august-2014

I have just finished reading a book by Max
Lucado called “Beyond Heavens Door.”
Max is an American preacher who has sold
over 100 million books worldwide; he is
the number one author in the USA. Max
describes what heaven is all about; it is
only his speculation of it, because I believe
it will be even better. It is a place where
we will meet our loved ones; a place where
there is no pain or suffering; your arthritic
joints will not be in heaven; your weak
heart will be strong in heaven; no cancer
in heaven; no memory failure.
The reason why this is possible is because
there is no sin. Christ was sent to eradicate
the sin. He died on a cross, so that we
could have Salvation by acknowledging His
sacrifice for our sins. That is when we will
be allowed to enter heaven.
How many people think that they are going
to heaven? Your good works no matter
what you do will not get you in, unless you
acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Saviour.
Some people think that there is no such
place and that they only have one life, so
live life to the full, but, what if you are
wrong?
I am afraid that it will be too late.
Can you afford to take the risk?
The bible talks about the alternative, which
is hell; whether you believe it or not. God
does not want anyone to go there, so, can
I suggest that you think about these things
and if you want to know more, you would
be welcome at the Olive Branch Christian
Fellowship on a Sunday mornings 10.30am
at the Cultural Centre on Camposol B.
Contact Pastor Ralph and Margaret Locke
on 968 199 622 or 618 720 181
In association with Costa Cálida International Radio and www.angloINFO.com
The Importance Of Keeping Your Title
Deeds Up To Date
It is a normal practice to make building extensions
on your property, or major building
works such as a swimming pool or a
garage, where planning permission is required,
although it isn’t unusual to be made
illegally without planning permission, which
can result in them having to be demolished
or the owner incurring huge fines.
The Spanish Property Registry, which is
similar to the UK’s Land Registry and likely
one of the safest in the world, is concerned
mainly with the ownership of property, recording
all deeds of sale that have been
notarized and inscribed in the register and
property rights are protected by the Courts.
There is another property registry called
the Catastro, which is concerned with
the location, physical dimensions and accurate
description in terms of measures,
boundaries and classification of a property
in Spain. The Catastro produces accurate
information about the property including
plans, maps and aerial photographs.
This information is used by the Town Hall
to calculate the Council Tax, so it is truly
important they have the full description of
your property, thus avoiding fines for not
reporting any alterations on your property.
The Catastro handles information gathered
from aerial pictures, to update the catastral
information of properties and report owners
when there are items that do not match
the information they have from deeds.
When selling your property and transferring
the title deed, boundaries and measurements
in the deed must be accurate,
and be the same as those at the Catastro
Office. The purchaser’s lawyer will check
out that the property is correctly described
in the deeds before the purchaser may proceed
to buy, so your deeds must contain
the descriptions of the amount of land (if
any), boundaries, built areas and any other
alterations of the property.
Properties are quite often inaccurately described
in the deeds for a number of reasons.
You or your previous owner could
have carried out building work, such as
a pool, store rooms, or just bricked in a
terrace and not registered these changes
in the deeds. If there are any illegal features
that are not described in the existing
deeds, then you will need to legalise and
update your deeds.
We may find different reasons why this may
have happened:
The changes were illegally carried out without
building permission from the Town Hall.
A building license was granted, but you
were not advised to, or you just did not
bother to pay the cost to update your deeds
at a Notary, pay the taxes and register this
at the Land Registry.
In the first case, you must keep a record of
the license, as a copy could be requested
to the Town Hall, to justify the discrepancy
between the physical reality of the property
and the deeds. This can then be used to
update the deeds when you complete and
sign before the Notary.
In the second case where the changes were
carried out illegally, then the process becomes
somewhat more complicated to resolve,
and you will need to liaise with your
lawyer to receive legal advice and find the
best way to have the alterations legalised.
Your lawyer will need to visit the planning
department of the Town Hall to clarify what
is and is not legal, and what can be legalised
if necessary. It is very likely that he
will need to coordinate this with an architect,
as they have good knowledge and understanding
of planning regulations.
It is possible to legalise some alterations
and normally after 4 years without any
fines if there have been no complaints from
neighbours or orders from the Town Hall for
it to be demolished. The Land Registry normally
accepts the alterations if an architect
has issued a certificate stating the works
are older than 8 years. This called a Certificado
de Antigüedad.
Always seek professional advice from your
Law Firm.
Celso Rodriguez-Corral
Barrister & Partner at Corral & Alcaraz Law
Firm
Member Nr.71399 of the Bar Association of
Madrid
Lawyers, Barristers & Accountants
Page 14
Costa Cálida Chronicle: Please tell our customers where you saw their advertisement t
Sales Contact Teresa 619 199 407 or for the Editor Contact Patti 646 005 017
www.costacalidachronicle.com email: costacalidachronicle@gmail.com