New Real Estate Rules

The following has been creating something of a stir in the Real Estate world in Andalucía:

The Junta de Andalucía has recently been fining real estate professionals in Andalucía for non-compliance with the decreto218/2005 which states that every agent must have a DIA or a Ficha Informativa readily available relating to every property they market, amongst other things. We have been hearing from very worried agents about this but to date there has been very little information readily available about how to comply with this law. I would therefore like to make you aware of a new organization that has been set up to help with this situation. They are trying to raise awareness, offer support and assistance with regard to this situation, as well as offering related products. They have researched the decree, made it more decipherable, abbreviated it and explained it. They supply vendors with property information packs so they can go to agents and promote their properties in a legally correct fashion.They also provide property management software to agents, complete with the necessary forms, notices, window cards etc., to make sure their business isfully compliant with this law. Their website is http://www.boja218.com/ We thought your readers would find this information useful. We would also like to raise awareness about the law in the very least, as many agencies in the region are blissfully unaware that they are at risk of being fined, or that they are in fact breaking the law. We would all like to see an improvement the Andalucían property market, and this decree could be the answer. If every agent abided by it, the whole industry would be hugely improved. If you would like further information about this organisation, please feel free to contact me, or email them directly on http://www.theentertaineronline.com/webmail/src/compose.php?send_to=info%40boja218.com .
Keren.
FAB Asesores S.L. Apartado de Correos 91, La Cala de Mijas, 29649 Mijas Costa, Malaga Tel: 952 587 673, Fax: +34 952 494 580 http://www.fabasesores.com/

Charles Svoboda of AUN http://www.abusos-no.org/ says:
Viewed positively this means the Junta is cracking down on some of the fly by night agents and it will be interesting to see if other regions folllow suit. I don't know of such rules under "Decretos" in other regions of Spain. This will be another reason for some of the smaller - one hopes the shadier - estate agents to shut down - or perhaps they will try to make deals and clear off quickly before they face "legal" action. The "Boja" advice, software and services need to be checked out by those who could suffer from all this new angle. The website is not that helpful as I read it, alas. More of a teaser than a source of free advice.

An estate agent called Tina says: We have some 600 properties for sale on our books and historically if someone is interested in purchasing we have always paid for the nota simple (property search). This costs around 10.46 depending on the property, whether it has a mortgage, is commercial etc. Decreto 218 now wants us to hold in our offices an up to date nota simple not more than three months old for every property we market. The cost and administration of this is, in our case, going to cost a very minimum of 6,300 odd euros per three months. Most agents, like ourselves, are not busy at present and certainly not making enough money to pay out this kind of money on a three monthly basis. However, I note that there are still cowboys swanning around in their 4 x 4s, not paying tax, social security or legally registered offering houses for sale over bars and in restaurants. They have already done deals with the owners of houses to pay them X before taking a potential purchaser to view. They are operating on the premise of "doing a deal direct with the owner" and can do so quite legitimately because an owner does not have to provide a potential purchaser with the paperwork that an agent does.