 suggested, that this is a scattergun approach where possibly the same letter has gone out to several different people; either in the hope that one of them pays up or that they give the current address of the real debtor.

Yes, this could be the case.

Maybe best to ignore letter for now & see if it is a bluff, to smoke someone out.

If you raise your head & contact them, they may pursue you more as they know you are an active contact who has shown interest, which may indicate to them you are a lead worth pursuing.

mostlycheerful

Obviously it would be good to get to the bottom of this and get it stopped but have you considered not fuelling it and not engaging with it and therefore just simply ignoring it? As you so clearly categorically know that do not owe anything then why challenge it? Why confront it and connect with it? Over the years I’ve deflected a fair few people attacking me in various bogus ways by simply ignoring them. Quite often I’ve found that if you don’t chuck any wood on the fire then the fire just burns itself out, so to speak.

I don’t think they can extradite you from UK for a relatively small debt or do anything through UK courts and especially as you so manifestly don’t owe it so I doubt whether there’s anything at all they can do about it if you just ignore it and stay out of their territory. Or can they do something via the UK courts? Perhaps ask a solicitor and look on legal websites to answer this question.

Yes, as you say yourself and as other posters suggest, it would be a right nuisance to get trouble off the authorities if you go to Tenerife, wouldn’t it.

Do they arrest people for debt in Spain? I don’t know how true it is but I’ve heard that apparently supposedly they do in, for instance, France and Dubai and most if not all middle east countries and places like Singapore are supposed to be very tight about everything so if you’re unlucky maybe Spain does as well. To answer this question perhaps have a search for any English speaking ex pat websites that may shed some light on this and travel websites and or ask some Spanish people who might know what the general scene is like. If it’s unheard of then that would be encouraging but if you turn up some stories that suggest that it’s common practise then that would be rather worrying. If you got slung in nick for a few days or weeks or even months, well, that would be tragic, wouldn’t it. It’d be worth avoiding that, wouldn’t it.

You mention the worry about going to Tenerife and so do some other posters so if it turns out that they’re known to be often heavy handed then perhaps consider cancelling the Tenerife holiday and go somewhere else outside of Spanish jurisdiction instead as it would be a right pain to have your holiday mucked up with a load of palaver about this, wouldn’t it.

Worse case scenario how bad could it get? For instance, what if they grab your passport and tell you that you can’t leave until you pay it. Or what if they grab your money or travellers cheques or credit card or whatever you’re carrying, or extreme stuff like that? What if they set a court date for 3 months time and tell you that you can’t leave the country until the case is heard? And then you've got to pay a fortune to a Spanish lawyer to represent you and it's all in a foreign language so it's hard for you to follow what's going on. Yeah, cripes, anything’s possible, isn’t it.

And there’s not really any way to tell how easy or hard it might be to sort it out, is there, it might be simple and you might be able to straighten it out easily but on the other hand it could turn into a right nuisance and go on and on, couldn’t it. And all in a foreign language and foreign customs, gawd! Yeah, that’d be some holiday you’d have if it’s all taken up with fighting Spanish law and bureaucracy and maybe even a scam artist behind it all, wouldn’t it. And then, worst case scenario, you get hammered for a chunky debt that you don’t even owe. Yeah, the law is a donkey and I’d never risk trying to get a decision in my favour, that’s just not the sort of gamble I’d take.

So, really, is it worth risking it for the sake of a holiday which is costing you so far, what, five hundred quid or maybe a grand? Yeah, shame to lose the money if it’s too late to cancel but have you checked if it’s possible to cancel without losing anything? Or can all or some of the cost of the flight(s) and or hotel(s) etc be transferred to other destinations? Might be worth asking the airline and or tour operator if you’re using one.

Yeah, I’d probably ignore it and never go to Spain again. And if I got any more letters I’d read them just to check what’s being said and I’d keep them in a file in case they’re ever of need and I’d leave it at that.

The alternative is confronting it and going into the unknown and if you’re unlucky possibly having rather a bad experience. I tend to play safe and cut my losses rather than mess about with dodgy mucky stuff that has the potential to do me some damage. I’ve so often not been able to achieve common sense or decency or efficiency or honesty or justice from people and organisations that my general policy is to not bother trying, I just expect the worst and plan accordingly and mostly just abort mission. People are so often so stupid and bent and up themselves that I don’t expect to win, I expect to lose, so the solution is to avoid at all costs, whenever possible.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Perhaps post again about how this turns out as this may be of help to other people faced with odd stuff like this. Plus it would be interesting and we might learn something more about the Spanish.

puddy

the op is very quiet, i hope she's not banged up in alicante or something. i wanted to know what had happened